I've always enjoyed being organised and sticking to routines. As boring as that sounds, I don't think there is anything like the feeling of satisfaction after checking tasks off your to-do list. After college, I kind of let loose and sort of settled into a life without a routine. Although that was okay at the time, when I started working, I didn't like how I was spending most of my free time unproductively. I also put on a lot of weight and felt lost and under the weather most of the time.
Using the Pandemic as an excuse, I spent most of last year unproductively. I would try to start a routine, fail miserably and get frustrated at myself for not being able to keep up. This year, it was one of my resolutions to become more productive, optimistic, and happy. The following are some things that have helped me stay on top of my game and feel more fulfilled:
1. Journaling
I am old school- I can never quite get the hang of online calendars. I need to get my shit together on paper. I must say that a lot of users on Tik Tok inspired me. I love watching morning/night routine, book recommendations and bullet journaling videos. I started organising my life through my journal, where I note down my classes and tasks at the beginning of each week. This book is the best thing I have created in my entire life (not even Coming Home or Lomba could compare to this!)
I have a monthly spread where I have my trackers (mentioned below) and my goals for the month. Within that, I have a weekly spread. At the end of each week, I plan for the next week. My weekly spread is divided into the seven days of the week where I note down my plans and tasks for the week. I keep modifying these as the days go by.
2. Habit and mood Tracker
I added a section in my journal where I could keep track of my moods and habits. I have a monthly spread and each night, I reflect on my day and note down my moods and habits. Through this, I am able to track what makes me feel a certain way but more than anything, it helps me reflect on myself each day.
I also have a sleep tracker where I note down the hours I sleep everyday. I started this because I want to get into the habit of sleeping and waking up early. I also wanted to see how the number of hours I sleep might correlate with my mood.
3. Being more grateful
Recently, I also started a gratitude page. At the end of each day, I note down three things that I am grateful for. These could be things that made me happy throughout the day or something like I usually take for granted (like running water, food, etc.)
I have always been more of a pessimistic person and I realised that it could take a toll on my own mental health. Inspired by the online course, "The Science of Well-being", I started gratitude journaling. I must say that it has really helped me become more grateful, optimistic, and content with who I am.
4. Meditation
Along these lines, I have also started meditating. I originally started with meditating for 10 minutes everyday with the help of guided videos on Youtube. However, I tend to get distracted and my mind often wanders. So, I have reduced it to 5 minutes daily. I am currently working on building my focus and I hope to increase the time as I get better at it.
5. Podcasts
I have also been listening to a lot of podcasts these days. I listen to lifestyle, educational and news podcasts. Rather than listening to music while I am doing menial tasks such as washing the dishes, laundry, driving, etc., it is a great use of time to listen to podcasts.
My favourite podcasts are Asian Boss Girl and Stuff you should know.
6. Working out
To be honest, I originally started working out because I wanted to lose weight. However, as I realised that I felt much better about myself after a physical activity. I do some light stretching or exercise in the morning, a walk on some days and Zumba at night. I listen to podcasts or video call my friends while going on walks, making it much more enjoyable.
7. Writing
Although I haven't been posting it for anyone to see, I have been writing more lately. I have been trying to journal daily. This isn't anything deep but more like sorting out my thoughts- as though speaking to a trusted friend.
8. Getting my creative juices flowing
Each day, I feel myself becoming more of an adult and seeing things just as they are. I can feel myself losing the curiosity and spark that I used to have. It's like everyday is so busy and tiring that I can hardly think of anything other than what I absolutely have to think about. Seeing as to how I took about a week to write this post, I don't think I am doing so well in the creativity department. I could either mope about it or do something to fix it. I have never really been an artist but I wanted to try painting (inspired by Tik Tok once again!) I bought a box of water colour paints and although I suck, the process has been really calming.
Along with that, I also write a book review of each book that I read. I usually decorate the reviews like a scrapbook. That has been really fun to do and even more satisfying to go through.
9. Online courses
Now that I am an adult, I look back on my life and realise that the one thing I was good at was being a student. However, back then, I would study just to get a good grade. Studying really hits different when you study for the point of learning. Over the past few years, I have learned that I do not know anything about anything. There is so much to learn in the world and with the internet, it is so easily accessible. To not be learning something online (anything!) is doing injustice to yourself. I am currently learning Korean on Duolingo. This only takes about 5 minutes of my day and it is actually fun!
These are some of the changes I have made to my life in order to learn and to grow. Although this looks great when I put it like this, I still struggle to do each of these. Each morning, I snooze my alarm and spend at least half an hour on my phone before actually getting up. Some days are just overwhelming with work that I hardly have time to think, let alone gather the energy to push myself to complete these tasks. Other days, I am so lazy I just want to watch Netflix or stay in bed all day. However, even after those days, I bounce right back and get on to a newer, more productive day. Sometimes, I feel like I am being too hard on myself but I know that I need to do this in order to not feel shitty about myself. The one thing that I am the most proud of myself for is that even though I fail at times, I am constantly trying to become a better version of myself.
댓글