Lockdown Laptop Activism and Focus Tips

Would you like to donate money to COVID-19 charities but watching the pennies? Or grow trees while concentrating better?  Here are 3 great apps, Livvy recommends for lockdown working that support charities, tree planting and your mental health.  

Tab for a cause

If you open a lot of tabs during the day,  don't worry we aren't going to say it's bad for your concentration - it may well be but opening lots of tabs can also generate money for charities with Tab for a Cause.

This is a chrome extension that generates money from tabs being opened. Yes, there are adverts on the corner of the new tab but there is also a beautiful picture of the great outdoors, and for every tab you get a heart which you save you up and donate to charity.

​Currently, Tab for a Cause are fundraising for COVID-19 charities and automatically giving revenue to charities so even more hearts to go around.  

Livvy uses this and it makes here feel much better that she gave up on Ecosia, the eco-search engine that plants trees,  as it just doesn't get the search results she has grown accustomed to (but do give it a go and see what you think). So with Tab for a Cause she can have her Google searches  and donate to charity.  

Concentrate or the tree gets it!

If your Whatsapp groups are always pinging and you have got into the habit of checking the news pages on your phone, its hard to break the cycle as it becomes habitual. But what about if you killed a tree or coral when you reached for your phone, or you were rewarded by growing a forest when you concentrated?

Check our the Forest app which is like the 'tamagotchi' for environmentalists, except you have a forest to grown and nurture.  Simply set the timer for your concentration period and watch the trees grow- well don't watch the trees, concentrate on your work.

Any attempts to open an app are met with tree killing threats (phone calls are allowed)! And the organisation behind the app also has a real-world tree growing initiative. 

Get a bit of headspace

And what about YOUR mental health? 
With meetings, pub quizzes and house parties all conducting on screens, our brains have little time away from stimulation and  with the never-ending bad news stories, from around the world, it can all feel a bit much. So taking a few minutes for mindfulness meditation will really help your brain.  

If you aren't into chakras and channelling your inner animal spirit, then the Headspace app is brilliant and plain-talking (literally Andy has the most down-to-earth voice every heard on a meditation app).

Since the onset of the pandemic Headspace have included light exercise and short daily advice videos for mental and physical wellbeing, and there are sessions on focus, concentration and prioritisation. 

Furthermore there are lots of free resources and support  tailored for work sectors being impacted most.  

For more tips and actions to take check out 350.orgs guide: Community Care is greater than Coronavirus which lists actions you can take while staying at home. 

And equally if you feel like doing very little that is OK to, forget the motivational posts saying you should have learnt a new skill before the end of lockdown- we are in a global pandemic and the stress is scientifically proven to make use feel tireder.