keeping a healthy mindset during difficult times 🖤

Hi, friends! I did not post last Saturday in respect to the BLM movement. It just did not seem right, and in some ways immoral, to put stuff out there that was not relevant to the current events.

After asking you guys on Instagram, some of you suggested that I make a post on how I stay motivated, which is hard because I have a lot of trouble finding motivation myself. When my school first announced that the remainder of the school year would be canceled due to COVID-19, I really did not have much to look forward to, much less have the motivation to do anything of great importance. Additionally, the uprise of the Black Lives Matter movement has presented a much needed, but truthfully, scary time for, I would imagine, all of us. It is okay to take a step back from reality, but after rolling around my house for a few weeks and wallowing in my own anxiety and laziness, I realized that something needed to change. I needed to help rebuild myself mentally before I could stand up to help others. As queen, legend, icon Rupaul once, actually many times, said, “If you can’t love yourself, how in the hell you gonna love somebody else?”

So without further ado, here is a list of things that have been helping to keep me sane through these trying times. I hope this helps some of you as well :)

---

Getting ready everyday... even if I have nowhere to be

I find that keeping a clear mind starts with having a daily routine, and getting ready in the morning helps with that. When I put on real clothes and some makeup, I feel more determined to get stuff done.

Exercising

I have to admit, I am not the best at keeping up with my fitness, but now that I’ve got all this time on my hands, I felt like I needed to take this opportunity to start taking care of my body. I do around 30 minutes of exercise a day, and although it doesn’t seem like much, the effects build up. I usually follow a workout video (lately I’ve been loving Chloe Ting 😍) and then follow it up with a nice long stretch session. After each workout, I log everything that I did that day in my planner (which I will get into more details later). One of the most important things that I have learned about working out consistently is to not be hard on yourself. I’m not going to beat myself up if I skip a day, and if my body needs a break during a workout, I’m going to take a break. Building up your body is a work in progress, and although you may not be where you want to be right now, consistency and diligence will give it to you.

This is my workout log in my planner lol

Having a sleep schedule

Towards the beginning of quarantine, I ended up sleeping at ungodly hours and waking up super late as a result. Maintaining a sleep schedule has not only fixed my circadian rhythm, but my day feel a little more routine.

Keeping electronics away from the bed

This one is super hard to put into practice at first, but after you do it, you will feel much better about yourself. I started doing this after I watched a video of things that CEOs do, and though I am nowhere near CEO status after doing this, I feel much more calm at night and falling asleep is so much easier. Now, I keep all of my chargers plugged far away from my bed and have made a habit of reading before bed instead of scrolling through Instagram. A book that I really enjoyed reading was The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. It focuses on race and feminism, and I think now more than ever is a great time to read this book. Here’s the link to buy the book on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Secret-Life-Bees-Monk-Kidd/dp/0142001740

Studying

This one definitely sounds a bit strange. Before college, I knew that I wanted to review material that I learned long ago so that I’m not behind in college. Studying gives me something productive to do, and even if you’re not studying calculus again like I am, taking the time to learn something everyday has made me feel so much more productive and useful. I’ve been taking notes using GoodNotes 5, and I am in love with it. I does cost $8, but it is totally worth the money. Because of this app, I can keep all of my notes in one digital space without missing the feeling of handwritten notes.

You can also import images into your notes and annotate over them!

My notes have seriously never looked cleaner 🥰

Keeping up with a planner

I used to bullet journal on a fancy notebook with lots and lots of pens and stickers and whatnot, but after a while, the task became draining. The journal had essentially lost its purpose. Because of GoodNotes, however, I am a CHANGED PERSON. I made a separate planner, and although it’s a bit tedious to write everything down, physically checking things off a list and visualizing everything I need to do helps so much with getting things done!

Tracking habits

It’s probably not a surprise at this point, but I also track things that I want to accomplish daily in what I call a habit tracker. By doing so, I can keep myself accountable for my tasks, and, again, visualize my progress, which helps me continue to do everything. Here’s what mine looks like:

Though I do skip some days, I have become much more aware of what I should be doing every day.

Talking to people

The best thing to do during these difficult times is to talk it out with people. Even if it is a difficult conversation, having one with friends and family can give you some reassurance and feedback without having to feel embarrassed or attacked. I had a very enriching conversation with my friends the other day, and I came out of it more knowledgeable and calm because we were all able to discuss how we were feeling. Turns out, none of us were alone, and we were all dealing with the same emotions. But without this talk, I would have just been absorbed in my own thoughts and feelings, making me feel worse.

Gooooood music

The last thing I do (and highly recommend) is building a playlist that keeps you calm, relaxed, and in a good headspace. Below, I have attached the link to my own calming Spotify playlist that I have carefully curated. I hope you guys like it as much as I do because I literally keep this on all the time ☺️

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0RlaLoEOuiYzzp3ZDiBNW8?si=GGjgI_E-QgigYKX8H0cvGw

And...

That’s it! I hope you found some of these tips useful! If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, don’t be afraid to comment down below! Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you Saturday with another blog post 🤩

- Yune