Going cold turkey at 3pm each Saturday - Matt Mohan-Hickson

No, this isn’t some new holistic fad to reduce screen time and improve my well-being.

This tradition was borne out of a desire to escape the sinking feeling that comes with trying to follow the Middlesbrough score, constantly scrolling on social media waiting for the inevitable disappointment to come.

Back home it is known as Typical Boro – the moment you blow a lead in the last minute of injury time or somehow lose to a Hull City side that hadn’t won since New Year’s Day.

You might like this too:

While it is a bitter pill to swallow, it is a tad easier if you are actually at the ground or at least listening to the local radio coverage as it gives you a sense of the way the match is going.

But when you are trying to follow the game from hundreds of miles away and are basically totally reliant on updates via social media it is like you are flying blind.

So every time you hit refresh on Twitter or the BBC Sport app it is a heart in the mouth moment. Will you see a triumphant gif signalling Boro have taken the lead, or will it be a Typical Boro?

Most of the time it is banal updates about a corner or half-chance and then it’s time to refresh, rinse and repeat.

So at the start of the year I decided to avoid spending Saturday afternoons glued to Twitter. I would instead cut off my internet access for two hours and then return to discover the final score. This head-in-the-sand method has proved more vital following football’s return as Boro teeter on the edge of relegation from the Championship.

It is hard enough coping with the frustrations and despair that come with a relegation battle, let alone constantly being at the mercy of a refresh button.

If you could get local BBC sport coverage via the BBC Sounds App it would at least make the experience less gruelling.

But hopefully by the time you read this Boro will be mathematically safe [not quite] and I will be able to return to staring at my phone carefree on match days. Until September…

Endure masks for a while and normality might return soon

I think it’s ridiculous it has taken so long for the government to make face mask-wearing compulsory in shops.

In countries which have handled the pandemic better than us – Japan and Taiwan – masks are commonplace.

I don’t like wearing one, I doubt many do, but it is an act of courtesy in this new world. I don’t know if I have coronavirus or not but by wearing a face mask at least I’m not putting others at risk.

Sure it’s weird putting on a mask and it means I might miss a few words or a facial expression, but it is for the greater good. Endure wearing a mask for a few months while doing the weekly shop, then perhaps the pre-Covid world will return faster – and no-one else is at risk.

Skipping without a rope – yes, it’s the latest lockdown craze

What images does your mind conjure when you think about skipping? Probably childhood ones from school.

I raise this because I’ve been doing a free skipping ‘game’ available on Nintendo Switch – which simulates having a skipping rope.

Firing-up the game has become part of my daily routine and in those moments when I’m faux skipping and probably looking like a madman through the window, it has provided a warm glow of escapism. Nostalgic days of primary school when times were simpler and there was less gloom. It makes a nice respite from the reality of 2020. Plus the benefits of the exercise itself like the rush of endorphins – then you have a good excuse to eat!​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Thank you for reading this story. The dramatic events of 2020 are having a major impact on our advertisers and thus our revenues. The News is more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription to support our journalism. You can subscribe here for unlimited access to Portsmouth news and information online. Every subscription helps us continue providing trusted, local journalism and campaign on your behalf for our city.