[Rebecca]

Hello lovely Utilita Community! 🤗

So… we are coming to the end of the second week of January and I don’t know about you guys, but it feels like it is dragging. 🙄

January can be a hard time for many, even in normal circumstances without a world pandemic added to the mix. The weather is gloomy, we’re still contending with the shorter day light hours, and quite frankly, lockdown number three is even tougher in these winter months. ☁

It’s a tough time with many of us struggling, so I wanted to see how you are all doing? How are you finding things at the moment? For anyone that is finding things tough, MIND charity have some wonderful resources on their website. Whether you are finding you are having the odd down day, to if you are finding things particularly difficult and are needing some more solid support. It’s really important to remember that there is always someone who is there to support you. 🤝

I wanted to use this thread not only to check in with you all, but also to see if there is anything you have found during these unprecedented times that is helping you through?

Is there something you have found that really helps you day to day as a coping strategy?

Have you found any benefits have come out of spending more time at home?

What activities have you been doing that you have really enjoyed?

I would love to know, and I think it would be a really nice thing to share in the comments below to help your fellow community members, and support one another here! 😀

[Tillymint]

@Rebecca love this! Most of my tick list is cleaning and house related. I might print this off and put it on my fridge

[Naruto1234]

@Rebecca I love this post, I have been stuck in a rut this lockdown starting to get bored with the usual Netflix but I just could not think of what else i could do, Thank you for giving me so many ideas, I have always wanted to write a short story but never had the time why did I not think of this before 😄.

[Tillymint]

@Naruto1234 that’s a good one. What genre would you write?

[Naruto1234]

Hello @Tillymint, I have a couple of ideas in mind that I have been pondering writing for a while now, Most of them are Sci Fi genre but the one I really want to write is a short Fantasy story as I have always enjoyed the Terry Pratchet Discworld Series and they have given me so many ideas, How about yourself what sort of genres do you enjoy reading.

[Tillymint]

@Naruto1234 I’m not a massive reader tbh but books I have enjoyed were ‘Wild’ by Cheryl Strayed and ‘The girl with no name’ by Diney Costello.

[Rebecca]

@Tillymint @Naruto1234 I am glad you guys found that list helpful.

What have you guys been enjoying so far? Have you got any advice for the rest of the community members?

[Naruto1234]

@Tillymint Ive not heard of these but I will defiantly have a look for them on my kindle, I was never a big reader myself but when they released the first generation Kindles I was given one as a gift and it was so handy and simple to use and so compact I have recently upgraded to a newer model but have now read 100s of books and short story's and lose no space indoors.

[Naruto1234]

@Rebecca I have really been enjoying gaming I used to hate it and thought it was a waste of time but ive been able to communicate and stay in constant contact with friends and family and even meet and make new friends, I have discovered a whole new social side and its really helped me keep that normality of daily social interactions.

[Russell]

Hi everyone and a belated Happy New Year!! @Tillymint yes I'll be doing the same and slowly ticking the relevant tasks off 😀 I've really got back into cooking, and cooking from scratch. Living alone, it can usually be difficult cooking for one, but I've started batch cooking and filling up the freezer. Sticking the radio on and just cooking up a storm has really helped me over the last 8 months or so. Not only do I know what has gone into what I'm eating, but it's also more energy efficient to have the freezer full so it's a win win. The coming weeks are going to be about de-cluttering - it's always a good feeling to finally have that cupboard or junk room that I've been avoiding spick and span. I hope you are all coping well, but as Rebecca said in her post, there are online services to help, so please do you them if you think they will be of benefit to you.