Month: April 2020 - Look Hear Australia

This week we are all still in #lockdown due to #covid19. Tim and I are busy working for the NHS #stayathomesavelives #protecttheNHS mostly from home. We are fortunate enough to welcome Georgia – an OT student completing a virtual placement with Mararget Spencer from OT360. Georgia is talking to us about what she is doing to keep busy during #lockdown!

Georgia:

I like keeping busy and I’m not very good at not doing anything. I’m one of those people who feels guilty for having a lazy day. So, I am very fortunate that I’m currently in the middle of my role-emerging virtual occupational therapy placement so I can work from home as it’s giving me plenty to do! But my placement is only 3 days a week, therefore I have been seeking out other occupations that I can do during this time to maintain my wellbeing.

Exercise

I have cerebral palsy and as a result of this my muscles tighten especially now that I’m not walking around as much. So therefore, I have been doing regular physiotherapy in the house to strength and stretch my muscles and keep them from going tight. My goal has been to do this every other day I start off by stretching and then I do my physiotherapy programme that my physiotherapist gave me 10 years ago, which I can just do on a blanket in my own living room. I want to keep my physio up because if I’m not using my muscles, they will become a lot tighter so therefore it’s important that I remain active during this lock down.

As an OT student I have noticed that being in lockdown means that a lot of us are suffering from occupational deprivation. I want to find activities to maintain the correct occupational balance and maintain a sense of routine.

Routine

I have been keeping my routine by getting up at the same time most days; I must admit I’ve not been getting as early as I would have been if I’d had been at university but I’ve not been getting up late either. I like to keep to this routine as it keeps me motivated during these difficult times, don’t get me wrong, I have the occasional day when I don’t feel very well so, I will rest and take care of my body.

It’s so easy to just have a day in front of the TV during lockdown but watching the TV or reading has always been my winding down time in the evening and it makes me enjoy it so much more and therefore I want to keep it this way as when I’ve been watching TV all day I go to bed feeling way less satisfied about my day.

Goals

To practice what I preach as an OT student, I need to keep my routine of completing my physiotherapy and doing my work most days. To help me do this I set myself goals, for example, I like to do my physiotherapy every other day – sometimes this doesn’t happen depending on fatigue, but I like to stick to this as much as possible. With my work I also have goals for example now that I am posting a weekly blog every Friday, I set myself a goal to have a first draft by Wednesday evening. Most of my work at the minute is placement work, therefore, I must complete so many hours to pass the placement and having this goal is motivating me not to waste my lockdown.

Routine are so important during a global pandemic

What meaningful occupations have you been doing during lock down?

Leave your comments below!!

Thank you for reading,

Georgia

Further information for lockdown activities:

Keep an eye on the Look Hear socials – we are posting activity ideas every day.

There is loads of ideas and support on the NHS websites – you can find them here.

For Occupational Therapists in the UK, RCOT has loads on resources here. For those OT’s in Australia you can find yours here, and in the USA your best bet is you individual state as well as AOTA.

You might also find some of our previous blog posts helpful such as – looking after yourself as a parent, or if you have been thinking about why therapists give you home programs (to maybe work on during #covid-19 #lockdown).