My life is feeling much more well-balanced as opposed to focusing only on one area of life, like work. As important as it is to make a living and as much as I relate my self-value to work, it’s not everything. Some of us are just workaholics. I used to even “backdoor brag” about how much work I was doing like:
And now my doctor is telling me to stop that or I’ll get UTI. I know this sounds like too much information but I wanted to share this because you might see where you could be making yourself a second, third or fourth priority. That said, workaholic or not, some of us are just really busy. And I totally get that. But that doesn’t mean our health has to suffer.
#1 Journal with mental health prompts
So by journaling, I don’t mean by having a “Dear diary” moment (unless that’s what you really want, go ahead!) By journaling I mean, following specific journaling prompts that are focused to ground myself and check-in with myself mentally. Here are a few of the journal prompts I use:
I’m thankful for…
I’m proud myself for…
What is making me stressed and what can I control?
#2 Create anything
Even as a content creator, it’s important for me that I create something that’s outside of what I do for work taking photos and shooting videos. So for me, I always loved the idea of drawing & painting but I don’t know-how. So I bought a course called “Draw while You Travel” and it’s surprisingly easy to follow. And even though I’m not that far into it, I still get the satisfaction of finishing and creating even if it’s just painting little trees. Plus, I learn a new skill which makes me even happier.
#3 Exercise even for a little bit
This is something we all know will make us feel better in more ways than one but how many of us actually do it? I feel like, every night, I tell myself to work out tomorrow morning but I never do. I’m even one of the lucky people to have a gym at home but I’d be lying if I said I use it all the time. So to get myself to exercise, I just go to the workout and do it. There’s really no other way to do it. But I do it step by step.
Step #1: Take pre-workout
Step #2: Change clothes
Step #3: Go to the gym
Step #4: Warm-up
Step #5: Do a set
Step #6: Do another set
And then I keep going until I finish the workout and feel much better. And if I do a little bit of exercise each day, my overall mood changes and improves. There are 10-minute workouts you can find on Youtube that you can easily follow whether you have a gym or not. Choose yoga, HIIT, Zumba, belly dancing. Make it something fun for you to do!
#4 Create your go-to relaxing routine & follow it
So it’s always good to have a go-to relaxing routine when it’s time to decompress. That way you have something to look forward to at the end of the day or even at the beginning of the day. You can start the day waking up from bed and reading a book before you get ready. Or you can take a hot bath right before bed. I like to read an inspirational book in the morning and take a hot bath at night. The point is that I take action to put myself first before I go out there for others.
For some people, this is hard to do. Especially when they are used to being of service to others. If you’re one of those people, think of it this way: You can’t pour from an empty glass. Once you’re able to make this shift, you’ll find that caring for others is easier and much more enjoyable after you put yourself first.
#5 Dress yourself up
On days where I want a boost to my mood, I’ll spend a little time dressing myself up. Like putting on makeup, doing my hair, and putting on clothes that make me feel great. Lately, I’ve been into loungewear. Especially with the coronavirus nowadays. When I buy loungewear, I want to make sure it makes me feel cute but also really comfortable like silk pajamas. That way every time I walk by the mirror, I check myself out and add that little boost to my mood.
#6 Declutter your space
This is really important to me. I feel like the more things I own, the heavier I feel. So I’ll go through my storage and get rid of stuff I haven’t used in the past year. I used to be really good about it and go through my things once a month but now I’ll take on a small section in my house and declutter it, like my shoe storage, my bookshelf, or my pantry. That way every little thing I declutter in my house each day, slowly turns cleaner and airier every week. And a light & airy home makes space for a lot of great things to happen like love, and inspiration, and possibilities.
#7 Detox digitally
Lately, my major time wasters have been the explore page on Instagram and Facebook groups. They take up so much time and most of the time they don’t even serve me. So when I’m on these apps, I’ll ask myself, “Is this really serving me right now?” The answer is usually no. And that’s my sign to get off the app. I remember the first time I left Instagram for 6 months, I felt great. Within 1 week, I had less brain fog and I felt a lot more grounded and happy with myself because I wasn’t comparing myself to the people I see on social media.
#8 Socialize
When you socialize, you’ll get a chance to vent and have someone understand what you’re going through. And you’ll also have an opportunity to hear what others are doing and it gets you out of your head (especially if you’re an overthinker). Either way, you’ll end up creating a bond with someone which is a beautiful thing to experience. We’re humans and we’re social creatures so it’s natural for us to look for companionship in others.
With the virus these days, that doesn’t mean I can’t stop socializing. There’s Facetime, Google Hangouts, Zoom, Bumble. So there’s plenty of opportunities to meet people and talk to them. Or you can talk to someone you haven’t seen in a while. Just the other day, I accidentally butt-dialed one of my best friends that I hadn’t seen in years, and we ended up talking to each other for 30 minutes like we just saw each other yesterday.
So, to conclude…
So those are 8 things that I do to improve my mental health. I don’t do all these things each day but I make sure to do at least one of these, make me feel better over time. You can do any of these things within 10 minutes if you find yourself not having a lot of time.
Don’t forget, even when you’re busy and you have a million things to do on your list, that doesn’t mean you can’t make time for yourself. When you push back your “me time” you’re also choosing that you don’t matter. When you choose yourself, it doesn’t necessarily mean “I should go first.” I just means “I deserve this too.”
The source of everything going well around you is you. So show up for yourself by putting yourself first because you matter. And once you put yourself first, everything else in your life will magically fall into place because you ended up attracting these things to happen. It’s the law of attraction 😉
I hope you learned something new about self-care today. If you did, please like this video and subscribe to my channel for more tips like this. My name is Jojo, I blog at travelingpetitegirl.com, where I share a lot of tips to help you get out of your own way, step into your best self, and thrive in life. If you want more free resources like calendars, planners, and presets, signup to my free resource library. The link will be below and in the next clip. Tschuss!
Great post ?We live in a busy, fast-paced society that in my opinion, does not value mental health as much as it should. Listen to your Mind and Body. Take a look, and see what you can start implementing in your life today. I myself, being the mother of two children, had once thrown the word “self-care” out of the window. But, yes, it didn’t take me long to realize that not only did it adversely affect my mental health, but also my ability to nurture my children and my family! Now, I make sure that I keep some time aside for myself every day so that I can rejuvenate my physical and mental health.
Aww I’m so glad you understood my message in the video! Thank you Akkie