I still remember March 16, 2020. I was playing badminton with my friends when we got an SMS informing us that the club would be closed for a few days. While saying our goodbyes that evening, none of us knew that we are going into a lockdown for the next 3 months!
The last 3 months have been crazy. We got a lot of time with the family, learned more about each other’s strengths and weaknesses, and tried to make most of the time together. I cooked yummy food for my family and taught my kids to find joy while helping with the housework. We binge-watched shows and had a blast while dancing to music. We often woke up early to see the sunrise while sipping a cup of hot coffee and talking about life. Truly, lockdown was fun for families like ours who are blessed with a roof over our heads and food in the kitchen.
Things are slowly opening up and it’s time to go back to the ‘New Normal’.
Here are 9 things you must do to secure yourself before you step out of lockdown in India.
Rewrite your goals
The lockdown has changed us all. Our priorities, outlook and goals have changed. Before you go out into the New Normal, an excellent idea would be to write your new goals and aspirations. Personally, I am treating 2020 as a year with 6 months in it. July 1, 2020 was the start of the new year!
Sharpen your skills
The ‘New Normal’ will require new skills. Unlock quarantine will come with its own set of challenges. Writing skills, video shooting and editing skills, understanding the different social media platforms and how they work for your business are some skills you need to master. In addition, discovering new skills within you will be of prime importance in the days to come.
Recalculate your finances & set new financial goals
Delayed/staggered payments, salary cuts and even total shutdown of business have posed a monumental challenge to individuals and families. Sit down with a calculator and all your accounts. Recalculate your finances and check how much disposable income is remaining with you. Assess the situation objectively and set new financial goals. If you are married, then involve your spouse into this discussion.
Re-evaluate your health insurance
One thing that I understood during the lockdown is that the health insurance for my family and me is just not enough. In-laws, kids, husband and I – each one of us has different needs, and each is equally (if not more) vulnerable to health issues. We shudder at the thought of a loved one being admitted and the bank balance or health insurance being insufficient to handle the financial load. Re-evaluate your health insurance and allocate a sufficient amount that will take care of you and your family in case of a mishap. ICICI Lombard has come up with an app called Take Care app that makes all of this super easy in this digital era for their customers. No hassles!
Eat right
We stopped ordering online during the quarantine but most people turned into bakers – maida, sugar, corn syrup, butter – the culprits for the expanding waistline. To add to it, cheese, pasta, noodles, bread and loads of processed foods have gone down our gut during the lockdown. Research has proven that eating the right food can increase immunity and increased immunity means lower risk of getting infections and disease. With unlock quarantine in progress, one needs to eat right to be ready for the fresh challenges that will come our way.
And the Take Care app gives you, at your fingertips, access to dieticians and nutritionists with whom you can chat and plan your meals right – in case you feel you’re in need of assistance.
Exercise
We all know that exercise is the key to good health. The combination of healthy eating and exercise does wonders to the skin, hair and overall health. Set aside time daily to stretch those stiff bones and exercise for at least 30 minutes daily. It will surprise you to note the increase in stamina. You will feel happier and positive throughout the day. Include core strengthening exercises like plank in your exercise routine – it will ease back pain and give you a toned body.
Sleep early & wake up early
Early to bed and early to rise, makes a person healthy, wealthy and wise! This saying has always been worth its weight in gold. Being at home during lockdown, people used to get less tired and thus retire to bed with a fresh mind. Most people have reported difficulty in sleeping early. Many resorted to binge-watching shows till the wee hours in the morning. Sleeping late, waking up late, unhealthy eating and lack of exercise – all this is a disease disaster in the waiting.
It quite surprised me to see that the Take Care app also has an option that will help you with stress management–a service I feel all of us need from time to time.
It’s time to repair all this before you restart right.
Drink lots of water
We all know that our body needs to flush out toxins to ensure good health. However, most people don’t implement this. Lockdown has made people increase their caffeine (coffee) and tannin (tea) intake. Fizzy and sugary drinks to deal with boredom are also common during lockdown. All this leads to side effects that can cause damage to health. Water is the best liquid that one can consume – its calorie-free and loaded with benefits.
Meditate & Practice Pranayama
Studies show that deep breathing exercises and variations through the ancient techniques of Pranayama are beneficial for weight loss, good health and immunity building. Meditation calms the mind and allows better focus. When one steps out during unlock quarantine, it will greet one with an unfamiliar world. Adjusting to this new normal will be a challenge. Meditation will ease out the load and help calm the distressed mind.
Let me know what you are doing to #RestartRight in unlock quarantine. I would love to read your views.
Penned by:
Mayura Amarkant
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DiaryOfAnInsaneWriter 
Some important yet doable points there, Mayura. I especially loved how you said it is important to rewrite our goals. Thank you for letting us know the ways to #RestartRight
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Great tips and pointers, keeping fit and healthy is the new normal and all the tips including checking on health insurance are super important.
