Client newsletter | Self-care strategies | 03/04/2020
Latest newsletter from Red Door - 3 rd April
This week I’ve become very aware of the way people are feeling about working from home. We’ve found a routine to deal with the huge change to our lives and I know many people have adjusted really well. However, there are others who are finding it quite isolating and lonely, or struggling to maintain productivity, and maintain a good work/life balance.
Firstly, I have listed the top 10 things we miss most about the office
1. Work Banter 41%
2. Colleagues 40%
3. Having company around me 35%
4. Routine 32%
5. Bouncing ideas off each other 30%
6. The office buzz to motivate me 22%
7. Collaborating with others 21%
8. Learning from others and grown up conversation 17%
9. The commute 9%
10. Water cooler gossip 8%
On the positive side, people said working from home allowed them to claw back extra time due to the lack of commute, one third said they can lie in and 20% said they love the extra time with their pets
The Office for National Statistics says that 50% of employees will work entirely remotely next year, while 90% of staff state they would like to work remotely part time. As it’s here to stay for some time this new way of working may change the way we work forever! I’ve gathered together the best ideas from webinars, business websites and the internet to share with you.
Here are 6 self-care strategies for staying healthy at home, always a challenge with the fridge and snack drawer a few steps away!
It’s more important than ever that we take care of our physical health and emotional wellbeing, but it’s not hard to build a few simple self-care rituals into your day. These will help you to manage stress and anxiety, build mental and physical resilience and navigate new challenges. From the importance of taking mindful breaks to the benefits of getting creative and how to exercise indoors, our experts help you discover new ways to stay healthy in your own home.
1. Breathe
A little and often approach to breathwork is the key. If you’re working from home, a few minutes of belly breathing before starting at the laptop and a few minutes of alternate nostril breathing before bed can help us to start and end our days in a more relaxed state of mind. 'The breath hold is good for building the immune system and the balanced pace of the inhale and exhale brings calm to the mind.’
2. Be mindful
Like breathing, you can practise mindfulness anywhere, any time. Popular meditation app Headspace has unlocked a free, specially curated collection of meditation and mindfulness content called Weathering The Storm, packed with guided meditations, sleep and movement exercises designed to help us navigate change, reframe anxiety, improve focus and deal with impermanence and uncertainty.
3. Keep active
Staying fit and healthy needn’t mean pounding the pavements or hitting the gym – it can be as simple as streaming a pre-work workout to your laptop. Top trainers, influencers and fitness studios including Barry's Bootcamp and Psycle London have taken to YouTube and Instagram Live to offer free or donation-only exercise classes. The NHS Fitness Studio is also providing a range of 24 on-demand classes, from postnatal yoga to belly dancing.
Yoga doesn’t have to be done in a studio, nor is it about mood music or candles, so there’s no need to feel intimidated by the idea of starting a home practice.
4. Eat smart
Sticking to a healthy diet and building healthy meals from scratch can be a challenge at the best of times, but even more so when we find ourselves adjusting to a change in circumstances.
We’ve all got foods lurking in our cupboards, so now it’s more important than ever to use up what you have and love your leftovers. Aim to include a variety of foods from the different food groups across mealtimes. Creating a healthy routine can help you find some order in your day. Establish set meal times, plan and prepare your meals and stick to it!’
Picking high-fibre foods and keeping yourself hydrated will help you stay fuller for longer: water, tea, coffee, milk, juice, sugar-free drinks, soups and stews all count. Habitual fridge raider? You can work one to two 100- calorie snacks into your daily meal plan – just stay mindful.
5. Get creative
Creative play isn’t just for kids. Journaling, sketching and painting are all great ways to boost mood, express ourselves and build connections with others. ‘Scary times often make us want to retreat, but our data shows that being creative can significantly improve our mental health and wellbeing – and create an opening for connection,’ says Jemima Frankel, Communications and Community Coordinator at 64 Million Artists, a social enterprise that champions everyday creativity. ‘And what we need more than anything right now is to stay connected – just not by holding hands.
‘Being creative can act as a vehicle to community and reflection – it is a conversation starter, a distraction; it can be surprising, inspiring, collaborative; and it’s a chance to use your brain and body a little differently, turning the ordinary into the extraordinary – whatever that means to you. There is hope to be had, and at 64 Million Artists we’re in the business of hope. Try new crafts, sing in your shower, plant new things in your garden, learn an instrument, “commute” around your house, make stuff out of loo roll tubes. Then share what you’ve done – start an online book group, knitting club or creativity cafe.’
