How To Manage your Mental health during Lockdown

This could be one of the most important pieces of content I’ve done in a very long time.

We are in uncharted, unknown territory.

Now, when I do episodes on Mental Health, my therapy, they consistently get the best downloads the most downloads the highest views and this is a very serious subject but also hopefully with some very practical solutions because whilst you don’t know the origin of the source there’s a lot in the media that suggests that Charities are being used much more for calls about people’s mental health, and I think it’s fair to say that the likelihood of us having more mental health issues in this time of lockdown is only going to increase. Even the royal family are coming out and saying that the stress of the lockdown is affecting our mental health and it’s something I think that we’ve got to try and figure out very quickly.

So, let’s be honest, we must have all felt alone lost, we must have all gone through the doomsday scenario thinking in our mind thinking how do we deal with being on our own and being a bit more board.

How do you deal with the unknown of how long this is going to last and what implications this could have on your business and there was no way to prepare for all of this. No way at all.

Now, one of the great upsides I found in lockdown is the speed at which you’ve had to change to grow, to replan and to pivot but that is hard for most people because I think only really productive and proactive who love change or innovators or disruptors that get the kick out of the speed at which you have to change and move your direction have benefitted from some of the effects of the lockdown.

But for a lot of people, that’s really hard to deal with and I think some people are lacking the ability to exercise, I think some people are lacking human connection and I think people are turning to maybe alcohol and getting lost in these conspiracy theories.

So, I’ve put 9 solutions to help to preserve your mental health and I’m not saying these are fact, I’m saying these are my opinion on the things that are working for me because I’ve had my moments. I’ve had my ups and downs, my highs and lows, as I’m sure you have too, but I think these Solutions will really help

1. Long Walks

One thing that’s really helped me has been long walks, what I’ll do is go for a long walk, usually down to the boating lakes and I’ll do some calls or I’ll clear out all of my outstanding WhatsApp messages and then I’ll go back via the shop and I’ll pick up my essential items and by walking around in nature, there’s something very powerful about that. 

You could also use this time to listen to an audiobook or for meditation but for me, I like to balance the walk with practical elements like catching up on calls as when you’re calm you have much better energy and because of the lockdown, I was able to connect with clients more and catch up with friends it was a great thing to do that I normally wouldn’t have time for. 

2. Talk To People

The second thing is, you’ve got to make sure you talk to people. I believe, I’ve been able to help a lot of clients and a lot of people come to me struggling with feeling alone, anger or frustration, or loss or confusion or boredom and as a result, it’s driving them to distraction and I always thank them for reaching out because some people are suffering like that, but they’re not reaching out to people as they don’t want to be a burden.

So always try to help people and give them that gift and reach out to be their mentor, you could connect over Zoom sessions, but you must talk to people more in my opinion as It helps you at the same time as helping them and it just helps you get out of yourself.

And from talking to others, you’ll realise we’re all in the same boat and we’re all struggling to in our own way.

3. Home Workout

The third thing is a home workout.

So, I’m lucky enough here that I have an outdoor gym but even if the weather was not that good, I’d watch a YouTube video and do a home workout and I think that that’s really important but even just taking 15 20 minutes, that can help you be a lot more productive.

4. Filter Your Online Sources

So in the news and on social media there’s a lot of conspiracies out there and a lot of criticism. their lives a lot of criticism and look, there’s a lot of emotional arguments and debates online and if you enter into them you can argue with people and they can make you feel like everything that you do is wrong, s o I believe it’s wise for you to fill to your online sources.

Try and stay away from opinions or views that trigger you, think to yourself that if It doesn’t make you feel good and it’s someone’s opinion and it’s not a fact then filter it out and do not get emotionally involved.

However, if someone is criticising or trolling you or your industry unnecessarily and aggressively I think you should filter that, perhaps comment with an educated view but put it to rest as it’s really important to put things right in your brain. 

5. Create A New Routine

Now, this one I think is really big because there are a lot of people that do not really know how to handle the new amount of excess time on their hands and they’ve now got to homeschool kids, they’re working in a different and remote capacity or some are not working at all as they’re been furloughed.

Here’s the paradox, I’ve found that I’ve struggled more than many of the people who’ve got a lot of time because you spend so much time, wishing you had a lot of time and then all of a sudden you have and people don’t know what to do with themselves and they’re bouncing around that the house like an atom in the universe just lost and distracted and they don’t really know how to focus.

So for those people routine is vitally important. You need to know your key result areas, your income-generating tasks and balancing what you want to do and what you need to do and when to hustle. Now, once you’ve got this new routine and you’re able to compartmentalise your time, you can focus on the present and it is certainly better for your mental health than always being in the future.

6. Rest, Relaxation and Connection

Okay, right. So the next thing is balancing that productivity with rest, relaxation and connection.

So, when this first all kicked off, I sort of took two main schools of thinking. One was to reconnect, to be with family, to evaluate, to ride this out as it seemed wrong to sell through this and then there were others that were doubling down hustling hard to try and keep their business going and saw this as a sort of opportunity to grow their business and I think it’s a balance of both.

You could have for a few hours each day being productive, proactive, efficient and effective to make you feel progress and to make you feel like you’re doing something and you’re not just lost and bouncing around in this big empty space, but of course reconnecting, evaluating and being with yourself, is also very important. But everyone is different and you need to find what works for you. 

7. You Can’t Expect You and Your Results to be the Same Because the World has Completely Changed

This is really important because the world has changed completely but people are still living with same expectations of themselves before the lockdown so they’re feeling massive amounts of guilt and they’re not being kind to themselves and they’re not forgiving themselves and they’re not redressing their expectations. But you can’t expect you and your results to be the same because the world has completely changed. So be a bit more kind to yourself.

Let yourself off the hook every now and again and forgive yourself a little bit more and readdress and change your expectations because being so demanding on yourself in times of change and challenge wil not help your mental health. 

8. Keep Your Education Going

Okay, so I think it is really important is to keep your education going in these times because there are no Live Events and people feel as if they haven’t got a budget which isn’t true. You’ve always got a budget, It’s just where are you putting that budget? And what’s most important to you? And I believe that you need to continue to educate yourself and have growth and progress mentally 

Enrioll in some online courses listen, to some audio books and podcasts as your running and walking and you will begin to feel fulfilled and that you’re continuing to grow and educate yourself even when everything in the world is changing. 

9. If It’s Really Bad, Seek Professional Help

If things get really bad, you should seek professional help and perhaps see a therapist. I think it’s important to speak to someone who’s a professional as people are really struggling and having some really dark thoughts. 

By connecting with a therapist or a doctor they will be able to make your thought process clear and give you clarity on what you need to doto grow, be proactive and be positive when times are challenging, but this is vitally important to your mental health. 

Rob Moore