There are people who like silence in the morning, others who prefer listening to a nice podcast or maybe some playlist with music of their tastes. Me? I like to watch people live their lives and document it, then upload it on social platforms for their audience.
For some reason I have yet to find out why, watching vlogs in the morning helps me start my day a little more positive and with a determination to be productive. It’s so easy to decide to simply roll over and stay in bed, especially if it’s the weekend. A nice vlog about a person who decides to document his or her life and goes on about their life in the city simply gets me going in the morning. It’s the inspiration and possibilities that fuel me at this point.

My book obsession had reached a whole new level ever since I decided to invest in my book collection and go back to my habit of reading a new book every couple of weeks. I have been a bookworm ever since I was a child starting with fairytales, but it hits different when you buy books as an adult. Choose a genre that calms you and one that thrills you and invest in those books, put time into reading them thoroughly and let yourself get lost in another fantasy world. It’s the feeling that you are not yourself while you’re reading, when you take the place of the imaginary character and read how the plot plays out. That feeling reduces my anxiety, gives me some time off my life and for a few hours I put every worry aside. We all need a few minutes off this world, books might be just the solution most of us need.

Five or so years ago, I used to be really into kick boxing. That means a lot of bruising, a lot of sweating, but also a lot of time to take steam off. It took me some time after I stopped doing kick boxing, to realize that it was the sport and the standard workout for it that helped me stay centered and focused throughout the day. After covid I kind of slacked off and that’s when my anxiety came at me in waves of strong emotions and I was feeling unable to help myself go through it. That’s why I decided to get back on my workout these days. Twice a week I go to the gym with a personal trainer, a very good friend of mine, who is determined to help me re-build my body and mind. For those of you who are not big fans of working out, get yourself a personal trainer for motivation. It helps!

It’s not a big secret that social media can mess up with your levels of anxiety. People in social media tend to show you a life that’s totally different from the one you or even they are really living. Girls wake up with their makeup already done and on point, hair perfectly styled, men with chiseled abs that try to convince you they do eat burgers or any kind of fast food and not salads and proteins all day long, amazing vacations during weekdays and celebrities’ news you don’t really care about. Social media can take your power away along with your motivation. One scroll is usually all it takes, but I have found for myself that if I take one hour away from them, I feel so much better. One hour to breathe, not care about whether my post has reached a million likes, not caring about whether the other person is doing better in life than me. One hour to simply be. Maybe it sounds a little ridiculous or maybe it’s so simple that it’s genius.

Whether you are seeing a therapist or not, take some time off your day to write down your thoughts. In most anxiety cases, people are overwhelmed with thoughts they can’t really handle. Putting them on paper might help you put them in perspective, it certainly has helped me figure out a couple of things. Simple words on paper, nothing fancy, no long words taken out of a dictionary. Pour your soul into those pages and watch as you real worries come to life and take form, this way it is better for both your mind and have something to pitch in at your therapist sessions. In my experience, when I started writing my worries down or my thoughts about an incident that troubled me, I found information about myself that I didn’t know. I set boundaries in my life with the help of journaling. Never underestimating it.

Being a remote worker has gifted me with the opportunity of building an office in my house, a room decorated and used mostly by me. When you get accustomed to being alone and not feel bad about it, it starts becoming addictive. Not that being alone is ideal all the time, however, its helps when you have your own room to take some time off. Nobody talking to you, nobody asking anything of you, nobody needing your help with anything minor. Set your boundaries, maybe even put a sign saying you are off for the next hour and just do your stuff inside your safe space. I guarantee you, it’s the best thing I have in my house and I am still decorating it to my liking. Enjoying where you are is a must.