Does this sound familiar to you?

You get up and get ready for work, eat a piece of burnt toast on your drive in because you slept in past your alarm, are now running late and don’t have time to make another. You stop at your local café on your way, but today you need an extra shot in your coffee because you also didn’t sleep last night and already feel like you’ve been hit in the head with a bat. Damn. It is only Tuesday. You check your email whilst you wait for your coffee – 82 emails. F*ck. You only checked it 12 hours ago! What. The. Actual. F**k.

You long for the weekend. Not even for the weekend. You just long for a day even where you could just sit and do nothing. Really Netflix and Chill. Sleep in. Sleep without an alarm. Oh, what an amazing life that would be. Then you start to think about all the things you would do if only you had the time and space to do it.

You’d meditate. You’d do yoga in the mornings. You’d cook more. You’d even bake. You’d blow the dust off that sewing kit and get back into a hobby you used to love. You’d read more books and of course you’d be super fit and healthy – the jeans that are currently digging into your sides would be positively loose! If only you had the time.

Your coffee is now ready and you snap back into reality, get in your car and drive to work.  That was a nice daydream though, wasn’t it?

Well… here is the punch you right in your face reality.

This isn’t a daydream anymore. Right now, this could be your reality.

Am I discounting that the reason we are here is because of a horrendous global crisis that is seeing thousands of people losing their lives and even more losing their jobs? Fuck no. It is absolutely heartbreaking and I hope it is over sooner rather than later. Do I believe that we also need to cut ourselves slack during this time to feel whatever we need to feel in any given moment and not feel pressured to behave a certain way or have all of our sh*t together? HELL YES.

But, I also believe the current reality for a lot of people is that probably for the first time in a long time, you do have the time and the space to reignite some of your hobbies and your passions, even share them with your children , or your partner if you have them. Or, if you don’t think you have any, you now have the time to do some soul searching and find out what really lights you up, or what skillset the world needs that you can bring.

You now have the time. To breathe. To think. To move. To make the most of this time (as sucky as it is) and learn something new about yourself.

Here are some ideas to get your started!

  • Learn more about yourself – NOW is a great time to reflect on your strengths, weaknesses and areas of opportunity to help you continue to stretch yourself and grow. Not sure where to start? Try one or both of these FREE quizzes from VIA Strengths Finder or the 16 personalities Test. Understanding who you are, what you stand for and what you bring to the table is critical not only for your own self-confidence, but also so you can continue to work on yourself and be the best human being you can be. What do you have to loose by using this time to learn more about yourself and what you bring to the world?
  • Watch this powerful TED Talk on Identity! If you have ever needed some clarity over your identity and working out WHO you are outside of the job you do, or the roles you play in life - e.g mum, sister, daughter etc - (remember, these things are WHAT you do, not who YOU are) - and what defines you (or doesn’t), this TED talk will help put all of that into perspective. Apart from that, it is also just an incredibly inspirational talk by a truly mesmerizing speaker - Best 13 minutes you could spend (and I totally know that you have 13 minutes available to you right now!) What defines YOU - Lizzie Velasquez TED Talk 
  • Journal - When you do have days where your anxiety and stress maybe higher than usual, write it down. Capture your feelings and lean into them. Suppressing them, or trying to hide them will not serve you in the long run. You have every right to feel every and any emotion you need to right now. These are unprecedented times. Help yourself distil some of the mental clutter though by writing it down.
  • Make a list of all the things you’ve been curious to learn or do, but claim to have never had time to – It might be the books you’ve always wanted to read, the movies or documentaries you’ve always wanted to watch, the food you have always wanted to learn to cook, the vegetable garden you’ve always wanted to plant, or the instrument you’ve wanted to learn to play. Write all of these things down, put a plan in place for each of them on what you would need to do to learn to do it, and then schedule some time to do so.
  • Now, take this challenge! If you are currently feeling in a bit of a funk, maybe it is time to get yourself out of your comfort zone, consciously! Try some of the new hobbies you just listed above, eat food you’ve never tried, speak to people you don’t know (virtually)! Watch this ted Talk for some extra motivation and challenge yourself – “Try something new for the next 30 days - Matt Cutts (4mins”)
  • Make your goals visible! Use this time to reflect on where you are right now and where you want to be. Now, MAKE THEM VISIBLE! The key to sticking to your goals is having them visible each day as a reminder - literally staring you in the face! Whether this is through a vision board that you continue to update (it should be a live piece of work, not something static that never gets refreshed), or you program your phone to remind you of your goals each day, whatever works for you – just make it visible and something you continue to be reminded of.  Why not use this time to make something bright, eye catching and motivating using old magazines, brochures, newspapers etc?
  • Call or FaceTime someone you haven’t spoken to for a while – Just because we are largely house-bound right now doesn’t mean we can’t still connect with people we love. You’ll feel instantly more motivated and positive after speaking to someone and as though you aren’t alone in this. If you haven't checked out HouseParty yet, it is a great app to connect you with all your loved ones virtually - https://houseparty.com/
  • Create some structure for your days going forward – The key to success in maintaining direction during tough times is having something clear you are aiming for. Each day. This means having clear priorities and goals to achieve, no matter how big or small. Yes, even with your hobbies. Decide the night before what you are going to do the next day so that you have some structure in your day. If you missed my latest blog, CLICK HERE, and if you want access to the FREEBIE I created to help you be more productive and get more sh*t done in your day, CLICK HERE.
  • Start NOW and keep going! Sometimes we build things up in our heads to be so big that we then don’t know where to start (I can't be the only one who does this, right?) – so then we don’t start! The way to keep momentum and to keep inspired is to just keep going. Keep taking small steps and celebrate the wins along the way.

If you are still feeling a little bit lost, or don't know where to start, CLICK here for a list of some of my favourite books, podcasts, shows and hobbies that I have read, watched, listened to and enjoyed that might help ignite something in you. P.S None of these are paid promotions, just things I have done or read and have enjoyed. Hopefully you do to.

Things might feel scary right now, and that's OK, they kinda are. The unknown always is. But we are all in this together and we will get through.