Healthy lockdown habits to keep as everything slowly starts opening up

While lockdown certainly hasn't been an overwhelmingly enjoyable experience, it hasn't been all doom and gloom either, as many of us have used the time to strengthen family bonds, change the way we think and develop some healthy lifestyle habits. We're looking at some of the benefits of our new reality that we hope are here to stay, even as lockdown restrictions start easing.

It comes as no surprise that lockdown has brought with it many changes as everyone has frantically had to adapt to a new kind of normal. These changes are present in our work lives, personal lives and in the lives of those around us, whether they are new habits born out of necessity or lessons learned by trial and error.

Looking inward

Living through a pandemic has, for most of us, been extremely stressful and taxing on our mental health, which is why many of us have had to look inwards when it came to finding new ways of coping with the sudden change. These methods of coping, such as meditating and practising mindfulness and gratitude, centre around the self and can be practised whenever and wherever we need, making them excellent lifestyle habits to continue with as we move into a post-lockdown world.

·   Mindfulness

When the world seemed to turn upside down many people turned to mindfulness as a way to help them focus on the present and be present within themselves. Mindfulness helps us to focus on being present with ourselves and in control of our moods and stress levels. By focusing on the moment at hand and both acknowledging and accepting our feelings and thoughts, we can achieve a state of mindfulness. Practising mindfulness has been proven to improve our mental state, decrease stress levels and ultimately makes us happier.

·   Meditation

During lockdown, many of us learned to use meditation as a way to relieve stress and anxiety by training our brains to be clear or to focus and to increase awareness of ourselves as well as our surroundings. Engaging in daily meditation is a habit we hope people continue to nurture as things continue to open up, as it enables us to manage stress and better cope with everything that happens in our lives. The great thing about meditation is that it can be done in any quiet place, whether at home or even at work, and as many times a day as you may need.

These apps are handy for helping you meditate and keep up the habit even after lockdown has ended:

Headspace - https://www.headspace.com/

Calm - https://www.calm.com/

Aura - https://www.aurahealth.io/

·   Gratitude

Practising gratitude is hugely important in uncertain times as it gives us time to reflect on, and remind ourselves of, all the things that are important to us and that we appreciate. This helps us focus on the good rather than dwelling on the bad - which would ultimately have a negative effect on our mental health. This enables us to find what we value in life and help us appreciate what matters, a skill which we would all do well to take with us into the post-lockdown world.

These are some apps to help you keep up with practising gratitude on a daily basis:

5 Minute Journal - https://www.intelligentchange.com/pages/five-minute-journal-app

ThinkUP - https://www.thinkup.me/

Gratitude - https://gratitude.plus/

Re-evaluating how work works

We have had to completely rethink the way we approach work in recent months, whether it's working remotely full time - which gives us the unique opportunity to live further away from work and, in some cases, even semigrate across the country - or alternatively, working in new and improved offices that meet COVID safety guidelines, from more spacious offices thanks to a less central location or just a new and improved open plan layout. We're looking at what's changed in the work world and why we hope it stays:

·   Presenteeism

Many companies have and will continue to re-evaluate their policies on presenteeism as the pandemic and lockdown have brought employee health and wellbeing into the limelight, as well as the issue of coming to work when sick. Many companies have learnt the hard way how much of a risk one sick employee coming in to work can pose. We're hoping that this increased focus on employee wellbeing and re-evaluating presenteeism by focusing on outcome rather than hours, is something that companies will continue even once the lockdown has ended.

·   Working from home

Many companies have been able to make the move to working remotely very effectively and, as such, many people are continuing to work from home despite the easing of lockdown restrictions. Being able to work remotely saves employees and employers both money and time, as it cuts down travel costs and enables them to make better use of their time. We're looking forward to a future which sees more people given the opportunity to work from home, only coming into the office for meetings and presentations.

·   Managing your own time

Working from home has made many of us learn how to better manage our time outside of an office environment and just in general. Without our colleagues or bosses looking over our shoulders we have had to learn to manage our own time more effectively and take responsibility for ourselves, our work, our time and our goals. Many of us have developed time management skills which will be extremely valuable as we start to return to normal.

Here are some apps to help you manage your time:

Todoist - https://todoist.com/?lang=en

Workflow - https://workflow.is/

Any.do - https://www.any.do/

Home workouts

While there's nothing better than a good session at the gym, with gyms having been closed for much of the year many of us have had to get creative with home workouts and, although gyms are starting to open up again, many of us may not feel comfortable returning just yet. Fitting a quick, invigorating yoga class into our lunch break or some Pilates after work on your home's patio has become a norm and, even as gyms begin to open up, there's a lot of benefit in continuing with home workouts. They're a quick and easy way to manage stress, improve your mood and release endorphins - and you don't even have to leave the comfort of your home and brave the crowds at the gym. As many of us will continue working from home for the foreseeable future, home workouts are one lockdown habit we're hoping is here to stay.

These are some fun and online fitness programs and apps to help you keep up with your home fitness:

Nike Training Club - https://www.nike.com/za/ntc-app

Gaia - http://ow.ly/aAwy30r8olj

FitOn - https://fitonapp.com/

Eating in

With restaurants and takeaway joints being closed during hard lockdown, many of us have had to get creative in the kitchen, improving our cooking skills as we had to forgo the convenience of a quick UberEATS meal for something home cooked. While we may be able to get takeaways again and supporting restaurants as much as possible is important, don't let those lockdown cooking skills go to waste by falling out of the habit of making healthy and nutritious home cooked meals.

You can get your inspiration for cooking at home here:

Foodim - https://foodim.com/

Conde Nast Traveller - https://www.cntraveller.com/topic/recipes'

Kitchn - https://www.thekitchn.com/

It is these positive habits and lifestyle and work changes that have been made during lockdown, especially the ones mentioned above, that need to be continued and even built upon as we gradually move out of lockdown; as they have lasting benefits in terms of our health, our work performance and our ability to cope with change.

At Hamilton's we provide distinct and specialised property services when managing your property portfolio, click here https://www.hamiltons.co.za/our-story/ to find out more about our story.

Read our previous article here: https://www.hamiltons.co.za/news/spring-decor-trends-to-look-out-for-in-2020/?c=news

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