Dating used to be so much more straightforward - you met, you chatted, you continued by text, you went out a few times and you decided yay or nay. Covid changed all of that into questioning whether to wear masks on your dating profile to deciding to take the relationship into a "bubble" rather than a third date, and the phrase "have you been tested" took on a whole new meaning!

There are a number of understandable concerns we might have, so here are my five tips for navigating dating now that lockdown restrictions are easing:

1. It's OK to talk about the pandemic

"What do you like to do?" pre-pandemic could be answered with a number of hobbies and experiences, and this now seems a little reduced to "what have you watched?"

It's worth remembering that while not in the same boat, we've faced the same storm, and so asking what someone enjoyed doing pre-Covid is a perfectly reasonable way to start. Further, as a self-development bonus, thinking about this now might help you to decide whether you actually enjoy whatever it is enough to restart it! Don't forget, it's OK for a new butterfly to emerge from the lockdown chrysalis; and if you do so your relationships can be built on this new and realigned footing.

2. Know what you are looking for...really looking for

Whatever you do, don't fall prey to your mind making you think you're desperate. That sense of anxiety and urgency can affect our judgment and decision making. An extra moment to pause even after the year and ask as you get back into the dating pool "Is this who I really want?" can save much longer in fretting or regret.

It's OK - we all got a year older, and while age can be a factor in prompting us to think more broadly on our long-term wants, so too can a year in which many of us recognised what was valuable to us. If your focus is now on long-term happiness rather than momentary pleasure - or vice versa - you owe it to yourself and the other person to be honest. Further, perhaps this lack of a "game" may even help you make the connections you want where everyone knows where they stand.

Dale Carnegie Training reminds us that four things, notably prominent when we feel pressured as we might after an enforced "dry period" , which can distort our values and result in self-sabotage:

• Greed - the drive to acquire gains for yourself alone. This might result in us keeping many people 'hanging on' on a dating app - which isn't always the most respectful to them.
• Speed - the impulse to have it all now. This might result in us not recognising red flags in a relationship because we so want to be in one.
• Laziness - if we take the path of least effort we might settle or make do - and that's not a healthy foundation for a relationship - for either party.
• Haziness - not knowing what we really want can result in spending yet more time kissing lots of frogs.