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#RestartRight I think this is the right time one starts taking baby steps towards positivity, I focus on good diet and yoga.
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Superbly written. I agree that this lockdown has made us rethink life. Specially I think it’s the financial part that is imp.
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Amzing tips will keep in mimd n they r gonna b helpful to.me thanx fro sharing
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Very important Article..every one should follow these steps in this pandemic of corona virus
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Great tips to follow during this lockdown to secure the future. Definitely need to work on these tips.
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Amazing tips shared in the post. And very practical to follow tips too. Lovely article!
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You have shared some important tips ! Best one is about meditation as we all really need this now.
But somehow i also think this lockdown has given us time to think about our life and goals. Now as we have taken so much of rest we can definitely work so hard and new enthu.
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Going back to the regular routine is going to be indeed difficult. However, you have penned down the most easiest and doable things to get back on track slowly and steadily.
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This Corona makes everything messed up. Going back to the normal life need above tips dear. You explain each one very well. I do need a lot of meditation because stress level is going up.
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Every point is valid. I completely understood during this lockdown that one common health insurance plan will not work for the entire family as everyone has different needs. And we also had to rework our finances and alter our plans this year. I hope we are prepared to cope with the uncertainty that we need to face.
Thanks for such an insightful post.
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Awesome post, Mayura. Out of all, I totally agreed with the recalculation of finance. After corona, we all need to think about ‘Bharona’ all bills, fees, charges, etc… 😀
Jokes apart, your post was very good. You had included some really good points…
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Hahahaha …i loved the BHARONA concept….lol…. thank you for stopping by
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Good pointers Mayura, in this new scenario we need to reorganize our lifestyle. I am surely following these 9 pointers.
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I definitely need to rework on my financial goals! Kyuki salary ke naam pe chillar aa rahe hath me! Also, I’ve been in too much pressure so stress has been affecting my sleep cycle! Aur Lockdown 1 vale saare homemade pakwaan tummy me far bann ke kathak kar rahe so yeah exercise bhi bahot important hai 😅
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You have shared such important guides for restarting right. I totally agree with you on this. Health is on top priority.
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Those are some superb tips Mayura.. Thanks so much. I will try to meditate.
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These are some wonderful tips Mayura, meditation, and planning a meal for a whole week in advance I something that I started post lockdown and it is indeed really helpful. A step towards #RestartRight is to priorities our health.
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These are great tips to #RestartRight. Will try to include them in my daily routine.
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Amazing Tips to #RestartRight.Apart from focusing more on health, we also need to re-evaluate our health insurance and ICICI Lombard seems to be the perfect option
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To restart right, these tips are really helpful. A good health insurance is need of the hour.
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Thank you so much, Deepa for stopping by. Hoping to #RestartRight together
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We had made many plans for this year and we had to alter them suddenly when the lockdown was imposed. The first month I completely ate junk and my exercise routine also went for a toss. So I can relate to your post. Thankfully better sense prevailed and I took charge of my routine. I am glad I was able to #RestartRight. I will certainly check out the app too, it will be very useful.
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Aesha, thank you for stopping by. Yes, a lot of us just let ourselves go during the first couple of months into the lockdown. However, now is the time to get back and do it in the best way we can.
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Your post is such a good dose of positivity. We can either crib or we can use this time to learn new things and prepare us for the inevitable changes. #RestartRight sounds like a challenge but we’ll sail through it.
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Thank you so much, Varsha for reading and resonating with my thoughts. Let’s #RestartRight – together.
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It is the perfect list to be followed in this phase of life. We have to rethink the way of leading our lifestyle. The point I agree the most is the health insurance. Everyone should reevaluate that.
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Hey Paresh! So good to see you here! Thank you for stopping by! Let’s #RestartRight – together!
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A truly in-depth post that will help us to prepare for un-lockdown! It is imperative that we adopt these easy measures in order to #RestartRight
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Thank you Noor! Its good to see you here! Un-lockdown is going to be a challenge for us all and doing it right is going to be the real test! Hoping to #RestartRight together.
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Insightful post this one. Apart from exercising, eating healthy, it’s important we have a good health insurance plan that will help us Restart Right.
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Wonderful to see you here, Atul! Thank you for stopping by! Let’s all #RestartRight – together.
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Restart Right is not going to be easy.But it’s not impossible either.These are great tips to follow
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With the support of friends (like you) and family, unlockdown is going to be easier. Thank you for stopping by and appreciating my efforts. Let’s #RestartRight – together.
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Hey Mayura, these are some amazing tips. I too have tried my best to be as productive as possible. Let’s #RestartRight this time.
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Hey Lancelot, good to see you here! During the lockdown its my hobbies and work that kept me going. Being productive was a solution to the total boredom I would have faced. Thank you for stopping by – yes! Let’s #RestartRight – together.
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