Wellbeing on Intelligent Dithering

Lockdown Mental Health - 1 year later!

Fri, 19 Mar 2021 00:00:00 +0000

It has been exactly one year since I wrote my post about ways to help with your mental health during troubling times. None of us could have predicted that a year on we would be in a similar position to the first Lockdown of 2020 ( I am dating these in case it becomes an annual fixture! ).

Back in 2020 the idea that this would become a major issue was almost laughable at the start.

“It is just in Asia, never coming here.”

“Oh its just handful of cases in England, not a problem for us.”

Until it was.

It didn’t seem like a huge issue until that night when the Prime Minister made his broadcast to the nation. It felt like the start of something really major, like you see in disaster movies when they announce that the comet will strike and be an extinction level event. I can’t recall any similar announcements in my lifetime in this country. I found it fascinating and shocking at the same time and didn’t really know how to process it for a few days.

But, here we are a year later. Still here. Still not in a padded cell. So things are OK. Here is a list of things I have found helpful over the last year. I intend that these will be a part of my daily life from now on.

Exercise

I have been exercising more. Partly for mental health but mainly for physical health. Getting out for a walk or a run not only keep all the chemicals in balance but I find it helps with routine. Getting outside will be easier now too that the weather and light is starting to turn, so I expect that my mood will only improve from here.

Routine

Critical. Cannot stress enough how important some form of routine is. I struggle during the holidays as I lose that routine of work and lose track of what day it is etc. It really messes with my head and I feel a bit disconnected and out of control. Trying to maintain a regular routine is a huge help with this. I have been lucky that I am considered a key worker and was still working throughout. Losing that routine for that length of time would have been a major problem for me, although I think I would have recognised this and tried to structure my days another way to compensate.

Downtime

Having a young family, it feels like you are never off duty. When you finish work you are straight into dinner / bath / bed routine etc. Having even a few minutes to just sit and decompress is so important for mental health, more now than before even. And taking time off the usual chores to binge a box set, aimlessly browse YouTube, listen to some music is totally OK. Taking time for yourself is not selfish, because when you are well rested and in balance, you are a better person to everyone around you. Being kind to yourself in turn makes you kinder to others. Everyone wins.

Giving slack

This year has seen us go from paranoid and bleaching things to within an inch of their lives, afraid to go to the shop etc, to now a more measured approach as we have all had more time and data to appropriately weigh the risks and manage our behaviours. Masks are just a normal thing now, it doesn’t feel strange wearing them in public. The first time I went into the bank with my head shaved and a mask on was interesting to say the least, now no one bats an eye. We have all adjusted and found the groove.

Everyone has a different risk profile. A different set of rules they use to navigate their world in a way that feels safe for them and others around them. Each person will have a different fear level. And we all need to give each other a bit of compassion and slack around this.

Everyone has a different home life setup. I have found that people are being more accommodating of each other and I really hope that this is a feature of the pandemic that we can hang on to.

Journalling / Diary for mental health

This is something I have done on and off over the years but the last 6 months I have made it stick. I find it incredibly useful even though I thought it was a bit “hippy dippy” to start.

Each day I jot down a handful of things I would like to get done that day.

Then at the end of each day I write in another section my “Wins” for the day. These are a few lines of things that I got done, or positive things for the day. Every single day you can find 3 positive things that happened, some days you just have to look a little harder. But it can be anything from “Got new server set up and its working well” to small things like “Saw a lovely sunset on way home”

The key feature of this is to have you finishing your day thinking of the good that happened, not ruminating on the bad. For mental health this is a big win.

There is a final section where I can jot down any other thoughts, little things that I would like to remember etc.

I do this all on my iPad with the Apple Pencil. I find it important that this is done in writing and not typed. But iPad gives the benefit of it being stored digitally and it is all searchable as the handwriting (as bad as mine is) is recognised by the system. I use Goodnotes (opens in a new tab) for this.

The last thing I do is have a little bar of 5 emojis from Super Happy to Sad. I circle the one that fits the day. I very rarely have below a 3 as doing this end of day audit makes you see the day as a whole, and any bad moments tend to melt into the rest of the day. It has massively helped keep things in perspective.

I have this all in a custom PDF template that I made. I may share it on here once I have ironed out a few of the rough edges!

Mindfulness

This one has been a little harder to stick to but I still find it very useful. I especially like the Netflix series from Headspace (opens in a new tab) and found it a great re-introduction to Mindfulness. I would recommend you give it a go!

