If you’re anything like me, the scariest part of this October isn’t rewatching Hereditary. It isn’t the kids dressing up as Georgie from It. It isn’t even deciding what to wear for an inevitably disappointing Halloween party. It’s the thought of this ever so comforting Sydney lockdown ending.
At first, I thought I was alone in this and I would be called crazy if I said it out loud. But with 48 hours left until ‘Freedom Day’ as I write this, I have gathered that I am in fact not the only one having the occasional panic at the thought, if the waitlist my psychologist now has is anything but a coincidence.
I have been employed in the hospitality industry my entire working life, and 3 months ago I finally began to reap the benefits. With the pub closed, I could sit in my bed all day and shamefully rewatch Glee, receiving Centrelink’s $750 a week, purchasing endless clothing and saving more money than I thought possible. Essentially, the dream life. But with talk of everything opening back up, the days of doing nothing started to feel numbered.
The endless number of questions that usually clouded my mind began to creep back in. What outfit will I wear this weekend? How am I going to get someone to cover my shift when I’m sick? Should I be studying something instead of pointlessly wasting my life away? You know, the simple questions in life.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m very excited to do certain things. I haven’t seen the beach in what feels like years, and my impulsive nature is itching for another tattoo. I, of course, miss my friends, my cousins, even the (less than ideal) regulars at work. But the past 3 months worth of anxieties are wriggling back at the thought of my comfortable anti-social bubble being broken.
I acknowledge that these thoughts are likely felt throughout the Greater Sydney population. So I thought I’d attempt to put some minds at ease and give some solutions to those silly little scenarios in all of our heads.
So, let me introduce to you: A Beginners Guide to the Real World
What if I have forgotten how to talk to people?
I’m not going to lie to you, the first picnic I went on was not the smoothest conversation. We ran through about 10 different topics that we could usually discuss all night before we could finish our first bottle of wine. In pushing through the slight awkwardness, we got right back to where we left off. With little awareness of our surroundings, I wouldn’t be surprised if half of the population of Sydney now know FAR too much about my friends and I. However, you could also take a half-glass-full approach and use the uncomfortable silence as an opportunity to learn how to not speak and overshare 24/7 at 300 miles an hour, but that might just be me.
I can’t stay awake for more than 5 hours, how am I supposed to go back to work?
I’m going to let you in on a little secret, and by secret, I mean an internationally appreciated and long known solution to fatigue. Redbull. I’m not sure why I had never even considered energy drinks up until a few weeks ago, but they really do practice what they preach. But I do not want to be held responsible for rotten teeth and caffeine dependencies, so I will also tell you to simply sleep whenever, and wherever you can. If that means grabbing a quick nap in the freezer during your break at work, so be it.
Although not the 13 hours you were getting in lockdown, getting at least 8 hours of sleep a night is genuinely the most effective way to be alert and lively at work. So when you get home from your long, hard day of being yelled at by customers, don’t continue to stay up the rest of the night watching old Emma Chamberlain videos. Instead. Go. To. Sleep.
What if it’s all just a bit too much?
It’s easy to get over-excited and plan as many things as humanly possible coming out of lockdown. I get it, you want to make up for lost time, which is completely fine. But if you’re like me, the type of person to get overwhelmed by too many social commitments, try to slowly ease yourself back into a busy lifestyle.
Rather than going from doing nothing to 3 different things a day, start by just doing a few things a week, to ensure you don’t get overwhelmed or socially drained too quickly. This may mean saying no to some non-essential plans and allowing yourself the night to recharge and get genuinely excited for plans later in the week. In doing this, you can ensure a seamless ease back into a healthy balance between work life, friends, family and some self-care time.
I could ramble on with a lot more advice, but I think you guys get the gist. Essentially, take care of yourself, and treat yourself with the love and kindness that Scomo will never give us.
Oh, by the way, if anyone has advice on how to kindly ghost all those people from Tinder you’ve been talking to in lockdown who now want to ‘hang out’, my messages are always open.
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