Category Archives: Lifestyle

self-care, self-help and general lifestyle articles.

2 productivity Life Hacks you need to organise your life

I recently discovered 2 productivity life hacks which help me to keep on track recently. They aren’t amazingly clever or flashy hacks. In fact they’re simply two good old fashioned habits that I’ve been more intentional about. Especially at a time where I felt I was losing control in terms of personal productivity with both my writing and day to day tasks.

These are:

Planning

Preparation

Planning Improves Task Performance

In 2011 a pair of psychologists named Baumister and Masicampo discovered that performance improves when people make prior plans to achieve something. Additionally, they found that when people separate a task into smaller ones in the form of a list, it makes it more achievable. From my own experience I can absolutely attest to this with my 2 productivity life hacks.

The first thing I did was to purchase a notepad so that I could make lists which respond to my 2 productivity life hacks. The purpose of these lists though self explanatory, work psychologically to help me become more productive. They allow me to gather and visually see what needs doing and then respond to them through action. This really allows me to crack down on my tendency to procrastinate. It’s much easier to remember to call the bank when it’s written down on a bulleted list!

Here are the types of lists I create:

Everyday Errand lists
Meal ideas
Ingredient lists
Goal lists
Writing ideas

My 2 productivity Life Hacks- how these lists help me

Hands down the everyday errand list is the one that lets me tackle my daily tasks quickly. When they are collated together it motivates me to check them off my list. Particularly when they require no more than a phone call or online form to complete.

Ever find yourself rotating the same five meals or less (and repeating them) throughout the week? I’m guilty of this! In fact, I am somebody who easily finds themselves eating the same things for supper over and over. When this happens, I take a step back and think about what I’ve been neglecting in my diet or perhaps what I’ve been having too much of and make shopping lists centred around new meals and snacks that I will incorporate into my diet to redress the balance. Here planning new meals through simple ingredient or meal lists are an invaluable hack which launches me into a state of productivity and action as well as helps me make healthier meal choices- 2 productivity life hacks in one!

So I’ve covered my planning hack through list making, now I bring you to my 2^nd productivity life hack and that is preparation.

Be your own fairy godmother

The skill of organisation is not a natural instinct of mine. In fact, when it comes to being super organised I have to be very intentional because the default I operate on is something I call organised chaos! That means, for example, that the form I am looking for is likely to be amongst a pile of similar items or loosely filed away amongst numerous other papers but not placed meticulously and seamlessly. The end result being- I often vaguely know where things are but it will take ten minutes to find them instead of me knowing where I keep them. Admittedly, this area of my planning needs more work.

However one area of prepping I have focused on is cleaning and food preparation. Last year I was BEYOND overworked and busy and would find myself unable to function properly in the evenings. It meant that I could barely put a serving of frozen chips in the oven much less cook from scratch. Now I’m not going to say that I’m a super meal prepper or anything like that but I have taken to precooking meals and dishing them up into four or five servings to be consumed for the rest of the week or frozen for future weeks. Doing so is incredibly valuable in saving me time and exertion when I am feeling low on energy.

Gadgets can help

A rice cooker is great for the productivity hack of prepping.

My rice cooker makes this possible. This handy gadget means that unless you love standing over a pot cooking rice, it’s unlikely that you will do so again! It works wonders for my meal prep. I take the same approach to cleaning the dishes. The end result is that, by acting like a fairy godmother the day/days before, I’m helping myself out days ahead in the future. Is this new? No. Is this revolutionary? Nope! But have these 2 productivity life hacks of planning through lists and casual meal prepping helped me work through my tendencies towards procrastination and an occasional lack of productivity? Most definitely!

What are your life hacks to help you be more productive in areas of your life? Let me know in the comments below.

13 Pieces of Advice I Would Give my Younger Self

18 Replies

Here are thirteen pieces of Advice that I would give myself when I had less life experience as a younger person. Our adolescent and teen years are often filled with so much angst and worry. Quite often these concerns range from superficial worries like the type of music we’re into and want to be seen to be consuming to elevate people’s impressions of us, to real serious concerns such as body image issues and our relationships with food. As a fully fledged adult who can now healthily reflect on my past experiences as a teen, the following thirteen pieces of advice are for my younger self.

1. Advice: Some friends are only here for a season and that’s okay.

2. Though you dislike their decidedly poppy sound now, do you know that one day you’re going to miss The Fergie era Black Eyed Peas and their relatively clean brand of pop and upbeat tunes?

