Right now, we’re living in unprecedented times (and we know, the word ‘unprecedented’ is being used an unprecedented amount of times at the moment!). Self-isolation, illness, fear of illness and social distancing during this Coronavirus pandemic is making many of us feel overwhelmed and anxious.

But we can do things to help calm us down, refocus our minds and keep our brains healthy and free from cabin fever. Here’s our top eight ideas… 

1. Take up painting – and we don’t mean DIY! Painting pictures, whether we’re any good with a paintbrush or not, is great for keeping the mind sharp since we’re utilising ‘conceptual visualisation’ to create a version, or a concept, of what we can see when we paint.
2. Learn a new language – packing up where you left off at school or learning a new language from scratch helps to increase activity in the parts of the brain associated with memory.
3. Play games – card games, chess, jigsaw puzzles or Monopoly; as long they don’t cause family arguments, games are great for keeping the brain active, and for whiling away the time. Puzzle books are also great if you’re on your own or you’re looking for some escape time.
4. Sit in the garden – simply sitting outside in nature can boost our mood for far longer than the time we’re outside. So if you have a garden, try to get into the routine of sitting outside every day. You could even practice some mindfulness whilst outside to help calm your mind and refocus on the right here and now.
5. Have an early night – getting plenty of restful sleep helps the brain to recover and process all of the day’s memories. It also allows us to sharpen our memory recall and improve our creativity and problem solving skills (both useful when playing board games). So make sure you’re switching off and getting to bed at a decent time.
6. Spend quality time with loved ones – at the moment, the advice is to only associate with the people we live with, so try to use this time for connection and reflection. Spending time reminiscing with family members, partners or roomies about “that time we did that” will help to boost your memory, and flood you with endorphins about happy, carefree times.
7. Use technology for good – using our phones and laptops to scroll through social media might not always be the best for our mental health, but using them to learn new skills helps to improve our fine motor skills. So log on and search how to fix that radiator, use that sewing machine or create that veg patch.
8. Exercise – exercising from home has never been simpler with Own Your Goals huge collection of workouts to suit all levels of activity and experience. Exercise not only helps to burn fat and calories and tone us up, it’s great for boosting blood flow to our brains too, helping to improve our cognitive function.

You’ve got this!