Seven Life Lessons I've Learnt By Staying At Home

Things have been bleak for the past months, for some they have been a haze, and for some they have been just hours of endless worrying for the future. Needless to say in both the cases our mental health has gone for a toss. And unless we pay close attention to it and make a conscious effort to take care of ourselves, things are going to be too overwhelming at times. Looking after ourselves can be hard, and it took me some time to not beat myself over things I just couldn't get myself to do. We all have our process and it surely takes time to find it, and make peace with all our shortcomings.

The human mind is a weird place and gets weirder the more you try to understand it. Here are 7 lockdown observations I have made, these are just day-to-day experiences, but I hope they will resonate with you.

Make changes in your schedule, but let them be gradual

Messed up sleep schedule? That isn't going to fix itself in a day. You can’t wake up at 8 am suddenly one day, more so you can’t go to sleep at 11 pm, not after days of sleeping at 4 am and waking up at 11 am. Improvement takes time, you can’t just incorporate a dozen of things into your schedule because suddenly you are done with binging shows. Changes take time and happen gradually. They aren’t impossible though. Twenty minutes of hard work every day can make a huge difference when you look back after a week. Make changes in your schedule, but let them be gradual.

The world is more horrifying than horror movies

I’m not the one to watch horror movies, but out of sheer boredom, some curiosity and a little encouragement from a friend I ended up watching Bulbbul. My friend told me, it’s not real, it’s just a movie. This movie made me realise, the real world is more terrifying than any horror movie. This film brought ahead many terrors and I couldn't not be scared. Because what I was afraid of was real (I'll spare you the spoilers). And it made me think. Our world is damaged in ways it seems unreal. And we find it in the streets and everywhere. And horror movies aren’t scary at all compared to what we are going through. But we need to keep hoping for better.

Also Read: For The Page Turners Lockdown Was Perfect Time To Take Their Book Club Online

Anyone can drain you, even your close friends and significant other

We are all dealing with difficult times, with everything going on around it’s easy to feel drained every now and then, and it’s fine. You might push away your friends, not call them or give excuses, and it’s fine if you feel drained sometimes. The thing is they are your friends, they'll come around and you can rely on them too (but remember they may get burned out too). It’s okay to feel like that, it’s okay to tell them sometimes you don’t feel like talking but will happily listen about their attempts to bake a cake. And it’s okay if you don’t have anything to share or rather you lack the energy to do so.  You’ll bounce back.

It's okay to take time off of things

You make a timetable and you set up times and allot hours. Come next morning you just can’t make yourself do things. This goes on for more days and you keep putting yourself in that place. Setting unattainable goals and failing and feeling bad. But you know what? Stop at this very moment, you’ve done this for far too long now. Take a breath here and take a moment there. Lie down on the couch and calm yourself down. Stop working on that idea for a while, sip tea and ponder over yourself. It’s okay to take breaks, especially now, it’s important to take breaks. You’ve come quite far and you’ll go even further, but remember to take breaks and not burn out yourself. Don’t work for hours on, day in and day out. 

Sometimes when things get overwhelming, stop thinking

There’s a lot going on in the world right now, people are posting many things on their Instagram stories. And you need to realise there’s a fine line between keeping yourself informed and letting yourself go insane. Everybody has different capacities to take in information. Some of us care a lot and some don’t care at all, you know where you stand. We know we can’t always change a lot of things and can’t always contribute. You need to remind yourself, it is necessary to stay informed but don’t let things take up all of your thinking, don’t let these thoughts disturb your sleep time. Your mental health needs looking after, don’t exhaust yourself thinking continuously. Stay informed, do your part. But sometimes when things get overwhelming, stop thinking, sip tea if that’s your thing. Stare mindlessly at clouds (a friend told me this, game changer!) again, just breathe.

Also Read: Never Thought I Would Say This But I Miss Riding The Delhi Metro In Lockdown

You are doing your best at any given point of time

There’s no point in moping around for how you wasted all your time the day before. You need to accept that that’s the best you could do on that particular day, at that given point of time, and it’s okay. What you have in your hands is now, give it the best depending on how you are feeling.

It is important to enjoy the little things

Even more now than ever before, let these small things be your solace, like a video call with friends while you sip chai overlooking from the balcony, all the online games you all play. These things are the essence of life and don’t give up on these just yet. These are the things that push you forward and are important if not productive.

The views expressed are the author's own.