3. Watch people’s actions towards you and not their words.

Caring for others, watch others actions and not their words. — Caring for others through actions not words.

4. You really need to slow down on the fizzy drinks.

5. There’s no need to try and model yourself off of other people. Be authentically you at all times.

6. What they are doing is called fat shaming.

7. That weird goosepimply sensation you get when someone is trying to distort the very real truth during a discussion or argument has a name. Gaslighting. And it is a real thing.

8. Music really is the best thing ever and that will never change for you.

9. There are tricky times ahead but you will get through it.

10. Some people are only family by blood.

11. Stop buying clothes a size smaller for ‘when you lose fourteen pounds.’

12. Learn to let go of people who consistently don’t make time for you.

13. You will be so glad that you Kept your CD collection!

What advice would you give your younger self? Let me know in the comments below!

Rebecca Hall Passing Film Review

17 Replies

Rebecca Hall Passing: African Americans in Harlem — African Americans in Harlem

Passing is a 2021 film directed by Rebecca Hall based on the novel of the same name by Nella Larsen. Set in the roaring twenties and firmly within the clutches of the vibrant Harlem Renaissance, two old friends cross paths during a chance meeting. What makes their meeting remarkable, is the fact that both, light skinned African American women, are masquerading or passing as white women.

The movie starts on a hot summer’s day where we meet Irene Redfield known as Renee, played by Tessa Thompson, waiting in line in an all-white toy store, her facial features deliberately obscured by the lace brim of her hat. She appears to hide beneath it. As spectators, we have the privilege of knowing why, whilst the white patrons around her seemingly have no clue. That she is pretending to be white to gain access to a particular space during a time of segregation and high racial tensions. Overcome by the sweltering heat, Irene catches a taxi, with ease, to the exclusive Drayton Hotel.

Whilst sipping on her beverage at the hotel, a blonde stares openly, confrontationally even, at Irene who becomes noticeably more uncomfortable. Looking around her in bewilderment, perhaps for an opportunity to escape.

This is a very poignant moment for the audience who see the women juxtaposed. We know that both are passing, however one is confident in her surroundings so much so that she fools the other into believing that she is actually white. The ‘white woman’ who is glaring at her begins to feel like a tangible threat in blowing her cover. She eventually approaches Irene and there is some confusion when the blonde woman, played by Ruth Negga, professes to know a bewildered Irene. She introduces herself as Clare Bellew, an old college friend, now a striking character. Their reunion is warm and Clare invites Irene to her suite where the two discuss their lives.

Clare cuts a glamourous and haughty figure, impressive even, but as she talks it becomes apparent that whilst both are light skinned black women who share a past, they have chosen opposite life paths. Irene, the wife of a black doctor in a black neighbourhood appears perplexed when Clare discusses her fear during her pregnancy that her child would ‘turn out dark.’ Irene quickly cuts in saying, ‘mine are dark’ so that there is no confusion as to what her identity is, despite admitting that she passes occasionally for convenience, hence why she is at the hotel in the first place. Irene’s discomfort is visible and she makes an attempt at leaving but Clare insists that she stay. Shortly after, Clare’s husband arrives at the suite and she introduces Irene to him. He greets her with ease, none the wiser about her ethnic origin. In fact, he is so comfortable in her company that he reveals that his nickname for his wife is ‘Nig,’ clearly a nod to the olive tone of her skin and the offensive racial slur. Clare reacts by laughing like a giddy schoolgirl at her husband’s ignorant bigotry and continues to do so when he professes to hate black people, ironically not knowing that he is in fact in the company of two black women, one being his very own wife. Rebecca Hall captures the palpable anxiety of being found out in Passing so easily.

It becomes obvious then, to the audience that what unfolds, is her former friend’s warped and desperate attempt to be accepted into white society. Much unlike her own occasional indulgences in passing in order to benefit from fleeting privileges. She makes haste to leave and relives the experience in disbelief and anger to her husband once she returns home. The absurdity of the event means that she completely ignores Clare’s invitation via letter to meet once again.

Unfortunately for Irene, Clare has more forthright plans and once she realises that Irene has ignored her letter, takes the liberty of showing up on her doorstep and inviting herself in. It could be argued that the moment Clare crosses the threshold of their black household, marks a metaphorical shift, whereby she removes her white mask and becomes black once more.

