What Advice would I give myself about Lockdown?

As we approach the anniversary of the first National Lockdown in the UK, the Team at Loop reflect on the advice they would give their 2020 selves on how to handle Lockdown Life.

2020. Well, where do I even start? A year of ups and downs, twists and turns and a lot of staying home. Everyone’s lockdown experience was different and I can confidently say that mine had its good and its bad. I think lockdown was needed for everyone but after the first few months the self isolation, no physical touch and complete lack of normality, everyone had quite enough. Throughout lockdown one, I loved how much time I had on my hands: I sat out on my roof sunbathing, I picked up new hobbies like painting and overall I was just the happiest version of myself. However, I think we can all agree that good things don’t last forever and once we fell into the lockdown trap everyone was on an all time low. Being trapped inside with nothing to do and a fear of going outside I let myself sleep more than I was awake and not have a routine that would make me excited for the day. My sleeping pattern was destroyed and so was my mental health. If I could go back in time and give myself a piece of advice it would be: GET UP!! Work out, go for a run, paint something, talk to someone! I can’t express enough how much I wish I could have told myself to just do one thing, one small thing that would get me out of bed and active. I love working out but when lockdown hit it seemed I loved sleep much more than exercise. To be honest though, I really do wish I didn’t let the second lockdown more than anything else get to me as much as it did. We are all in the same pandemic, we are all living the same section of history, you're never alone. - Emily

If there was one thing I'd do better a year ago in lockdown is to stop just thinking about doing interesting things and actually doing them. I think lockdown has been the time where the most potential creativity has been wasted because I have a myriad of ideas and plans but I never went through with them due to a lack of motivation. - Arch

The year 2020 did not feel like a year as there was no significant amount of time passing. My memories of a ‘physical year’ are still left in 2019. The advice that I would give myself on how to handle lockdown life in 2020 would be to try and be more proactive and do things that I love. Instead of being stuck in various lockdown ‘slumps’. - Sulena

Looking back at 2020, I have mixed views. The year itself was tough. It pushed everyone to their limits, but in that way it made us stronger. If I had to go back to give my 2020 self advice it would be to believe in my own ability to get through it. Almost a year of lockdowns has had its many downfalls, but if nothing else, I think it has taught a lot of people that they are stronger than they thought. I still look to the future with optimism, because at times throughout this past year, positivity was the only thing that kept me believing this would be over one day. And as much as I want to get back to some level of normality, I am looking forward to taking some newfound confidence in myself, appreciation for my friends and family, and optimism into the future with me. Just because something is hard and negative, it doesn’t mean you can’t learn and grow from it. - Isabelle

2020 was a bad year for all, a year we will never forget but it is also a year we could learn from. From 2020 I learnt that nothing is guaranteed, that nothing will last forever and we should love each other as much as we can. I look at 2021 with hope. I missed out on a lot last year, prom, the feeling of finishing my final exam, the huge summer we would have had and much more. This year is starting to look better already with Boris planning to completely end lockdown the day before my birthday! I hope everything goes to plan. - Robert

It’s safe to say that we would all not be the people we are today if not for lockdown. We have all learnt lessons this year both hard and easy. I feel many emotions about what has happened this year but mostly I am grateful. My advice to the 2020 version of me would be: don't stress because everything happens for a reason to put you on the path you're supposed to be on. I know that sounds corny but it’s true. I would have never experienced half of the things I have without the events of covid. Covid-19 was tragic and caused so many deaths and hardships all around the world and made thousands of situations a million times worse. But, for me, I chose to view it differently, as something that happened to teach me the lessons I needed. I know I've learnt patience, I've learnt to be grateful for what you have even if it's not much and I've learnt to accept things that you can not control. Lockdown has been so hard but the lessons learnt in the time lost gave us all new outlooks - Tegan

I think one of the most important pieces of advice I would give myself back in 2020 would be to try and be more disciplined and to not let feelings and emotions take control at some points of the lockdown. Accept when you’re feeling demotivated and accept that something may be affecting you in any way because having those feelings are completely normal. Being negatively affected by something does not in any means you’re becoming weaker, in fact you’re just growing and learning from something that you haven’t faced before - lidia

I would tell myself that 2020 is going to be full of ups and downs, positives and negatives, good days and bad; but that I’d persevere through them all and make it to what could potentially be the light at the end of the tunnel a year later. 2020 has been both an adventure and a mystery for me and I would tell myself to accept the good and the bad that comes with the lockdowns and the rules and the motivation and the lack thereof. It’s a year full of change and growing up and not everything is going to be perfect but it is a learning curve for everyone. - Grace

Looking back on the pre-lockdown situation, there is only one piece of advice that I would give myself. Be prepared to grow and develop as a person, to become a better you. Take lockdown as a time to replenish your health and immerse yourself into the beauty of all things you took for granted. Lockdown will be tough at some points, but you have to keep going. For me lockdown has been a beneficial time, one in which I have become a better person from. Although it has had its downsides, I would’ve informed my past self to use the time for selfgrowth. I would tell myself to keep going and to maintain a healthy sleep-schedule and ‘normal’ daily routine so that the jump from lockdown life to college life wasn’t so vast. Overall, I would inform my pre-lockdown self to use the time wisely, to grow and develop as a person, to become a better, healthier and happier me who is resilient in the face of hardship. - Bella

I think 2020 is a year we will always remember for sure! I think my lockdown experiences have been completely different throughout each of the three lockdowns from my personal experiences. If I could tell myself a year ago one thing it would be to take time to focus on myself but also to not take any moment for granted,which is something I think we have all learnt this year.- Poppy

Spring and summer of 2020 was one of the most unusual and scary situations anyone could imagine being in. However, with the stress from exams lifted and all the free time we all suddenly had, I took the opportunity to take some time for myself and just relax. I found myself doing things I hadn't done in years because I now had the time and, after a couple weeks of being in isolation from other people and out of the school environment we had been in for so long, I found that I had learned and developed new skills and interests. Many people can agree that lockdown changed us and the way we think about different things. For me, I believe that I have become more accepting of things that we can't control or change and more appreciative of things like meeting friends and family that we all took for granted before Covid. Although I do feel as though lockdown benefited me, if I could provide 2020 me advice from the future I would start with saying don't look forward to things such as going out in summer and having prom...because it's not going to happen. Instead I would say that with all the spare time, take the opportunity to spend time with family. I would also say don't focus on when we are going to go back to normal and how things will be in the future because you can't control that. - Annaliese

I think many people would agree with me when I say that 2020 has been the biggest waste of time ever. 2020 kept me in my home for the majority of time, it cancelled my GCSEs and following celebratory fun and it has even stunted my time at college. But I think in 10, 20 years time I’ll look back and think about how crazy it has all been and how unique 2020 was. In a sense it was like medieval time with the plague or influenza but in 2020, it’s weird when you think about it. I won’t miss 2020 but I’ll look back on it thinking about how crazy it was... if that means anything! - Austin