Hello this is Nina, your local depressed college girl that’s decided to work on turning her life around and starting the new year with a more positive and happy attitude.
I know there a hundreds of similar lists and tips out there but I just thought I’d get all my favourites in one place and that way maybe motivate myself to actually follow them for once. I know my wording isn’t the best but I tried.
Here’s the few tips I’ve picked up so far and I hope they might help some of you if you are struggling a bit also:
Space - your personal/work/study space plays a big role in making you feel productive and motivated. Doesn’t matter if its your dorm room, bedroom, office…you should make it your own as much as you can. Put a plant on your desk, get a nice picture for the wall, hang some fairy lights, get a fluffy blanket for your bed, repaint your walls in your favourite color if you can, just make it cozy and comfy and nice to look at and I guarantee you’ll start to feel better. Try to keep it clean and neat, I know it’s hard sometimes, but working in a clean space makes you ten times more productive.
Self care - start with physical things, drink those 8 glasses of water and keep a tab on it until you get used to it, use handcream everytime you wash your hands, put on moisturizer every morning and sunscreen when you go out, go for a walk around the park at least every other day, and for fucks sake go to sleep at a reasonable hour, you’ll be so grateful in the morning if you do. Show your body some appreciation.
Take some ‘me’ time - we might we don’t have time for this, but it’s so important we make some time. First thing in the morning, during the day or before bed, just take a few minutes and relax. Put on your favourite song, burn a scented candle, drink a hot cup of tea, sit down and just breathe.
Be proud of yourself regardless - take that ‘me’ time and reflect on your day, pat yourself on the back for everything you did even if it was just getting out of bed. Life is a bitch sometimes and you should be just as proud of yourself for the little things. It’s okay to sometimes be lazy, to procrastinate, to not do anything. You aren’t a machine, you’ll burn out if all you do is work.
Appreciate the little things - on those lazy days it’s sometimes hard to not feel miserable about it. That’s when you should appreciate the little things in life. Get yourself that coffee you love so much and enjoy it, go to a roof, watch the sunset and appreciate the colors, take a photo of anything you find pretty and look back at them when you feel down…make yourself believe those moments made your whole day and suddenly it’ll feel like your life’s meaning isn’t just getting up and working/studying all the time, but enjoying everything you get to do and see in between too.
Find your interests - and stick to them!! We all like to give up on things if we aren’t immediately good at them. But no one was born an expert. And as cliché as it sounds practise does make perfect. Join a drawing class, a dance club, a writing class, get a course book on your target language, download editing softwear and play around with it, watch documentaries about your favourite subject. If you fall out of your hobby in the end it’s no big deal, but you’ll know you gave it a try and didn’t miss an opportunity to learn something new.
Journaling - this might not be for everybody, but I found it helps me clear my mind a lot to put my thoughts on paper and have everything organized in written form. I just love having all my things in one place where I can just look and see where I’m at, whether it’s plans for the day, my thoughts, my playlists, pretty pictures, anything really. It’s also a great way to be creative.
Start now - this is the most important one! Kick yourself in the ass and start taking care of yourself today! Get that glass of water right now, light a scented candle, read that book you’ve been putting off, watch that documentary about your favourite thing. Start enjoying your life right now, even if it’s only for a second, tommorow it’ll be two and three the day after and hopefully soon it’ll be a whole day.
