Eight pieces of advice you wish you had given yourself at the start of first lockdown

So as Lockdown 3 – announced just days after the turn of the new year – continues, we asked Gazette readers for the one piece of advice you would give yourself if you could go back to the beginning of the pandemic, knowing what you know now.

Would you urge yourself to exercise more, suggest a new hobby, or spend your time the same way you did?

The first lockdown was announced by the Prime Minister on Monday, March 23. Lockdown 2 took place for four weeks between November and December 2020, while Lockdown 3 began on Tuesday, January 5.

Here is what you wish you could have told yourself in the earlier days of the pandemic:

Lee McFarlane: “Do things you wouldn't normally have time to do, keep motivated, gain knowledge and plan for the future that's what I’m doing this time over.”

Helen Mitchell: “Don't underestimate how long this will go on. It will be hard but there will be magic moments.”

David Peel: “Start my uni assignments sooner.”

Sharon Jones: “That we will get through this by pulling together.”

Carly Rebecca: “You’re not in this alone. Talk to people. Have duvet days and productive days. Go for walks. Ask for help. Get creative. Binge watch a series. Do what makes you happy.”

Karolina Kalisz: “Don't get used to anything. Things change and they will change, keep calm and show trust.”

Michael Ohare: “Ride it out and hope for the best.”

Kay Foreman: “Dwell on the things I can do, not what I can't.”

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