I have been researching a great deal about Self Care, tailored to what would work for me. Suffering depression and Borderline Personality Disorder makes self-care rituals hard to stick to.
I decided to start with a morning routine, instead of waking up super early and playing on my phone for 2 hours, I decided to try out the following steps and they have definitely made a difference. I am more productive with my writing in the mornings, so I wanted to take advantage of that as well.
Some of these tips you would have seen before, but as I said I have changed things around a little so that they work for me. My challenges are always motivation, I have the best intentions but struggle to follow through on what I have wanted to do.
So without further ado, here are the things that are working for me (so far!)
1. Jump (literally) straight out of bed when I wake up - Now this could be at 5:30 am or 6 am usually. Instead of staying in bed I jump out straight away so I am not tempted to just stay there madly checking my phone.
2. I have at least 2 big glasses of water before anything else, it kick-starts your metabolism and sets you up for a hydrated day. After that, I enjoy my morning coffee.
3. Straight into the shower - I struggle with this one sometimes, with not working at the moment I feel like I can shower anytime, but I have found jumping straight into the shower and using all the ridiculously expensive face washes, toners and moisturiser has left me feeling refreshed to start the day.
4. No phone or Social Media until after 8am - That is a rule I find hard to stick too, being a blogger and selling my candles online means I am keen to get on my phone and see what is happening. So this one is a work in progress as all the routines are to start out.
5. Exercise - I have started doing a 15-minute walk on my treadmill, but am going to up the stakes on this one and go to the lake with Harvey for a proper walk.
6. Writing - This is a time of the day that I have always been the most productive work-wise, so I am applying the same principle to my writing. I try to finish at least one blog post, then set up ideas for the afternoon.
7. To do list - It's easy to get carried away on Pinterest and neglect things are not blogging related, so I add what I want to do and it helps give me some satisfaction when I complete something on the list, no matter how small.
After all that comes a healthy breakfast, my new smoothie maker is my new best friend, they are filling, delicious and healthy. Then it's into the day where I have A LOT of time to fill. My focus just now are three things;
1. Blog
2. Youtube Channel
3. Candle Making
These are the things I have found work for me at the moment. They may change or I may add more to the list as they become habits. If you had asked me a few years ago would I be a morning person I would have poured my triple shot latte on your head! But with my medication and my mental health, I struggle to stay asleep for too long and found I was waking up super early and just wasting the time in bed.
There will be days I can assure you that none of these things gets done, but they are my goal for now and the number one lesson is to get out of that bed as soon as I wake up and try to kickstart the day the best way I can.
Comments