Over the years, we’ve all experienced good and bad times. From work to finances and finding love, each aspect of our lives made us experience negative emotions at some point: rage, sadness and disappointment are just a few. Sometimes we even felt desperate or helpless as we were trying to figure out the meaning behind every struggle thrown at us.
That’s exactly how I’d describe 2020 too.
This year has been a rollercoaster of emotions caused by the most tragic events imaginable: wildfires, the pandemic, Presidential elections, violent protests – everything has taken a toll on us.
If you feel like snapping out from little things, if you can barely start a new day or you simply can’t find joy anymore, this post is for you.
Today, we’ll have a look at five simple, yet effective things you can do right now to smile more tomorrow:
Don’t beat yourself up
Maybe you’re a parent trying to homeschool your children while working a full-time job. Maybe you’re a student trying to attend online classes without understanding much. Maybe you’re simply someone who’s tired of this situation.
No matter what you’re feeling about your new lifestyle or the pandemic in general, it’s fine.
Repressing your feelings may seem tempting especially when social media makes everyone seem super-happy (even those who are not). No matter how much you ignore negative emotions, they’re still there – and might only grow bigger unless you let them out.
Call a friend. Write your thoughts down. Cry. Do whatever it takes to acknowledge and accept yourself as you are; you deserve to start showing yourself some compassion!
Take it one day at a time
Lately, everybody has been buzzing around the idea of mindfulness and its importance of keeping us sane during these difficult times.
In simple terms, being mindful means focusing on the present moment and truly living there. The pandemic is a major trigger for wanting to live either in the past (when everything was okay and social distancing wasn’t a norm) or the future (maybe all of this will go away one day, right?).
We all want to escape a little from the present and that’s fine – as long as you don’t turn it into a habit. Try finding joy in the little things you do have right now: family time, more free time to follow your passions, learning to cook, etc.
Change your social media habits
Here’s another newly popular term these days: doomscrolling.
Aside from the current COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve also fallen victims to a so-called epidemic of scrolling on social media. I think all of us are doing it way too often: you just want to check your phone and end up endlessly scrolling through (mostly) useless information.
Right now, though, social media news feeds are mostly filled with depressing news, tragedies and day-to-day difficulties; at this point, many people reduced their scrolling time drastically to avoid entering a bad state of mind.
Others couldn’t.
Doomscrolling is a form of addiction in which you can’t help but scroll through negative news on social media, which can deeply impact your mental state, if you need some help with this here you can see a new post about the inpatient addiction treatment cost. It’s crucial that you create a well-established scrolling schedule. If you feel that you can’t let go of this habit, consider following more positive, optimistic or funny content.
Give yourself some space
In the era where social distancing is lifesaving, how much space do you give yourself?
No matter how busy you are, if you overlook daily moments of self-care, you will only end up feeling miserable. What does ‘self-care’ mean?
Well, for some, it can be taking a long bath in silence. For others, it can be enjoying dinner with friends and family (virtually). For others, it can be taking a good night’s sleep. Self-care can be anything that improves your mood, relaxes you and makes you feel like you’re worth it. It’s a form of self-respect which can make a huge difference in how you process these difficult times.
Whether you can take five minutes or two hours per day, create a moment to cherish and take care of yourself however you like.
Stop catastrophic thinking
This is perhaps the most difficult tip on our list. After all, how can you stop negative thinking when the world seems to fall apart on a daily basis?
According to therapists, catastrophic thinking means constantly ruminating on worst-case scenarios. Some examples are imagining you’ll experience the worst COVID-19 symptoms if you get it or thinking you can lose your job in any moment due to global financial instability.
It’s easy to get caught up in this trap since basically anything could go wrong right now. When you notice that you’re in this rabbit hole, distract your mind immediately by doing something else: call a friend, play a game, do the dishes or whatever works for your daily schedule.
It’s been a very tough year; we don’t have to be tough on ourselves too, not now. If you do your best to cherish what you do have right now (yourself included), you will get through this!