I will start by saying that keeping in touch with your close family and friends is absolutely crucial, especially during this period. Not being able to hug them or meet them can be very hard and it can certainly make you feel lonely. Let’s see how we can best keep in touch with our loved ones and even spice up our online meetings!

Call, don’t text!

Even though it might be easier to text your best friend a few emojis and ‘get away’ with it, I found that simply calling and hearing the other person’s voice can make a huge difference. Given the new lockdown vibes, we know that most of the people will be stuck indoors with nothing better to do than cooking healthy and Netflix, so why not give them a call and actually cheer them up?

Turn your camera ON!

A small upgrade from calling someone, especially on Zoom, can be to turn your camera on and connect with your favourite people. This might be easier for some of us, but it doesn’t mean that we’ll ever stop from finding excuses related to make-up, clothes, dark circles, hair etc. Agreeing on when’s best for everyone for a quick catch-up and setting up a Zoom can have such a big positive impact when you are feeling down.

Fun evenings ideas

Some ideas to entertain the entire group can be to use Kahoot! for quizzes and getting-to-know-each-other-better, play charades online and bingo (you can download free bingo cards as well). I would definitely agree on minimum one weekly fun evening with your family or friends as you will have something to look forward to and it will break the week slightly better.

Connect with the nature as well

For my fellow friends who haven’t seen their family in months just like me due to the travelling restrictions, I highly encourage you to go outside for a walk in the park and call them with your camera on. I made a small experiment of doing this every day for a week and it made me feel so much better, especially after the holiday blues. Getting those steps in and chatting never felt so better!

One small step at a time

Be mindful of how you fill our time and others as well. Keeping in touch with family and friends is essential, but it doesn’t mean that if you don’t spend hours talking to them, you are missing out or failing. I believe that it’s equally important to listen during this period as well as taking each day at a time without having too many expectations on the people around us.

How do you best keep in touch with your family and friends? Comment below and let us know.

Wishing everyone a better 2021,

Daniela

Written by #HallamInsider Daniela Baicoianu