Lockdown Stress? 5 Easy and Full-Proof Methods To Cope With It – Try These Now!

The second wave of Covid 19 has hit us hard. There have been reports talking about the increasing level of lockdown stress and anxiety among people of all age groups. The long periods of lockdown have been causing stress because of multiple reasons including family issues, disinterest towards life, financial challenges, and so on. 

Here are some ways to cope with these tough times as we go face this global pandemic:

1. Use Stress-Management Methods

The first step of coping with lockdown stress is to realise that you are stressed and then you need to do something about it. Some of the most common stress symptoms are: 

• Mood swings
• Laziness
• Anxiety
• Irritation
• Disinterest
• Eating disorder
• Binge-watching

Read More: Stress Symptoms and Causes 

You have to deploy stress management methods such as talking to friends and family, limiting your media exposure to stay away from negative thoughts, doing physical exercises, eating healthy food, get enough sleep, staying hydrated, and seeing a therapist or psychologist. Please realise that stress looks different on different people and a particular stress coping method may work for someone and not for you. You have to find your way to cope and understand that, “it’s okay to not be okay”.

2. Build A Daily Routine

One of the biggest problems that people are facing is losing the sense of real-life and normal routines. You need to understand that only you can give yourself that sense of normalcy during these tough times. Try to develop a simple daily routine for yourself. Make sure that you are giving yourself enough breaks and are not overworking. 

Overworking is not a way to make yourself feel better. Try and understand that it will eventually lead to burnout and will cause you even more stress and you might end up being hard on yourself. So try and make a simple routine that gives you a lot of time to rest and work as well.

3. Don’t Run In A Productivity Race

Ever since the onset of the pandemic, a lot of us started working on passion projects, hobbies, and everything we did not have the time to do before. This is a beautiful way to cope with lockdown stress as it takes your energy and gives it some creative purpose.

However, there is another group of people who utilised this time to work hard or study to achieve their goals. While all of this is wonderful, you don’t really need to take the added stress of being productive or creative. Everyone has a different coping mechanism. Workaholism has proved to have led to lockdown depression for many. Some people enjoy being workaholics whereas others would get peace by taking some time off from work.

“There is more to life than increasing its speed.”-

Mahatma Gandhi.

You can be creative and productive if you want but don’t add it to your to-do list of subjects you feel guilty about not doing.

4. Take A Pause

We all have family and work responsibilities but sometimes you need to take a pause. You have to prioritise your mental health before it’s too late and you find yourself in a black hole. It’s of utmost importance that you understand that taking a pause and staying completely away from work is also called being productive.

Engage yourself in soothing practices such as meditation and yoga. These will help you to deal with stress, anxiety, and a constant lethargic feeling many of us have been going through. Here are 11  Yoga Asanas that help in reducing stress and anxiety. 

Practice gratitude and try to find a silver lining in whatever situation you are in right now. There is always a hope in you which should be kept alive that things would get back to normal and life would be beautiful again.

5. Find Time For Things You Love

“It’s always a good idea to do something relaxing before making an important decision in your life”

Paulo Coelho 

This one is especially for working adults who don’t get the time for recreational activities or hobbies. Make sure you find some time for your hobbies as you’re spending most of your time working from home which is not at all easy and sometimes causes a lot of stress and headache. 

The habit of investing time in your hobbies even once a week would give you a lot of happy hormones and peace which will reduce your stress. 

Hopefully, these tips will help you to take a pause and think about your mental health. Have you seen a rise in your stress levels during the lockdown? Share with us. Tell us in the comments how you have been coping with lockdown stress and anxiety.