Mental Health Update

Hey everyone, as some of you may have noticed, I have been a little quiet on here the last month, and that’s because I just needed to take some time out, and that’s not been easy. I have felt guilty in doing so, as I felt like I was on such a positive with this blog, and how much I was posting, I was really proud and really enjoying it, and everything was going so well, so what happened?

To tell you the truth I don’t know. There are so many things I have to be happy about and I want to be happy too, like its so frustrating, but my body just will not let me. So I kind of feel like I’m fighting a loosing battle with my mind and body at the moment and feel like I’ve lost all control. I have felt very overwhelmed with things at the moment, my social life is as busy as it has ever been, yet I can’t keep up with everyone, I just don’t have the time, I’m constantly feeling exhausted and I have so much to do at home, that isn’t getting done, which is also getting me down. Plus I haven’t been able to find time for myself, like my blog for instance, which also makes me feel sad. I mentioned in my last post, that I’m finding this stage of Covid, a lot harder than the lockdown stage, because I feel like we are constantly in limbo, and there just feels like so much uncertainty surrounding everything. I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one feeling like this though.

However I have been making some positive steps forward to help me mentally, and I have noticed a big difference already in what those steps have done. So there are 3 changes I have made recently and I’m going to share them with you, to see if they help you too.

Social Media

You may have heard people say this a lot but having a social media clear out really works wonders. People often say unfollow anyone who has a negative impact on your mind, however I went one step further, so I am in the process of clearing out my Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat. I have done Snapchat and Facebook already, and actually deleted over 150 people on my Facebook. The key is just to be brutal, if people don’t add anything to your life, or you don’t talk to them anymore, get rid of them. Honestly, once I finished going through my Facebook, the relief I felt was quite surprising to me, I wasn’t expecting it to have such an impact on how I was feeling. I still have my Instagram to do and Twitter I actually have a new account, as my old one got hacked, so I’m starting a fresh there anyways. I know it is time consuming, but wow what a difference it makes.

Phone Contacts

Another thing I’ve done is go through my phonebook and put everyone into categories. Wait, give a min to explain, I know it doesn’t make sense. With everyone who is in my phonebook and is family, has an “f” in front of their name. People who have a positive impact on my life, and who I want to surround myself with more, have a “g” in front of their name. Anyone who has a bad impact on my mental health, as harsh as it sounds, who I should distance myself away from, gets a “b” in front of their name. So “g” stands for good and “b” stands for bad. Are you with me? Anyone who really just drags me down, and makes my mood change gets an “x” in front of their name. This stands for the x list. This is where people are on their last chances, if nothing improves, then they will get deleted. It’s also really good that if I get a message now, I can see the letters first before the name, and that determines in how soon I reply, and also how my mind is. I would definitely recommend giving this a try, it sounds like a lot of faff, but it’s not really.

To do Lists

I’ve recently just bought a notebook, but a diary works fine. Inside I’m writing the next day’s date and then a list of things I want to get achieved that day. The idea is the list isn’t long, just like 10 things max. At the end of that day I then go through that list, and reward myself a point for each task that I’ve done and any tasks that get done, get rolled over to the next day, but in brackets gets a number added to it. For everyday that tasks gets done, the number goes up, which represents how many days its been on the list for and not got done. Then if any new things pop up, you can add them to the list too. For anything that didn’t get put on the list, but was productive and still got done, you get a bonus point. Gradually you should find the list gets shorter, but with how I’m feeling about getting things done at home, this is really working for me at the moment.

So there you have it, a little update on how I’m feeling as you guys have asked for more of these sorts of posts when I did my poll on Instagram. If you have any tips on things we can all put into practice, leave a comment below. This blog has a lovely community and we should all support one and another and stick together. I honestly couldn’t ask for better followers.

Sending love to you all,

A x