5 tips to counter Covid fatigue

She is all of us right now.

Covid loves your fatigue

Covid fatigue is high and like everyone, I can’t quite be bothered to read another article about this stupid virus.  But unfortunately, Coronavirus doesn’t give a monkeys what we think and it literally thrives off our disinterest so let’s keep it on the back burner at the very least and stay informed.

With the Rule of Six now in force in the UK, there are further restrictions in place to minimise the spread of Coronavirus.  The infection rate is sharply increasing and parts of the UK are being placed under stricter local lockdowns so try as we might, it’s hard to forget the virus is very much still with us.  At the same time, the pain of the recent nationwide lockdown is still raw and we all witnessed the harms of social isolation - on our physical and mental health, not to mention the wider impact on the economy and society at large.

Building resilience 

So whilst we look towards winter with a degree of uncertainty, we can take steps to build our resilience and undertake practices to help us manage Coronavirus risk in our day to day lives.

 Here’s 5 basics to keep in mind to stay connected and safe during the days ahead:

1.     Don’t stop seeing people altogether!  We are social beings.  The spread of the virus is not so high that we need to go back to where we were in April.  At the same time, we need to take care and follow guidelines: HANDS (wash them), SPACE (2m), FACE (mask) – finally, they came up with a really good slogan! Pace yourself - we may need to cut down our social interactions even further in the months ahead so it’s good for your overall health to use this time sensibly, safely and wisely.

2.     Stay outside if you can.  INDOORS = This really needed to have been put into the slogan. But then The weather is still on our side. Though we’re allowed to mix indoors whilst socially distancing, let’s make the most of the sunshine while we have it.   The virus spreads less outdoors so it’s in all of our interests to mix with others outdoors.

3.     Some essentials need to occur under a roof – that’s ok! Kids need to learn, people need to work and businesses need to function.  But wherever you can – if there’s an option to – mix with people outside when possible, particularly if you are in a high risk category.

4.     Take time to look after yourself – factor this in to your day, every day.  It’s been a long year but we’ve made it this far.  Build up your resilience with some daily self-care. 

5.     Be kind – these words have become a little overused to put it lightly, but before you eye roll and scroll on, let’s take a moment to remember that everyone has been on their own personal journeys since the pandemic has started.  As someone who is very much *not * an anti-masker, I must confess I struggle to find compassion for the anti-maskers/anti-vaxxers/anti-lockdowners etc and so the list goes on.  But try we must.  Everyone’s had enough so let’s meet the inevitable differences with empathy and civility.

I’ll be posting on the blog with more tips so sign up to the newsletter to stay up to date.