Hello, I’m Jessica Hylands Life Coach

So how are you getting on with the lockdown?

You may be enjoying it.

So many people are telling me that they’ve found a new way of living and don’t want to go back to the old way.

On the other hand, another lot of people are telling me that they can’t stand it and it’s driving them mad.

Either way, there are two different things that we could all be thinking about doing.

And this applies to life in general, lockdown or not.

If you’re feeling bored, you may want to put some focus into your life.  

So, two things to think about doing to make each day feel better and more productive.

The first one is that if you find you are getting bored and frustrated, make a routine to do stuff.

That might include, exercising, cleaning the house, working on the garden, decorating, keeping a journal or maybe writing a book.

In order to come up with this list, write down any random thing that you enjoy doing, or things that need to get done.

That might include ironing, or drawing. Or work if that’s applicable.

Once you’ve come up with your list, make a schedule for it all.

It may be one hour cleaning, one hour drawing, one hour exercising and so on.

Or it may be half a day cleaning, half a day drawing.

And you may structure it as Monday 9am Exercise, 10am writing

Or it may be Monday, one hour each of gardening, exercising, drawing etc

Or you may just have a list that you work through without giving duration or specified time to the activity.  

It will depend on your character and which way you naturally like to work but recognise which way of working suits you best. You want this list, or schedule, to inspire you. Not horrify you.

Play around with the idea. See if there’s anything within the idea that you can use which might enable you to get some structure to your day and help you feel less bored and frustrated.

So, having said that about being more active, more proactive, there will be others who are very proactive and who keep their days full to the brim with things to do.

That’s great and if you’re that way by nature you will be really enjoying it.

If you are that way inclined, do you find that you fill every minute of every day with things to do.

If you have a free half hour to sit in the garden, you’ll take a pen and paper with you and start planning a change to the garden, or completely new design. Or perhaps you take a book with you to read. A crossword. The radio to listen to.

If that rings a bell for you, consider taking some time to do nothing. Some time to think.

It can be the case that we always make sure we’re doing something to avoid having time to think.

It’s very important to let your mind wander and to do what it wants to do. To think about what it needs to. To resolve issues that might be lurking in there somewhere.

Keeping busy all the time could well be a sign that you are avoiding thinking because you know what’s under there and you’d rather keep it buried.

That won’t be doing you any favours. It takes a lot of energy to bury stuff.

And there will be consequences to you doing that.

Maybe tiredness, bad digestion, muscle aches, headaches.

All these things can be signals to you from your inner self, that there’s something you need to be dealing with.

Some inner issue that you need to be looking at and resolving.

That can be anything from being in a relationship that you know deep down isn’t giving you what you want.

A job that you’ve fallen out of love with.

Maybe it’s about you.

You‘re not living a life true to yourself – not living how you’d like to.

Living behind a persona that has been built up over the years.  

So, whatever the root of the issue or how its’s manifesting itself, you get the signal, the headache maybe, you take paracetamol and then go and watch TV, read a book, do something else.

Anything else, to distract yourself.

The issue gets pushed down. You can ignore it. The next time the signal comes you do the same. Potentially the signals getting stronger and stronger i.e. a more and more severe headache, worse digestion, worse muscle ache or pain.

And so, it goes on.

You may recognise this cycle in yourself. Or maybe not now but the next time you feel a recurring symptom of some kind, you may recognise that the timing of it could well mean that it’s related to an issue.

You nay not know what the issue is. You just know that the signal was due to a psychological cause rather than an external one.

For example getting a headache after a conversation with someone. On the face of it, the conversation was something and nothing, but you’re aware on some level that it was the cause of the headache.

So in summary, if you feel constantly at a loose end, try and get some structure in your life.

If you’re someone who fills every second of every day, think about whether there might be a hint of avoidance in there somewhere. You can’t face sitting with just you and your thoughts.

If you do recognise that and would like some help to sort things from the inside out, then do get in touch for a chat and we can talk about what we can do about it.

I wish you all the best in sorting yourself out one way or another or if you’d like any help then it would be great to chat.  

Thanks for listening,

Bye for now