Even just 5 minutes of sitting watching my breath gives my 100mph mind a chance to reset and slow down. I find this useful at the end of the day to switch off a bit. I will also use this if I feel myself getting tense and feel a panic attack coming on. A few minutes with eyes closed, turning down the sensory input just calms the storm.

Conclusion

We have managed for a whole year. People thought they couldn’t cope with the initial 3 week lockdown that was announced almost a year ago. But here we are, one year, several extended lockdowns and God knows how many banana bread loaves later. We have adjusted and adapted and will continue to.

Be kind, give some slack and look after yourself. And remember that mental health is just as important as physical health!

Geeky stuff to do during lockdown

Sun, 29 Mar 2020 00:00:00 +0000

You can and should do these things all year round really, but perhaps especially so now.

Some of these may be UK specific. Just a few things that can help with staying at home for a few weeks.

Reading

Libby (opens in a new tab)

App to access your local public library to borrow Audiobooks, eBooks and Digital Magazines, for free. All you need is your Library Card Number to sign up.

Readly (opens in a new tab)

£7.99 a month for access to thousands of digital magazines. And access for up to 5 family members. I used to buy 3 or 4 print magazines at £6 each a month so this was a no brainer and I have found many more interesting magazines through it. Highly recommended

Audible Stories (opens in a new tab)

Amazon have opened up their Stories Audiobook section for free streaming for the duration of the school closures. Great to entertain the kids and fun for home schooling phase. Some classics like Shakespeare in here too, so not just for kids.

Learn something

Kurzgesagt (opens in a new tab)

This is a fantastic YouTube channel of explainer videos. Beautifully animated and very clear. Set aside a few hours as these can be a rabbit hole for a curious mind!

YouTube EDU (opens in a new tab)

So many free videos on almost any topic. Learn to program, learn to knit, anything you like. You have some time so make the most of it.

More Ideas (opens in a new tab)

Here is a fantastic list of lifelong learning resources to browse through. Some brilliant stuff here, I could lock myself away for 6 months and still never get through everything that piques my interest!

Relax / Distract

See the International Space Station in your garden!

The ISS is making passes over the UK 21st March 2020 - 4th April 2020. The fantastic MeteorWatch website has a list of the timings here. (opens in a new tab) They also provide alerts of passes on Twitter @VirtualAstro (opens in a new tab)

You can see it on a clear night with the naked eye, no equipment required except perhaps a warm coat :)

Knowing there are people up there whizzing round the Earth at 17,000mph is super cool for adults, let alone children!

Portal - Focus, Sleep, Escape (opens in a new tab)

We could all use a little calm at the moment. This app provides gorgeous visuals and soundscapes to drown out the noise or have a moment of peace. 4 free soundscapes and 18 more if you unlock for £3.99. I particularly enjoy the waves.

Games

There are so many great games out there but this is a small selection of ones that I have enjoyed or that are free at the moment.

Alto’s Odyssey (opens in a new tab)

Free during the pandemic. This is kind of like a snowboarding game but super arty and with a zen-like soundtrack. I find the free play mode so relaxing with headphones in. Did I mention it is currently free?

Monument Valley (opens in a new tab)

Another beautiful game. Puzzle game with a relaxing soundtrack and stunning visuals and a feel good storyline. And it is free for a limited time so snap it up quickly!

Words with Friends (opens in a new tab)

Scrabble for iOS and Android. Play turn based over an hour or a few days, whatever pace suits. Great for keeping social interaction with friends. Pro Tip: Qi is a word

Super Mario Run (opens in a new tab)

Very simple runner game. My kids love this and the music will bring back happy memories for anyone who grew up in the 80s.

Improving mental health during troubling times

Thu, 19 Mar 2020 00:00:00 +0000

This CoronaVirus outbreak is understandably difficult for everyone. Many people will be struggling with their mental health, including “normal” people who have not had issues before. I hope that sharing what little I know from my personal experience might help even one person.

I have issues with mental health, specifically a fairly aggressive anxiety disorder, panic attacks and a form of OCD (OCD of thoughts, thankfully I do not have any of the rituals that come with the more severe kind).

During times like this my tendency towards negative thinking can become overwhelming. In Cognitive Behavioural Therapy they are described as Automatic Negative Thoughts. There are many categories of them and they fall into groups like All or Nothing thinking, Catastrophising ( I am awesome at this one! And also know it isn’t a real word… ), Mind Reading (thinking you know what horrible things other MUST be thinking about you, like “his spelling is awful, Catastrophising isn’t even a real word”) etc.

Almost all of these ANTs are based on false beliefs, cognitive biases and assumptions.

