Lockdown was a weird time for us all, wasn’t it? I think we all learnt a lot during lockdown, maybe some things better than others? I know from speaking to a few people that we all seem to appreciate the slower pace of life, and we all want to incorporate that into our normal lives moving forward, but, that got me thinking. It got me thinking about what I’ve personally actually learnt during lockdown, and what life lessons I’ll be taking forward with me now that we start to open up more and slowly return to normal.

Warning: This post may get a bit, ehem, *emotionally deep*.

First things first before I get into my list, I have a confession to make:

A part of me doesn’t want to return to normal life.

Hear me out, I’ve been on furlough for the last 5 months, which feels like forever and like no time at all, all at once. When I think about returning to normal life now, I’m actually nervous. I’m anxious about it. I don’t want to go back to my life pre-Covid, where I would wake-up exhausted, I would go days without stepping outside, I would go weeks without reading a book. That just isn’t a life. Well, it’s not a life I want to live. I just remember being constantly exhausted. Who would want to go back to that?

That being said, I mean, I guess there are some things I’m missing about normal life.

Routine. I am 100% missing routine. I’m not missing having to be somewhere by a certain time, but I’m missing having something to wake-up for. I’ve tried making my own routine to keep me sane (aha), like waking-up at a normal time, exercising, keeping my brain entertained, you know, all the normal stuff, but it all seems to go to poop every single morning when my alarm goes off but I don’t wake-up. Because every morning I’ll wake-up and think, “Well done Tasha, well done for waking-up at a normal time. You know what? You should treat yourself to a lie-in for waking-up on time”. And then bam, I’m asleep until early afternoon and the day is gone.

That sums-up my life on furlough in one sentence, that’s for sure.

This definitely scares me because if I ever want to be a self-employed writer, I’ll have to make my own routine and stick with it. No pat-on-the-backs for waking-up on time, that would have to be my normal. I feel like I should be okay with this if I have clients I need to attend to, ya know, but at the moment, with no one needing me, sleep wins over my 7am alarm.

That’s kind of the whole theme I’m trying to stick to with my life at the moment. I’m trying to take a more lenient approach these last couple of months. I know I need to explore new horizons; I know I need to get my butt in gear and start achieving things, but you know what? I’m never going to have so much free time again (WOAH). I’m never going to have so much time with nothing to do (I’M SCARED). I’m never going to be this free with no responsibilities again (WHAT IS LIFE?). So, why not enjoy it? Why not lie-in until 11am? Why not spend all day on MY phone? If you’re in the same position as me, enjoy it that’s for sure, it’ll never come round again.

You never know, through relaxing you might discover a few things about yourself. Like I did. I learnt a few things about myself, a few life lessons, and also, just some things I want to take with me into the future. Tell me, what did you learn during lockdown?

Life Lessons I learnt during lockdown

1. Instagram is great, but it also sucks.
2. Going outside everyday will keep you happy and most importantly, SANE.
3. Don’t eat all the cheese, you will regret it.
4. Have a morning routine will clear your head and make you happy, whatever time you wake.
5. Don’t waste your time doing stupid things. Time is limited, enjoy every moment.
6. Saving money is the only thing that’ll make you feel secure: do it. You don’t need more socks.
7. Nightshifts suck, even if you’re not the one on the nightshift.
8. Owning rats was the single-best decision of your life. Never forget that.
9. Happiness can be found in nature. Remember that when you spend hours at your desk again.
10. Video calls with friends aren’t scary – they’re fun and amazing and you need to do them more.
11. Calling your bro every other day is fun. Do this. You’ll both love it.
12. Being productive doesn’t mean completing your to-do list (I’m still struggle with this one).
13. Forgive yourself for not living-up to unrealistic expectations that you set yourself.
14. No-one cares about you, and that’s a good thing.
15. Having that one day a week to just do nothing is sacred and you shouldn’t give that up.
16. Money is everything. People who have money will tell you it’s not. But it is.
17. Don’t let your fear of the unknown stifle your ambition.
18. Don’t be scared of failing. So what if you fail? At least you tried.
19. You will automatically fail if you don’t even try.
20. Writing is like nature for the soul, do it every day and you’ll feel great!
21. Nothing is better than sitting in the garden with a cyder as the sun sets.
22. Reading relaxes you like nothing else. If stressed, read a chapter or two.
23. Rats love peas, but peas don’t love rats.
24. Everything has an end, even you, so enjoy everything whilst it lasts – truly enjoy it.

I realise some of the above are really deep, but that’s just where my mind went to when writing this. I can’t help it when all I’ve been doing for months is thinking about the future and where we’re all going in this crazy world of ours.

What’re your top life lessons you’ve learnt during lockdown?

It’s really made me think about what’s important to me and what I want out of life and how I can keep myself sane and happy once things return to normal. Because, we’re all just really living every day, where are we actually heading though? At the moment I feel quite stagnant, but if I keep this list in mind then I know my life will have more direction and meaning. Life isn’t for working and stress t hitting targets you don’t personally care about.

There’s more out there, you just need to take a breath and go get it.

Yeah, yeah, where’s my cyder and my book. I now need some time to chill after all that thinking.

Until tomorrow.

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