The Coffee Life

Well 2021, you were certainly an interesting year. A year filled with hope, and to a big extent you didn't disappoint.

The Coffee Life took a huge step back off the coffee scene for the majority of 2021, and I'm really thankful that it happened, I needed the break to figure out what direction I wanted to go in, and to begin a healing journey within myself.

Fast forward to now, and I think I know what my vision is for 2022 on The Coffee Life, I want to continue making content that I love and I enjoy, including reviewing coffee and making silly little tiktoks brewing. I'd like to create something that I haven't seen anyone else create (more info on that soon!) and I'd just like to fall back in love with coffee like when I created this blog. 

Even though I stepped back from the coffee industry massively, I still managed to enjoy a LOT of coffee (coffee bag empties coming in the new year, can't forget that tradition!), I also uploaded 28 blog posts, which I'm still counting as a huge win.

I got to work with some incredible coffee companies on the blog this year, including Coffee with a Cauz, Two Chimps Coffee, Rise Coffee Box, Dog and Hat, and I am so incredibly grateful for that.

I got to go to London Coffee Festival and enjoy a day with so many coffee friends I hadn't seen in 18 months (thanks Covid!), getting absolutely buzzed with every espresso and filter consumed, and meeting incredible new people. 

I am proud of the latte art I have continued to make, even though i stick to the basics of pouring, I think my skill has definitely improved consistency wise. (Latte Art Lookback also coming in the new year!)

My face is in the Indy Coffee Guide (2020 South West edition) and most recently Bar & Kitchen magazine showcasing some of my latte art. 

I've worked with some incredible people this year, including the gang over at Bijou Coffee House and my absolute best friend in the world Queenie at Queenies Travelling Teapot, doing events such as Goodwood Revival and Lee Victory Festival.

I have a job that I love and that I am passionate about, (big thanks to my boyf for that one) being a manager of a coffee shop has given me a new found love for the industry and coffee in general. 

So 2022, lets see what happens. 

 I wrote a post during May about Taking Care Of Your Mental Health During Lockdown, and the response to it was INCREDIBLE.

I don't think I've ever had so much interaction on one singular blog post before. 

But as lockdowns have eased, and people are getting back to their daily lives, I thought I'd do a little update post about taking care of your mental health, post lockdown. 

The world we live in right now is a weird one, with new norms of wearing face masks everywhere, carrying huge amounts of hand sanitiser everywhere, and generally being more cautious of everyday life, still while battling the daily struggles of the dreaded 'rona.

Like my last post, routines are a big thing. Getting back into general routines of life, with the added extra cautionary measures were all having to take. So here's some tips about taking care of your mental health post lockdown. 

Keeping up Routines

In my previous post, I raved about the importance of having routines.

Personally when I have day to day routines I feel a lot more balanced in my moods, I also feel like having a morning routine sets me up for a good day, and having a night routine gives me a better nights sleep.

Morning Routine 

My favourite thing recently has been waking up and immediately brewing a good cup of coffee (who's shocked) - throughout lockdown, I really lost my love for coffee, which was devastating. However, I've been making more of an effort to get up 10 minutes earlier to properly brew a good cup of coffee, and sit down and properly enjoy it. Getting my tastes for coffee back slowly. 

Try and find something that makes you want to jump out of bed each morning, it could be having a dance party (boy, sometimes it's needed), it could be something as simple as a skincare routine that you know will wake you up immediately. 

Evening Routine

Settling down with a good book and a cup of tea (usually earl grey!) is one of the best ways for me to calm down after a long day. I've really re-found my love for reading this year, and have read some incredible books (I even wrote a blog post about it - read that here). I try to stay off my phone as much as possible, otherwise I will be stuck in a Tik-Tok loop for hours on end (throwback to me spending 6 hours on it the first day I downloaded it, shameful)

Find something that calms you down at the end of the day, create a routine that makes you excited to do, knowing you'll get an amazing sleep after. 

Self Care

I'm a big advocate for self care.

Self care is an incredible thing that is 100% needed, and 100% underrated. 

Whether it's taking a walk, phoning a friend, having a little self pamper or even going out and treating yourself - self care looks different to everyone. No two people see self care in the same light, everyone is unique in what they feel self care looks like to them.

Spend some time getting to know yourself, getting to know what self care looks like to you. 

Cooking

Throughout lockdown I found my love for cooking again, cooking up some absolute bangers.

Banana Loaf and Bread making was all the rage throughout lockdown, but for some just making a healthy home cooked meal can be incredible calming and soothing - with takeaways not being as accessible as they were beforehand, and drive-throughs closed (or immensely busy now they've reopened) cooking was something that pretty much every household had to do.