Fancy flexing your creative muscles? Sign up for the two week #CreateToConnect challenge, which serves up a new creativity activity to try each day. ‘The challenges are very varied,’
‘They might involve poetry or crafting, singing or dancing, sketching or imagining – but each one offers a quick, fun and accessible dose of creative inspiration. All the challenges are suitable for children, grandparents and everyone in between. Use them to open up conversation, learn new things, create together, listen to each other and make the (creative) time to navigate this extraordinary time.’
I also came across these great ideas from the Good Food Website
Virtual supper together
What: forget the stuttering Skype calls of the 2000s, the best video chats take place on Zoom. The remote conferencing platform allows up to 500 people to video chat, with two display options (which intuitively switches to whoever's speaking). It’s long been used for business, but in the age of COVID19 isolation, it’s the perfect way to have a supper or recreate a meal out with your friends without leaving the house.
How: schedule a Zoom meeting and agree a recipe or order take away. Set up your laptop slightly elevated (on a shelf or stack of books, for example) so you can capture as much of you and your table as possible. Keep it simple and maximise your chat time by either cooking a onepot main dish and a pre-prepared dessert, or timing the takeaway to arrive around the same time
Tips: silly hats, room decorations and a fancily laid table will all help you forget you're still at home.
Price: unlimited time on one-to-one meetings and 40 minutes free per group meeting; then £11.99 per month.
Aperitivo hour
What: if you miss sinking cocktails and clowning around with your nearest and dearest, then the Houseparty app is for you. Already downloaded by over 2 million people, the virtual partying app allows you to video hangout with up to eight friends per ‘room’, host several ‘parties’ at one time, play games and screenshare. It’s enjoyed a surge in popularity during the pandemic, sparking the trend for ‘aperiTV’.
How: Houseparty will notify you when one of your friends goes into the app, so you can spontaneously ‘party’, or you can arrange a time to ‘meet’. Of course, you would never arrive at a party empty handed, so before you open the app, rustle up a pink negroni and some quick nibbles such as artichoke crostini or antipasti skewers.
Tips: adjust your settings so strangers can’t gate crash your rooms and games. Hold down the app icon to enable the ‘sneak into the house’ function, so others won’t know you’re in the app.
Price: free on iOS, android and desktop.
Happy online birthday
What: the pandemic has put an end to children’s parties but kids can still celebrate and connect with JustTalk Kids. Similar to Houseparty, but without friend requests, messaging or calls from strangers, it operates on wifi so kids don’t need a phone. Up to 16 people can talk in one call, with plenty of stickers, doodles and games to help them interact.
How: maintain the birthday rituals by sending out online invites (try papier.com for something personalised) and then, together, make a birthday buffet of open sandwiches, chocolate chip muffins, pizza and of course, a birthday cake. Get dressed up for the party, decorate the room and position the laptop near enough to your child so they can use the keyboard and eat cake.
Tips: ask everyone to wear fancy dress, silly hats or masks. Alternatively, set a task, such as junk modelling or painting, and ask each child to show their creation. Parents and grandparents can join in the party on their phones via the adult version of the app, JustTalk.
Price: from £3.99 for one month on iOS, android and desktop.
Netflix and a takeaway
What: recreate the joys of watching a film and having a takeaway with your friends with the help of Netflix Party, a Chrome extension that allows you to screen share, sync your Netflix content and group chat.
How: everyone taking part must download the Netflix Party extension for Chrome and log into their Netflix accounts. Choose a show to watch, click the NP logo in your browser and then copy the ‘party’ URL and share it with your fellow watchers. Your screens will sync, with a comment box on the right. If you’ve stopped takeaway deliveries during coronavirus, why not make your own? These fakeaway recipes, such as Turkish kebabs or easy butter chicken, are easy, healthy and you won’t have to worry about them being late or cold.
Tips: for a bigger screen, connect your laptop to your TV with an HDMI cable.
Price: free. Only available on Chrome desktop.
Lastly, take a look at this positive video to put a smile on your face today, remember this will all be a distant memory soon! https://www.facebook.com/TheSocialCoUK/videos/3653942478011904/
Wishing you all a great weekend, we are doing the virtual restaurant on Saturday. Ordering take out and then eating together with 2 friends. I’ll let you know how we get on next week!