I love my home, but I never dreamed that I would be made to be here all the time due to a Pandemic. I miss seeing my family and friends, I miss going to the theatre, I miss going to the hairdressers, I miss browsing round shops, I miss going to Pilates each week, I miss my weekly sewing group. I can’t do these things at the moment, none of us can, so how do I stay happy and sane…… I make plans.
Each day I decide what I want and need to do. Having a plan, stops me from just drifting into nothingness and getting fed up with the situation and doing very little. I have to say, I have always enjoyed planning and knowing what I am doing day to day, rather than just waking up and thinking what shall I do today?
Work days are easy, but I need to plan for the evenings – chats arranged with friends over Zoom / WhatsApp / FaceTime, my daily walk after work, catching up on TV, sewing (my hobby for the last 18 months) or a virtual exercise class – I’m doing Pilates with my usual teacher and a Barre/dance class, put on by my daughters ballet teacher.
Weekends, my plans must include my 7-year-old daughter, these have included weekly baking, gardening, cleaning, decluttering, longer walks, playing board games, teaching my 7-year-old to sew.
Planning works for my 7-year-old too. She likes to check her daily timetable out that I have set her for home school – she doesn’t always agree with what it says to do, but she seems to like to know when it is time for a snack or lunch, surprisingly! It seems to help her have a bit of structure at this unusual time in her life, especially when prior to this she knew exactly what she was doing when, with school, out of school activities, seeing friends and going to parties.
If you have a think, you will be able to find lots to do at home – some necessary like cleaning and tidying, some activities online – exercise classes or learning a new hobby, some for entertainment – watch a film or see what musical Andrew Lloyd Weber is putting on You Tube each weekend – I have watched Joseph and His Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat and Phantom of the Opera recently, speaking to friends and family on the phone or by video chat, reading a book, keep your favourite hobby up – painting, reading, photography, gardening or whatever is yours. Then you can plan when to do these each day/week.
Give planning a go, for yourselves and the people we serve and you will find that not only will you feel happier knowing what you are doing, but you will get to the end of the day feeling accomplished as well. It will also stop that Groudhog day feeling.
Rachel Finsbury
