It can feel frustrating when people tell you to keep calm and carry on at any time, and right now in the uncertain circumstances, it may even feel so frustrating that you want to poke someone in the eye. Really hard. The global crisis has left all of us reeling and feeling uncertain about our whole lives for the foreseeable future. 

Please do not poke people in the eye, we are meant to be social distancing so here I have brought together some of the tips I have been following to support me and my community with mindset, mental health and anxiety. 
 

1. Only watch the updates on what you need to know and avoid the rest of the news.

I would actually usually recommend avoiding the news altogether, however due to the current circumstances it is really important to stay up to date with the information you need to know in order to keep yourself safe. You can find the factual information on the government website, once you know the information you need then remove yourself from the news and do not tune back in unless you need to. You can actually sign up for email updates on the government website so that you know when there is an update on something you will need to know about. 

2. Be kind to yourself and treat yourself.

It is easy to forget about yourself in times like this so remember to check in with yourself and still take good care of you. Self-care is important at the best of times and especially if there is more stress than usual. It is important to remember to check in with you, have a hot bubble bath and look after number 1. Be very aware of your self talk at the moment and if you find yourself feeling negative or being negative put on your favorite music track and just let yourself go for a moment. Grab a book and indulge in clearing your mind if you can. You can find a free copy of my book to download digitally here.

3. Reduce social media time 

Social media is currently full of panic and anxiety and rightly so. With the world going mad right now and everything being so unpredictable it is natural for people to feel scared about the future. We have something programmed into our brains called confirmation bias. This is how we are programmed as humans. We look for information to back up the beliefs that we have and if you are on social media a lot seeing people worrying then all you are doing is programming your mind to see more of the panic and upset in the world. It is not about forgetting about people needing help and support, it is about being in the best possible mindset yourself to be able to offer that support in the best possible way you can.

4. Turn off social media notifications 

To help with reducing the amount of social media time you take, consider turning off social media notifications to stop you from checking in with it too often. Make sure your friends know that if they need you they can pick up the phone and call you or whats app you. If you do not already have a whats app group with your friends, consider creating one to check in with your friends and loved ones.

5. Focus on what you CAN control 

With so much uncertainty right now and us all going into the unknown it is really easy to feel anxious. What happens when we feel negative and anxious is we project that perception into the world. That then creates our behaviours which gives us our outcomes and the results we get in life. If you begin to release the need to control everything around you and begin to trust that the world will move around you it will be far easier to continue with as much of ‘normal’ life as possible. I know that may sound crazy in a time like this, and change is scary. Remember the above, by worrying and trying to control we are just programming our mindset to focus on everything that is going wrong and the healing process will be much harder and take much longer.

I have created a free group to share mindset and anxiety support to those who need it where you will find resources to support you to feel calmer and relax as much as possible: join here.