Daily Routine - Life in Lockdown

 With my life set to return to some form "pre-covid normality" on Monday with my final university placement starting, I thought I'd write a blog post on my general daily routine from January to now as it will probably never be quite the same again. Despite missing "regular life" - like being able to properly see friends and grandparents and going out to various places and having different experiences - I've tried to stay as positive as I can and make the most of my days (although at times this has been quite difficult to do but doing as best as I can manage is all that matters).

This is roughly my daily routine from the start of the year until now: life in lockdown edition.

7.00 / 7.15am: I set alarms at 7.00 and 7.15am and try to aim to wake up at around about that time.

7.15 - 8.00am: Between quarter part seven and eight o'clock, I watch some TV. I've really been loving stage musicals/events recently and recently finished watching 'Hamilton' for the first time (available on Disney+) and have, for the past couple of mornings, been making my way through watching the broadway musical 'Newsies' (also on Disney+) which I've been really enjoying.

8.00am: I wake up my brother and we go down and get breakfast together. My go-to breakfast has been Weetabix with banana and honey or Weetabix with peanut butter - both so tasty😄While eating breakfast, we've been watching 'Victorious' (available on Netflix and Amazon Prime) but since we just recently finished every episode, we've now moved onto 'iCarly' (available on Amazon Prime) and I've been loving the nostalgia these shows bring.

8.30-9.00am: I spend time scrolling through various social medias while sitting with my guinea pig. I've been enjoying easing myself into the day rather than trying to get started on anything as soon as possible.

9.00-9.15am: I get dressed and ready for a workout.

9.15-10.00am: I do a 45minute kettlebell workout in the morning - usually following along to a BodyFit by Amy video on YouTube. Amy's kettlebell workouts are my favourite, they're so easy to follow along too and you can go at your own pace/do modifications of certain exercises to suit your ability. I've been doing her workouts for about two years now and I'm definitely stronger/more toned from them. I like to workout in the morning because I feel it really sets me up for the day and it's something I'm going to miss when I start placement (there's no way I'm waking up any earlier than I need to😄). As I've been loving musicals recently, I usually workout to a playlist of songs from various musicals which is perhaps an odd choice to workout to but it motivates me nonetheless😄.

10.00am: After I've finished the workout, I go for a quick shower and then get myself ready for the day - getting dressed and setting up whatever it is I plan to work on.

10.30am: I always make my dad a cup of tea at this time.

10.45am-12.15pm: I make a start on any uni work - which has mainly consisted of writing up my dissertation. This week however, I had a bunch of other uni tasks to work through in preparation for starting placement next week which has actually been quite fun overall as it was something new to be working on rather than rereading my dissertation and overthinking the whole thing😄.

12.15-1.00pm: Lunchtime is usually somewhere in this time. As my brother, dad and I have been working from home, we try to make sure to eat lunch together. My favourite lunch has currently been avocado and egg on toast with sesame seeds and sweet chilli sauce!

1.00-4.00pm: I spend my afternoon getting on with uni work - taking breaks to check social medias or to read a chapter from whatever book I'm reading.

4.00pm: Feed guinea pig. She knows when her feeding time is and always starts squeaking at me by this time😄

4.15-5.00pm: At this time I continue on with any uni work that I still want to get done or get things organised and planned ready for the next day.

5.00-5.30/6.00pm: In the time before dinner, I'll read or watch a TV show. I've been back to loving rewatching old Disney channel shows on Disney+.

5.30/6.00pm: I usually get dinner at round about this time.

6.30-7.15pm: In this time, I usually play my guitar. I've been loving playing my electric guitar recently. Been trying to learn the 'Hotel California' solo but my fingers just can't move as fast as they need to😄.

7.14-7.45pm: I do an evening kettlebell, a shorter video than the morning, to get to an hour of exercise overall - as the weather hasn't been the best recently to walk, I've still been trying to keep active in any way I can and I've found my kettlebell videos to be the best for me.

7.45-8.30pm: In this time, I'll either go for another shower or go for a bath - I've been loving baths recently! I take in my book and just chill, reading in the tub😄

8.30pm: Usually at this time, my family and I will all get together to watch a movie although recently we've been watching 'The Mandalorian' on Disney+ since we finished watching all of the Star Wars movies. (Except on Monday's which has been the day that, around this time, I zoom with friends from uni to catch up and talk about our week/any uni-related stuff we've done throughout the week).

However, since Tuesday we've been watching the celebrity special of 'The Circle' on channel 4 for Stand Up To Cancer which I've been loving (it's making me so excited for the new season that's starting next week!) so from 9.00-10.00pm we've been watching that and then watching an episode of The Mandalorian afterwards.

11.30pm: I normally head up to bed by this point if I haven't already. I'll usually either read, watch some TV or listen to music until I feel tired and then I'll head to sleep - ready for everything to begin again the next day😄

So that's been a general daily routine for the past three months. It's going to be so weird getting back into another routine - one that involves actually leaving the house and staying out all day! I can't believe how quickly "new normals" start to become the norm. I'm hoping that I manage to find my feet fairly quickly when on placement.

What's been the best part of your day recently?

Bye for now, xo