Lockdown, for most of us, means our lives may feel like they have got a little smaller. Suddenly we can’t go out as often as we like, or we can’t meet friends.

Zoom has become a household word, and our addiction to Netflix and Facebook is at an all time high.Lockdown fever can be real.

Here at Cardyard we’re often hearing from people who are in the same boat. Here are a few of their hints and tips:

Write a list of things that you’d like to do when you get out of lockdown.

• It puts back a sense of hope and optimism, focusing on the future when normality will be restored (which it will be, one day)
• Turn your list into a mood-board, get the children and family (that live with you) involved. Make it super-colourful and use lots of photos or magazine/online images. Just like you, kids also need a sense of hope and optimism, this will give your young children a focus to the future, of fun family holidays in the sunshine, or on a ski-slope, or whatever does it for you

Reach out to people

• Remember the days when you didn’t make an appointment for a phone call – you just picked up that phone? Well let’s bring them back during lockdown and start calling people out of the blue.
• Make a plan to phone everyone in your phone book by the time we get out of lockdown, even just for a few moments. Feeling “remembered” is sure to bring joy to people. So be sure to connect back with Aunty Sylvia, or catch up with James from school, or synchronise your clock to call your uncle in Australia (OK, for that one you may prefer to Skype – it will cost a lot less!)
• Group zoom chats are delightful – and you can theme these around bingo, or a karaoke or a “pub” quiz style activity.

Get going with gratitude – start a gratitude diary or gratitude journal to really appreciate everything you HAVE got.

• See if you can write 7 different things each day. This will train your mind to look out for the positives, not the negatives. We are surrounded by fear and concern already, so you don’t need any more.
• Don’t want to write? Or if you have young children – remember you can create a wonderful gratitude journal by drawing things. Then each night before bedtime, do a round-up of your journal, send yourself off to sleep with good positive thoughts

Embrace the small.

Our lives may have got restricted, and yes that suddenly means we can’t go on holiday, or go for a drive to the beach, or even meet up with friends in our favourite diner. So instead of focusing on these big things – go small.

• Zoom in on the lives of small things. Spend a few moments watching an ant go about its business.
• Grow a tomato pip. Or a lemon seed. Journal its progress
• Study a tiny plant each day, watching as it grows.Find fascination in the tiny things around you.
• Do mindfulness meditations on small stuff – enjoy eating a raisin (mindful meditation raisin eating here – LINK)
• If you have children, set up a bug-hotel or a mini-zoo in your back garden or a window-box.

Enjoy nature – even from a flat

Even in a gardenless flat, there are opportunities to enjoy nature:

• Plant a few seeds in pots on your balcony, to encourage insects and bees,
• Set up a window-box growing tasty things like cherry tomatoes or chilli plants
• Grow sproutings – beansprouts (mung beans) – tasty addition to a stir fry or salads too
• Keep a photo journal of the changing environment to look back on.Watching the trees change colour or the local park come into bloom

Enjoy your home more

At this time, our home space is more important than ever, and if you’re also in 24/7 – chances are you’ve identified a number of jobs that you can no longer find an excuse to ignore. Or even worse – you are ready and willing, you’ve got time on your hands, but you just don’t have the tools or resources to tackle them.

• Acknowledge you can’t do all of them, but you can write a list for when you can do them.
• See what tools and resources you actually do have – it’s probably more than you remember. If your neighbours are up for it, and you disinfect all equipment properly in between shares – you could even set up a local tool-share (LINK TO DISINFECTING ITEMS)
• A few changes to soft-furnishings, or a lick of paint may really help… and some retailers are open and selling these things online. (Your supermarket may also be selling housewares and home accessories directly)

Stock-check your wallet or purse

Many adults have several unspent gift-cards or vouchers hanging around in their wallets or purses. When we don’t spend them, the chances are the expiry date will come round and this money just vanishes into retailer profits. Don’t let that happen.

Do a stock-check of your gift-cards and if you don’t like the ones you’ve got – then get over to Cardyard and trade them for something you DO want. At a brilliant discount:

• Amazon has an enormous range of everything you could need for the home, plus you can buy plants online.
• Sainsburys, Asda, Tesco’s – all handy for your weekly shop – and lots of them sell housewares and home accessories too
• WHSmiths – perfect for buying books, DVDs, colouring pens, stationery, etc
• BuildABear – workshops to look forward to when this is all over

Do you have more tips for lockdown? Please share them on our Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn pages. Thank you. Stay safe.