How to Survive Another Lockdown?

It’s 2020 all over again… Work from home, isolation, quarantine, vitamins, mask, sanitizer, disinfectant, doctors, medicines, and whatnot. Trapped inside our homes, a third wave of COVID is at our doorstep, yet again.

Almost every state in our country has imposed certain restrictions, night curfew, weekend curfew, and everything in between. Of course, all of us are still in the debate of whether or not our PM will impose nationwide lockdown. Well, let’s just say, it’ll be a surprise for us.

Lockdown or not, COVID has taught us to stay in our homes and 2020 was the year when we learnt that we can do a lot from the comfort of our homes.

I mean, who in the world would’ve thought that all the big companies could operate from home. Online shopping, though, was still in the trend, 2020 made it a lifestyle.

When we were just about to welcome 2021 into our life, I remember how excited everyone was thinking the worst was over. Enter the second wave into our lives, which made us realize that this virus is no joke and it can be cruel.

We had just returned to ‘normal’ and there was a third wave waiting for us. Though we are accustomed to all the protocols, it still bums us out to be in our homes, no?

Obviously, there’s not much we, as a society, can do to curb the virus. All we can do right now is stay home, and go back to our virtual lives.

Effect of COVID-19 on India

In addition to the pandemic’s effect on public health, it caused a major economic shock as well.

A survey was conducted which suggests that the pandemic impacted 82% of small businesses. India emerged to be one of the worst-affected nations globally by the pandemic.

In Mumbai, more than three-fourths of small businesses showed an adverse impact during the pandemic. Over two-thirds of those companies say that it will almost take them a year to recover demand levels prior to the pandemic.

Across the businesses that were surveyed, 43% of those were closed temporarily. The businesses reported having reduced their active employment by 39%.

The impact of the pandemic varied across industries, with retail, arts and entertainment, personal services, food services, and hospitality businesses reporting decline in employment exceeding 50%.

Let’s Not Repeat the Same Mistakes in 2022

Even though we faced loss in the year 2020 and 2021, we came out of it extremely strong. However, one thing we still can not recover from is the loss that several local merchants and shops faced. So many businesses shut in the previous two years, that if we face another lockdown then local businesses won’t be able to survive.

Of course, we sit at home thinking we are helping the economy, but what about the lives of people whose lives depend solely on their business.

To make sure that this year local businesses don’t suffer just as much, this curfew/lockdown let’s shop from the local businesses.

Of course, not all local businesses are online; however, we have a platform where all local merchants near you come on one platform and cater to all your needs.

This lockdown, you must shop from LMO.

And on this note, let us all hope that the situation doesn’t go out of the hands that we have to survive the lockdown, all over again.

Tips to Deal with Anxiety and Distress during COVID-19

Fears related to COVID-19 can take a huge emotional toll; however, we are not powerless. Here are five tips to get through this stressful time.

Take breaks from reading, watching, or listening to the news

It is important that we take a break from watching and reading news, including social media. Though it is good to be informed; however, hearing about constantly one line of news can be upsetting.

We must consider limiting news to just a couple of times a day and disconnect from phone, tv, and computer screens for a while.

Take care of your body

In such unprecedented times, it is extremely important that we take care of our bodies. Here are a few ways to do so -

• Try to eat well-balanced, healthy meals
• Get a lot of sleep (This helps A LOT!)
• Avoid excessive alcohol, tobacco, or substance use
• Exercise regularly

Find ways for expressing patience, kindness, and compassion

Be extra kind to yourself and others in such hard times. We are all sharing the same experience and we are all in this together, and thus, we should emerge with a renewed appreciation for our interconnectedness.

Helping others in these difficult times is critical to get through this and also it creates more purpose for our days and well-being.

Make sure to make time to unwind

Even working from home can be really frustrating and tiring every day, it is important to make time for activities that you enjoy.

I read to take my mind off and give myself a break; even, connecting with others and sharing your concerns will help us all to feel better.

Focus on things we can control

We are in times of huge upheaval; several things such as how long the pandemic lasts, how others are behaving, and so on.

In such cases, we tend to focus on questions with unknowable answers and circumstances that are out of our control and it will leave us all drained out, anxious, and overwhelmed.

We are constantly caught up in the fear of what might happen; in such cases, we should try to shift our focus upon things that we can control.

For example, we can’t control how severe the COVID-19 outbreaks are in our area, however, we can take steps to ensure that we aren’t at risk.

Summing Up…

When we are struggling to cope in such overwhelming times, we should look for ways to help or call a health care provider when stress starts to get in the way of daily activities.

One of the ways that I found effective is shopping therapy. ANd while we are at it, we must ensure that we shop local this lockdown and not from those huge conglomerates.

There are several ways to work through your stress, you need to find what works for you and stick to it.

During extreme times of stress, we may even resort to suicide as the last option. Suicide is preventable and help is also available.