How to make the most of furlough

Whether you're on furlough, taking time away from your job or finding yourself between roles, we've got some ideas for how to make the most of the time and stay in the right mindset.

1. Give yourself goals and a routine 

It can be easy to slip into treating furlough or time away from working as a holiday, but it soon starts to grate and it's hard to know how to pass the time. A good way to motivate yourself is to give some structure to your days - set yourself a goal, no matter how small (doing some laundry, cleaning the bathroom, baking a cake - anything but banana bread, or finishing your book) and try to stick to it, with regular meal times and exercise times.

2. Do things that make you happy

A change in circumstance can be a blow to your confidence and happiness, and it can be hard to adjust. So, we'd recommend making time for the things that bring you joy. Whether that's hanging out with your pets, chatting with friends on the phone, doing a jigsaw, working on your crafts...anything that makes you feel good is worth spending time doing. It doesn't all have to be serious tasks and doom and gloom! Now, go run that bath...

3. Take stock of your career options

For some, furlough and time away from work can make you re-evaluate your career and decide if you want to give something else a go. Now, we're not saying to retrain in cyber (although we do offer a great Cyber Security Master's course...) but, if you're looking to change direction, now's the ideal time. With postgraduate courses in a range of subjects and fields, you can start a Master's in January and be well on your way to a new qualification and a new career before you know it.

4. Learn a new skill

Furlough is the ideal time to try that new hobby or learn that new skill that you kept saying you were going to do, but never got round to it. Whether it's a free course to boost your career, knitting, learning how to make sushi or just going the whole hog and learning Japanese, keeping your brain ticking over is a great way to pass the time but also make you feel productive. Who knows, you might even end up adding this new skill to your CV and clinching a new job!

5. Exercise

Keeping your body and your mind healthy are key. You might have decided to take up a new sport or to push yourself to do a workout challenge (Couch to 5k anyone?) or maybe you just want to make sure you go for a walk every day - any fresh air is good, and trying something new to improve your fitness is great too. There's no expectation to be an Olympic athlete by the end of all of this, but keeping active and clearing your mind outdoors is invaluable.

6. Keep in touch with people

When you find yourself with unexpected time on your hands, make sure you stay in contact with your friends and family, and perhaps even use the time as an opportunity to reconnect with old friends that you may have lost touch with over the years. Whether you're doing Zoom quizzes or FaceTiming while you watch Strictly together, catching up with your loved ones gives you an immediate boost to your mood (maybe not so much if you lose the quiz, though...).

7. Don’t put pressure on yourself

Lastly, but most importantly, don't ever doubt that you're not doing enough or not doing the 'right thing' during this unique time. Everyone will be affected differently and will deal with it differently; try to find what works for you. Who cares if your neighbour's a black belt in karate now - you perfected your lasagne recipe and made the bed today. That's a win in our books!