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Life can be pretty stressful at any point. We have careers to worry about, relationships to muse over, friendships that can hit bumpy patches and the general rigmarole of day to day life. But now more than ever, people’s stress levels are hitting the roof. We’re in the midst of a worldwide pandemic and a contagious disease is rife in countries across the world. Hundreds of thousands have lost their lives, even more have lost loved ones and even more have lost their job so are struggling financially. On top of this, we’re being asked to stay at home at all times, which is causing problems no matter who you live with. Couples are spending more time together than they’re used to and may be rubbing each other up the wrong way. The kids are off so parents are trying to home teach – often around remote work. People who live alone are facing higher levels of loneliness. It’s really not all too surprising that many of our stress levels and anxiety levels are through the roof – we’re truly feeling overwhelmed! The good news is that there are various steps you can take to help ease these negative feelings and keep your chin up during these hard times. Here are some to consider!

Make Quitting Bad Habits Easier

Many people are using this time to quit bad habits. This is sensible, as there’s more time to focus on self-improvement and get into new habits right now and everything is harder to come by, so not being dependent on things like cigarettes, fast food and other negative purchases can help you to spend more time in the house and not have to search for these products regularly. But further changes to your routine and lifestyle could make things even more stressful for you. Make quitting bad habits as easy for yourself as possible. If you’re quitting smoking, consider quitting aids – these could include everything from nicotine patches to nicotine gum, nicotine sprays and simply e liquid. If you’re quitting fast food, remove all fast food delivery apps from your phone and take this time to learn how to cook healthier, tasty alternatives.

Practice Mindfulness

So many find practicing mindfulness to be helpful when it comes to their mental health and wellbeing. This is an ancient practice that has skyrocketed in popularity in the West over the past few years. It can be incorporated into meditation, it can be practiced while doing colouring in, sitting in your room, or in any other way. It essentially draws your attention to the present moment and teaches you to allow everything to pass without judgement. Of course, this is only a basic summary. But there are seemingly endless free resources out there online that you can use to get into the swing of things and to start feeling the easing benefits as soon as possible!

These are just two suggestions that can make your time in lockdown a little easier and significantly reduce your stress and anxiety levels. Hopefully, they’ll really help!