Hello and Happy Monday my sweet friends. I hope you all are having a fabulous start to the week. I am just getting into the flow of things today after a weekend away. It is funny because I feel like these types of weekends are supposed to be rejuvenating, but they can also be a bit tiring when it is all said and done – or maybe I just struggle with getting back into the swing of things…that is probably it haha. I had a great time though. I actually went away for the weekend with one of my good friends here in Charlotte for a sort of mom’s weekend away and it was so much fun. We talked, laughed, and created some amazing memories together that I am very very thankful for.
Today, I am keeping it simple though and writing about a few tips/tricks I have gathered or noted over the past few weeks I thought you all might enjoy. Some of these are new concepts that I am attempting and a few others are just things I realized I may not have shared with you. All are things though that I think will help create more joy in your life, as always.
First, is my new habit I am attempting which is no social media over the weekend. I decided to start this last weekend, but sort of forgot this weekend. So here are the rules. No social media except Pinterest because well Pinterest should always be allowed haha. This means, no scrolling, watching, or posting on Instagram, Tik Tok, Facebook, Lemon8, Snapchat, etc. You stay away all together. For me, this is my attempt at limiting my phone usage over the weekend and getting back to basics on the weekend which is spending time with those I love. I want to create memories on the weekend and relax and really dig into facets of my life and I think that while social media has it’s benefits, it has a LOT of cons. Regardless, it is something I am noticing affects my life, so I think setting more boundaries with it will be helpful.
Speaking of boundaries with social media, number 2 is actually limiting features within the social media app. For this, I am specifically talking about Instagram. So for me, I get really caught up in stories on my Instagram and so this is sort of a way of limiting what and how much content I consume. But essentially I mute people’s stories. You can actually mute people’s posts and stories on Instagram. To do this, you can either click on the person’s story itself and hold and it will pop up to mute OR you can go to their page directly, hold down the follow button on their page and the option will pop up as well. Now, this doesn’t necessarily mean I don’t go through and watch other stories I have muted, but it does help me limit the amount of time I get lost on the app. So for me, I probably have about 10 people’s stories that are not muted. So once I watch all of their stories, it just times me out. To make this even more intentional, I sort of pick and choose my favorites of certain categories, so for example I have my favorite fitness person, recipe person, blogger, self help, etc. This can also change too because dependent upon the season you are in, certain peoples’ content is more appealing than others. Regardless, this makes my time on IG very intentional and curated to what I need and look for. Then, if I want to see someone else’s stories, I can go and watch them, it just isn’t going to consume as much of my time.
Number three is something my girlfriend and I were talking about over the weekend and that is this emphasis on caring for your skin. You see, I LOVE all things skin, but I am not a great practitioner. I struggle with washing my face at night, let alone having a 5 step process, but what I can tell you is I know and understand the importance of caring for my skin. So here is my suggestion to you…keep it simple, but create a regiment that works for you and for your life, but make sure you are making your skin a priority. A clean beautiful face is so underrated and after seeing my friend’s skin regiment, I was immediately inspired to niche in. I read a quote recently which said something along the lines of how clothes will go in and out of style, but you will always wear your skin. I love that because it is so true. So…if you are needing a nudge, now is the time to up that skin regiment and begin taking care of one of the most important organs in your body – your skin.
Lastly, is making time for reading. I know, I know. How can you possibly have time to read when you are crammed packed with things to do? Here is the plan: 30 min before you go to bed I want you to skip that episode or cut your evening (doesn’t have to be every evening) and I want you to head to your room and do two things – first is your skincare routine (because you know, we have decided that’s important) and secondly I want you to set a timer for 15-20 min to read. Read ANYTHING. Anything you are possibly interested in. Whether that be a medical journal, newspaper, a magazine, or a juicy new book. Reading before bed is not only good for your mental health, but it is also so imperative for sleep. We have too many blue lights and it is F-ing with our sleep. Whether that be triggering our brain to think about nonsense or just stimulating us to stay awake. It is time to get rid of it before bed. We are moving into our joy filled era my friends and I can tell you right now that show or that mindless scrolling is NOT helping us.
I say all of this with a few caveats – one is that while I suggest these things, I am ALSO implementing them. These are things I am trying myself and will be doing because I truly think they are going to help create more joy in my life and lastly, the most important thing is to take and pick what works FOR YOU. These are four tips/hacks that might seem far to overwhelming to implement into your life, so that if that is the case, then just choose one and try that. Then in 3 months, add another. Remember, if something ADDS stress, then it is not creating joy. This is also a lifestyle change. This isn’t something that will happen overnight. We are only working to be 1% better each day, so bite off what seems manageable to you.
Happy New Week my loves!
xoxo,
Melissa