I have found this worksheet (opens in a new tab) incredibly useful to help defuse these thoughts and over time reduce their frequency. It can seem silly at first but if you stick at it you will feel noticeably better after writing out the thought and seeing it for what it is. Just a thought.

I would recommend writing on the sheet using an Apple Pencil or with pen and paper. There is something about the act of writing that works better than typing. But typing is still better than not doing it at all.

Mindfulness for mental health

Mindfulness (opens in a new tab) practice is something I also thought was a bit hippy dippy but now I see the benefits. It has also been proven to be beneficial for pretty much everyones health, but specifically for anxiety and depression. Even just a few minutes to focus on the present moment and nothing else can quickly quash a build up of negativity.

For this you can use any of the following:

Breathe app on Apple Watch
Smiling Mind (opens in a new tab) (iOS, Android)
Headspace (opens in a new tab)

Most of these are free, or have free content to get started with. Headspace has some basic free content that is worth trying, but the full app is also free for educators in UK, US, Canada and Australia. You can apply for a free full account here (opens in a new tab)

This one is tricky. Social media can provide a lot of fun, humour and welcome distraction. It can also provide connection to people to help with loneliness. However it also comes with a ton of fake news and FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt).

I would stick to fun social media outlets like Instagram. Facebook can become a mental health drain very quickly.

Also watch the news once a day and don’t keep checking. Turn off breaking news notifications in any news apps you have. If something important happens, don’t worry, you will hear about it.

Exercise for mental health

I am not great at following this one myself, but getting some exercise and specifically getting out into nature can be immensely rewarding. Get out for a walk and really take in what you see. Make it an exercise in mindfulness and noticing the sights and smells and sounds. A walk on a sunny day in a park is hard to beat!

Talk

I hope some of this is helpful. But if you are struggling then please please talk to someone about how you feel. A friend, colleague, even find a support group online. Just try to get it out there and you will be amazed how many “sane” people are thinking the same way you are! Bottling it up helps no one.

Stay safe.

The Perfect Month with Pokemon Go

Sat, 03 Sep 2016 00:00:00 +0000

So I have a dark secret….. I play Pokemon Go (opens in a new tab). It is a part of the reason things have been so quiet on here.

I just missed the original Pokemon craze as a player, but I worked in Game at the time so was exposed to the mania of it on a daily basis.

“Hey Mr, you got any Pokemon cards in stock?”

When I read about the upcoming game and saw some of the trailers (opens in a new tab) I was intrigued. The urban exploration and social aspects of the game looked fascinating and, thanks to having a severe Warcraft addiction, any game that involves levelling up and collection of items towards achievements I am a sucker for.

I have also been wanting to shift some extra weight and exercise more to help clear my head, so Pokemon Go seemed like a potentially good fit. If nothing else it was a free game that would provide a few days of novelty. This is how it started.

I think I downloaded the game on the UK release day mid-July, but the hype meant that getting logged onto the servers was practically impossible. After a week or so I started playing properly. As I slowly got more interested I started going out for quick walks here and there to stock up on Pokeballs from the various Pokestops. I soon realised that this could be a useful trigger to get me out walking every night so I increased my daily Move goal limit on the watch from the 1st of August.

As I discovered more to the game I realised that you could incubate eggs that you collect. They come in 2km, 5km and 10km varieties and you place them into an incubator and then have to walk with the game running to hatch them. Most evenings I was going out for a 4-5km walk. There aren’t many Pokemon round my house so hatching was my best option, and also meant more walking and fitness! I hadn’t realised just how much I was doing until I got a distance achievement in the game. Yeh, in August (only counting time the game was active, so none of my daily walking in work) I walked over 130km.

Pro Tip: Pokemon Go eats battery. I recommend getting a portable battery charger pack like the Anker Powercore 10000 (opens in a new tab). A smaller one would also work but this one is capable of charging iPads and can be used with Raspberry Pi for portable projects.

The results speak for themselves. Here are my Apple Activity month charts for July and August.

The combination of wanting to get out and “catch ’em all” and maintain my streaks in Activity++ (now discontinued) lead me to The Perfect Month. Hitting all 3 activity goals every day of a month. And I feel better for it. I find I can concentrate better and my anxiety has been kept at bay like it hasn’t in years.

I have always academically known the benefits of walking etc but getting the ball rolling can be tough, it is too easy to get home from a long day and just sit in front of the computer and waste your night. Initially Pokemon Go gave me the nudge to get out, augmented by Activity++ and its congratulatory confetti shower every time I hit my goals. And now I feel better and have my Perfect Month badge to show for it!

But, you know, all video games are bad for you…..