Staying positive in challenging times

Keep to a routine

In difficult times, we often find that our daily routines become disrupted and this adds to a feeling that things are spiralling or, perhaps, are already out of control.

To get some sense of normality back, try to build in patterns to your daily routine. Start with sticking to regular mealtimes and keeping a normal sleeping pattern.

It may seem simple, but it can make a big difference to your overall mood. Continue to add new things to your routine as time goes on and start to replace old negative habits with new useful habits.  This should help you stay in control of what you can and accept what you can’t.

It will give you more stability and help you feel more like the driver of the car and less like the helpless passenger.

Stay healthy

Exercise is one the best ways to keep yourself feeling positive!

Did you know that when you exercise your body releases endorphins which trigger a positive feeling in the body? Even if it’s only a 15-minute activity, it can help massively and has many benefits for both the mind and body. 

Don’t worry if you’re new to it, there are loads of different types of exercise you could try.  Running, cycling or even just walking can be a great start and will help you stay motivated and increase your energy providing you with a better overall mood.

If you’d rather exercise inside, you could try something like yoga which is great for focusing the mind.  You can exercise at any time of the day, but the morning can be a great time as it gives you energy before starting your day.

Pursue a new hobby

Have you ever wanted to try something new and exciting but not had the time? The best time to start is right now.

As well as being fun, pursuing a new hobby will support your extra-curricular learning and help you develop your skill set.

You could try learning a new language or a musical instrument, or even start painting or drawing. There’s so much you could do, so don’t hold back.

You may find that you’re amazing at it! By removing yourself from your day-to-day activities, and focusing on something new, you’ll keep your mind occupied and switch up the norm.

This will help you get out of any negative thought cycles you might be in, as well as allow you to develop new skills which will give you a sense of pride and accomplishment.

Limit social media

If you’re feeling anxious and overwhelmed by life, try to resist the temptation to continually check your social media.

It can do more harm than good and make you feel overwhelmed by any negative posts that you come across. It’s understandable that more people are using social media to stay connected and up to date with all that is going on in the world.

However, too much scrolling can affect our ability to make a balanced judgement about what’s actually going on and lead us to be poorly informed.

That’s not to say you should stop looking at social media completely, but just start by limiting your consumption and creating more time for other activities such as exercise or volunteering. This will help you balance your time more effectively and help you clear your mind.

Connect with others

When we’re going through difficult times it’s natural for some people to withdraw and want to spend more time alone. However, keeping connected to our usual support networks are vital during to helping us stay positive.

It’s been scientifically proven that the more we continue to engage with supportive relationships in our life, the less likely we are to experience negative emotions like stress. 

Even if you’re unable to physically meet, remember that there are lots of platforms to help you connect with others. Arrange times to check in and talk to people in your life about how you are feeling, what you’ve been up to and the things you’re looking forward to doing in the future. Don’t forget to have fun too. Be creative with your online hangouts and maybe arrange to do a quiz night, a movie night or a dinner party. 

Connecting with people should help you relax and de-stress from any worries you might be having. It will also remind you that you are not alone, everyone in your support network is, or has been, in the same boat as you at some point.

Keep a journal

Keeping a reflective journal can also be a useful way to stay positive.

Think of new things every day that you’re grateful for.

It could be as simple as enjoying an online exercise class to start your day, or being pleased that you learnt a new word in Spanish.

By reminding yourself daily of what you have, instead of what you don’t, you’ll bring your thoughts into the present, uplift your spirits, and create a general feeling of positivity.

Remember the bigger picture

When faced with challenges or negative feelings, we often blame ourselves and we can start to internalise things. This can make smaller problems feel insurmountable, when in fact they may be really easily addressed.

It’s therefore important to shift your perspective and remember that there is always a bigger picture to consider.

What seems like a massive issue may, in the wider scheme of things, actually be a very small problem that can easily be fixed.

Don’t be too hard on yourself and remember that there has most likely been someone else in a very similar situation who has managed to turn things around. You're not alone!

So, what now?

The activities below have all been designed to help you get fully ready to take your next steps - whatever pathway you choose to take. Each set of activities ranges from a short activity which should take no more than 30 minutes, through to portfolio activities, which are longer, project-based tasks. The more time you spend on each activity, the more you'll get out of it, but you should be able to find something each week to fit into your schedule.

Why not start with the short activity first and then work your way through the remaining activities until you’ve completed them all?

Short activity

Create a schedule for next week.

• Make sure to block out time each day for proper meals, exercise, time to relax and time to socialise (even virtually).

If you want to, write these events in your calendar to help make you follow through with them throughout the week and provide some structure to your daily routine.

• At the end of the week, rate how well the schedule worked for you and make any changes that you need to make it better for the following week.

This exercise will help you in the near future when you have to manage your own time and workload.

Main activity

Draw up a ‘Roadmap’ to your goals, both personal, professional and educational.

• Your ‘starting point’ will be made up of things you have achieved and things you are proud of having done up until now.

• Your ‘journey’ to your larger goals should be made up of ‘stops’ at smaller goals along the way, and in the ‘road’ write down the things you will do to help get there.

Include any possible ‘roadblocks’ (difficulties that you might face) and how you’ll ‘reroute’ so that they don’t stop your journey.

This will provide a visual manifestation of your goals and help you keep on the path to success during challenging times.

Portfolio

Keep a journal for a week (or for longer if you are able to) tracking your feelings each day.

• Include things you have found difficult, things you have been grateful for, things you’re looking forward to/will do to improve tomorrow.

The journey can be as creative as you like, not just including your written thoughts, but also including drawings, photos, playlists and so on.

This is a fantastic way to pause, reflect on your feelings and set intentions to improve your days moving forward.

PSHE lesson

A ‘Good News’ task.

In small groups/pairs find a positive local event that has happened recently, and ask students to work together to create a news broadcast about it.

• Consider the ways that students are most likely to consume news at the moment and consider how they could create your positive news piece in the same style, so that they are putting a positive twist on negative cycles of news consumption. For example, if students get most of their news from Twitter threads, they could storyboard one of these, including images, quotes, tweets and polls.

Students will then present their good news to the rest of the class.

If students respond well to this task, you could implement this as a regular group activity to support the positive mindset of students.