Post lockdown, now that things have started reopening, I've still been making the effort to cook after a long day at work, rather than just opening the JustEat app and ordering a takeaway. 

Still taking advantage of the outside

Back in Lockdown we were allowed 1 walk a day, and as someone who loves the outdoors, I took advantage of that when I could. 

Now that lockdowns have eased, I'm still outside whenever I can be - taking walks, having coffee outside, reading outside. It's that little boost of serotonin that we all need. 

 Realising that doing nothing is OK

Now that we're starting to get used to the new norm of life, it's hard to even go onto social media without being bombarded with amazing things that people are doing. You end up comparing yourself to others, and how little you seem to be doing in comparison to them

But it's ok to not do anything. It's ok to catch up on sleep on your days off (I mean who wakes up at 5am on the days they're not working?!) It's ok if the only thing you achieved in the day is getting out of bed and making a cup of tea (or coffee in my case) 

It's unrealistic to expect to have motivation every minute of everyday to get up and do stuff - just don't be so hard on yourself.

 

Don't check the news every minute of everyday

I was that person looking at the updates of Coronavirus and all the other awful things going on in the world every minute of the day - and one day it clicked, it isn't necessary to do that. 

Keeping updated with the latest information is important, yes. But I know only check once maybe twice a day. Because in short, it's anxiety inducing - I found myself not wanting to do anything, not wanting to go outside, not wanting to talk to people because I was horrified of how awful the world is in 2020. However since I've reduced the amount that I look at the news, I find myself not obsessing over things that are very much out of my control.

Down Time Watching/Reading/Listening

I'm a sucker for some good down time, and with the amount of options that are now out in the world to watch/read/listen, it would be rude not to take advantage of these. 

I thought I'd run down a few of my favourites

Netflix 
- Crazy Ex Girlfriend
- Come Dine with me (absolute classic) 
- Modern Family
- Friends (another classic)

Prime
- Greys Anatomy
- The Office US
- Some Girls (an absolute throwback)
- Wild at Heart (another absolute throwback)
- Supernatural 

BorrowBox (Books!)
- Noughts and Crosses series by Malorie Blackman
- The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins
- Normal People by Sally Rooney
- Help Me! by Marianne Power 
- How to Come Alive Again by Beth McColl

Spotify Podcasts
- Counter Clock (True Crime)
- Shagged, Married, Annoyed (Absolutely hilarious)
- Office Ladies (Reliving the US Office)
- Straight and Curly (Self Help & Advice)
- Crime Junkie (True Crime)
- Crime After Crime (True Crime)
- Natural Disasters (Educational)
- Sleepy (Sleep Help)
- Scare You To Sleep (alternative sleep help if you like scary stories)

Keeping in Touch

I will be the first to admit that I am the worst at keeping in touch with people if I'm having a bad day - but we all know that reaching out to loved ones and friends will always make you feel better, even if it's just a quick text or phone call

Make sure you're keeping in touch with people, check in on your friends and family. They need you as much as you need them. 

Check in with yourself

Another amazing thing you can do to help your mental health is taking the time to check in with yourself, how you are feeling, what worries or concerns you have and what you can do to combat that - where is your anxiety, where do you feel it in your body and what can you do to make yourself feel better?

We all know to check in on friends and family, but how many of us check in with ourselves?

Take care, stay safe.

If you are still in lockdown, or just want to read my last post that I did about Taking Care of your Mental Health in Lockdown you can read that here

Support The Coffee Life

 Eeesh, it's certainly been a while.

2020 has been a shit-show, I'm not even going to bother trying to sugar coat it. 

I've struggled - I've not been okay - I have wanted to quit. 

So I took a break, a way longer break than I could've ever intended.

However, slowly and surely, I'm making my presence known on social media again, I'm starting to find my passion for coffee again, and I'm finally starting to want to blog again. 

Negativity is something I try to never bring to The Coffee Life - focusing on positives, focusing on good mental health, and I just haven't been able to do that recently. Hence my absence, and I apologise to people who look forward to reading my rambles about coffee. But I am also incredibly thankful to those who reached out on Instagram/Twitter and elsewhere to check up on me. I am so blessed with such an amazing community through The Coffee Life.

However, big and exciting things are coming for The Coffee Life - The Coffee Life Co products are getting a revamp - I'm going to start slowly blogging more and more. 

Although this isn't actually a blog post about coffee - it's been nice to figure out my chatty writing style again, it's been nice to sit and just type whatever my brain comes up with. Even if most of it doesn't make sense (story of my life huh) 

I'll see you soon with some coffee related blog posts.

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