I thought I’d take a break before writing a new blog post. I know I’m definitely not the only one who feels entirely overwhelmed by the state of the world. I/we definitely don’t want to add to those feelings so we’re going to pivot to helping our community in the ways we are able to.

We’re extremely fortunate to be able to change our main production towards essential products for our local community and a selection of local pharmacies. This has kept us busy and supporting our frontline is a humbling position to be in. If you haven’t started, maybe take a minute to show thanks to our frontline at 7pm tonight – here’s a video of some examples.

This week we were also told that we’re now able to contactlessly deliver certain ‘essential’ products to our customers throughout New Zealand. To make it easier to tell, we’ve added some stickers to our products that can be shipped out to you now.

These changes have allowed us to keep our small team safe and also employed. Some of us already work remotely and others have transitioned over to working from home too. As someone who has worked from home for a few years now, I thought I’d give you a few lessons I’ve learnt over the years. I hope they help your new ‘normal’ and create some positive changes (most of them will work even if you’re not working during lockdown too).

Get Dressed

I know how tempting it is to stay in bed or wear your newly converted ‘Quarantine Pants’ every single day. But seriously, don’t. Your mental health will take a major hit and each day will begin to run into an endless week. Get dressed, it doesn’t have to be fancy but steer clear of clothes you wouldn’t leave the house in. It honestly makes a massive difference to how you feel and in the weekends you can slouch and have ‘Tiger King’ marathons to your heart’s content.

Create a Work/Calm Space

My family and I live in a small house, one that was two weeks into a renovation when we went into self-isolation. So I completely understand that creating a workspace in your home might be tricky. However, we all need to make spaces for us to be uninterrupted (I hear cupboards are great escape rooms too). If you don’t have an office, sit outside or in a corner of the house, you can section-off with your laptop. I highly recommend noise-cancelling headphones – they’re actually considered ‘essential’ right now so clearly someone in the MOB has young kids too!

Schedule Self Care

Sounds silly but cutting time out of your day to check-in with yourself is ultra important right now. My Mum has discovered ‘Yoga With Adrienne‘ each morning. I use my ‘Waking Up’ App by Sam Harris to practice meditation each morning, he has a great lesson plan to guide you through. It’s a bit like the Couch to 5k for meditation Whatever it is that relaxes you, do it. I baked some amazing hot cross buns yesterday and completing a practical project felt pretty great. Even more importantly: Make time for yourself.

Keep Simple Routines

I’m not a big make-up person but I find washing my face with a facecloth and smothering my face in a face mask or all my serums puts me in my happy place. I’d implore you to hold onto your routines or create some new ones that you look forward to each day. Skincare can feel de-prioritised for good reason right now but sometimes those simple actions can really make a positive difference.

Mental health isn’t just about therapy, it’s about taking care of yourself the way you’re doing for your friends and family right now.

Be safe, be kind and stay home. We’ll get through this apart but together. <3

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