So here we are again…the first weekend of England’s second lockdown. I don’t know about you, but I was not expecting to be back in a nationwide lockdown again. I was hopeful that the local lockdowns and track and trace would have stepped up and meant we wouldn’t all be forced back into isolation. However, we’re in this situation and I just hope that we have a better exit strategy this time to avoid getting into a cycle of repeated lockdowns and really damaging people’s mental health.
For me it’s going to be a little different this lockdown, as last time I was furloughed from work but this time I’m working (pretty much permanently from home). I actually got into a really good routine of trail running, yoga, daily French practice and reading plenty of books last time which meant I dealt with it all quite well. The weather was also a big help as I spent the vast majority of my time outside, which is always good for your general wellbeing.
This time around though, things are going to be quite different so I think it’s going to be really important to keep an eye out for each other. With winter coming and dark nights ahead of us, it isn’t going to be as appealing to get out for some exercise or get those long overdue jobs ticked off the to-do list. We have written a list of things we’re going to do to try and keep our spirits up over this next month, like getting a cook at home treat meal from Hickory’s (https://hickorysathome.co.uk/) and a takeaway afternoon tea from a local farm shop. Having small things like these to look forward is going to be really important, so have a think about some things you can do to keep morale up.
With it being the run up to Christmas, I think it’s important to try and support our local independent businesses where possible when buying gifts or vouchers. Whilst I love Amazon and being able to get hold of pretty much anything the next day, it’s going to be key to try and make more purchases from independent shops where your custom could well be the difference between them making it out of this mess. I love buying from Not on the High Street or Etsy, where you can pick up some really unusual and personalised gifts.
We are big craft beer fans in my household, and we’re going to make sure we support our favourite bars like The Coracle (https://www.facebook.com/TheCoraclePub/) and Tilt (https://tiltbrum.com/) by ordering takeaway cans and merchandise from them. We are also going to order directly from our favourite breweries such as Brewdog and Siren, where they get a much greater profit compared to buying via supermarkets. We’re hoping that by doing what we can to support our favourite bars and breweries, they will be able to open again once the restrictions are lifted and we can enjoy these places again in person.
Take a moment to think about the things that you can do to support independent businesses – the supermarkets have made record-breaking profits already this year and it’s time we shifted that to smaller companies where we can. I know it isn’t always as easy as that, but personally I’m going to make sure I think twice before I automatically buy something on the weekly grocery shop that I could get elsewhere from a local business online.
If you want to discuss anything about lockdown or are feeling like you need some motivation for getting through this weird period of life, please get in touch in the comments or at thefemaleengineerblog@gmail.com.
Emilie
The Female Engineer
