essay on life during lockdown in easy words
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With my end of year assessments finally completed and out of the way, I thought I’d look back at how student life was affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown.
Alarm clock on stack of books
Just before lockdown, I decided to leave London and move in with my family back at my home in Bristol. It was a hastily-packed, stressful whirlwind, not helped by conspiracies drifting around that London was about to enter some kind of drastic, Orwellian state of martial law. Never trust anyone whose primary source is their friend’s brother’s neighbour who ‘knows someone in the government’.
As we headed for the M4, I felt my exam motivation rapidly dissolve, followed by my plans for a relaxing summer. Back home, I fluctuated between boredom and panic. I spent the first few days watching the cases of Covid-19 rise, waiting for the Prime Minister’s next announcement and frantically refreshing my emails in the hopes that the UCL English department had sent news about summer exams.
After a few weeks of being home, I learned to cope with the uncertainty of the situation. One of the things that helped me the most was structure. Creating a rough timetable of my day gave me security and made hitting goals more satisfying. This got easier after UCL let me know exactly what was required of me in my summer assessments, so I knew what needed to get done and could plan my time around it.
This is what a typical day looked like as I settled into a lockdown routine…
9:30-10:00: Getting up
I’m notoriously bad at getting up, especially without a morning lecture to force me out from under the covers. The best way to fake being a morning person was to charge my phone downstairs overnight. It stopped me wasting time by scrolling as soon as I opened my eyes, and meant I got to sleep with no distractions.
10:30: Breakfast
A decent breakfast is the only thing that can transform me into a functioning human adult. Pancakes are dead easy to make, especially if you have time to make the batter the night before.
11:00: Study Time
Armed with a cup of tea, I make my way into the living room to begin studying. With the absence of the UCL library as my study space, physically moving to a different room helped my brain get in ‘study mode.’
The other tactic to revive my tanking motivation was an app called ‘Forest’. With Forest, you set a time on your phone, and if you don’t look at it for that time, you grow a virtual tree. It might sound like a weak motive to work, but it cut down my scrolling habits and allow me to work undistracted by notifications. I find working in 25-minute slots, with a five-minute break in between, is the most efficient way to power through an essay.