Mental Wellbeing And Staying Motivated Whilst In Isolation

We appreciate that we have been bombarding you with news in an effort to keep you up to date with the latest announcements related to the insolvency industry. We also know that the vast majority of you are now working from home and are either in the situation of dealing with working whilst fitting in chores, dogs, kids and/or partners who may also be trying to work from home or may not understand that you still have to work. We also know that there will be those who live on their own, with or without pets and will be self-isolating alone, which can also be tough.

Below are some things that you can do to ensure you stay positive throughout isolation whether you have too much time on your own or not enough!

1.       Do not stay glued to the news

We are not talking about the occasional flick through the NTI app or watching the 6pm news. We are talking to those who are scanning the internet every few minutes with a tendency to go down the rabbit hole and only come up for air hours later.

These are unprecedented time and humans do not do well with uncertainty and there is a lot of it about right now. Fixating on minute by minute news will mean you cannot switch off your thoughts and can lead you down a negative or anxiety ridden spiral. Consider turning off news alerts on your phone and only review news from trustworthy sources, fact check anything anyone sends you so you don’t think you can cure the virus by drinking water every 15 minutes.

If your attention is on what is happening across the globe, it is unlikely you will be focused on what you can do and that is, helping companies and directors who are dealing with these issues first-hand.

2.       Stay connected

This goes for your colleagues as well as your family and friends. Keep up to date with your colleagues as you would in the office, check in with your family and friends who you may be worried about or even just to moan about the people bulk buying loo roll. Technology has its benefits here as we can speak to anyone, anywhere. Talk about your worries or concerns, it is very likely you’re not the only one feeling this way.

3.       Self care

As part of our study programmes we heavily advocate exercising, eating healthy and cutting out substances (booze, caffeine, anything else you’re into). It boosts positivity, motivation, helps memory retention, enables better sleep and encourages other self care habits. Use the extra time you have now you don’t commute to do some yoga, follow along to an online work out, walk the dog for a bit longer, go for a run or stop using that exercise bike as a clothes horse and put it to some use, meditate, get some really good sleep, read that book you have been meaning too. Don’t use isolation as an excuse to sit on the sofa and binge watch Netflix and eat Ben and Jerrys. Well, not every day anyway.

Self care also covers taking time to relax, doing the things you enjoy (knitting, pottery, painting, reading, playing the piano, cooking, gardening etc) spend some of your day doing something that sparks joy and that you can fully be present for.

4.       Creating a daily routine

Most of you will have had one before, get up at 5am, leave the house at 6am, catch the 6.17 train, drop kids off, walk the dog. Routine provides us with a safety net when we can’t control the outside world our routine makes us feel comfortable and like we have some of that control. Take this opportunity to create a new daily routine, working from home has its benefits because it is as flexible as you want to make it (or as your employers can allow).Structure your days around necessary work and completing this when you are at your most productive, take time to review when you are the most productive, use a day planner either written or online and make sure you take breaks and step away from the computer as you would in the office. Once you have decided that work is done for the day, close the computer and switch off. It is easy to be working all the time when you work from home, just sending that last email or checking your messages eats into your time for yourself, your families and things that bring you joy and allow you to be at your best and ready for tomorrow.

5.       Create a working space

Some will be lucky enough to already have an office, but if not, have a space that you can work at, maybe a spare room, dining table etc. When work time is finished, move away from that space so you do not feel as though you are in the same area for 18 hours of the day. i.e try not to work on the sofa if that is where you spend your evenings.

The NHS has released full guidance and further links on their website if you want to find out more Here