Here we see the ease with which she lets her guard down. There is a palpable relief that the viewer feels seeing her re-adjust to her ‘negro’ identity. This can be seen with the ease in which she speaks to Irene’s black maid, both of them dipping their feet in a basin in the backyard. This scene also marks an irony whereby despite living as a black woman in Harlem Irene refuses to converse with her maid in the same conversational manner that Clare does and arguably denies her the small dignity of at least that type of perceived equality. As a result, it could be suggested that whilst she lives as a negro woman, she utilises her privileges as a lighter skinned woman when she sees fit. Here we see that Rebecca Hall also holds Irene accountable for her own hypocrisy, however miniscule it may seem compared to Clare’s passing.

As stated previously, Clare is a charismatic and glamorously attractive figure and it’s not long before her charm sees her infiltrate Irene and her doctor husband’s own social circle. These scenes depicting her being accepted into their circle, even as a passing ‘negro’ woman, encapsulate the warmth and easy acceptance sometimes extended by the black community to others. Rebecca Hall explores how the concept of pretty privilege rears its head in Passing. The allure of Clare owing to her pretty privilege is just as central a concept as her passing as white.

Inevitably a sort of one-sided tension builds up between the two women as Clare appears to charm all the men she meets in their friendship circle, including her own black husband who had once scoffed at the very idea of Clare and thought her a very odd character owing to Irene’s story about her laughing at her racist husband’s jokes. This tension mounts to a crescendo that pushes on to the end of the film. What makes it all the more gripping is Clare’s seeming obliviousness through it all- is she or isn’t she aware? The audience are left pondering. Whether she does or doesn’t, the predicament they will all find themselves in, is set to be one of epic proportions.

Have you watched Rebecca Hall’s adaptation of Nella Larson’s book Passing? Let me know in the comments below!

Cheers to New Year Goals- not Resolutions

10 Replies

My new year goals for 2022 have taken me a bit longer than planned but better late than never I say.

I have seen a distinct lack of ‘New Year’s Resolutions’ on social media at the start of this year- I think that’s brilliant and here’s why.

From my own experience New Year’s Resolutions are easily broken which results in an instant feeling of failure and potential self-sabotage. For example, as a preteen I remember being in a restaurant stating that I wanted to have more prominent cheekbones. No sooner than I had announced this, somebody reminded me that we were in a restaurant and that I was literally sat eating chocolate marble cake with lashings of heavy cream. It would have been funny if I’d been old enough to spot the irony. Instead, it created a f*ck it moment which just made me want to eat more of the same. My instant failure made me want to punish myself and I believe that the concept of New Years’ Resolutions do the same. The rules are so stringent that it sets us up to fail. Take me for instance on this New Year’s Eve. I had planned to stop ordering take-aways- when my chicken kebab arrived at 11.55pm on the dot, five minutes before midnight. Had it been a resolution, I would have already failed, however since it was a rolling goal that I gave myself to work towards, I felt no disappointment with myself or any negative emotion associated with failure.

Happily, I have seen people list their goals without so much as the dreaded ‘R’ word around. It seems that people have grasped the concept that we need to go easy on ourselves by setting longer term attainable goals that we can work on continuously.

So onto some of my new year goals for this year:

Write more short stories

This is probably one of my favourite prose forms to write in. It doesn’t require the same planning, tenacity and time investment as a novel but the indulgence of just pouring over the pages is just as rewarding. I definitely plan to write more of these this year.

Get back into sending submissions

Any writer should know by now that rejection is about as normal the sun rising in the morning. It will happen and it will happen again and again. It is part and parcel of the process. It’s really important to understand this and can actually keep you motivated to keep going.

Re-edit my novel (protagonist name change)

I completed my first novel a long time ago. Then I dropped it for some creative writing side projects- bad idea in stalling on this. Some time has gone by now and the name of my protagonist just won’t have the effect that it would have had I acted sooner. Lesson learned.

Set up an activity diary

I would like to be more strategic with how I list and plan activities.

Less time on social media

What can I say? Like many people, I really need to cut down on time spent scrolling aimlessly through random feeds. This one is so hard though!

Stay on a low sugar diet

I recently wrote about how I cut most artificial sugar out of my diet.

What are some of your main new year goals for the year? Let me know in the comments below.

How to reduce sugar intake right now

10 Replies

Knowing how to reduce sugar intake is a handy skill to have when battling an addiction to sweet treats, and aren’t we all? On September 12^th 2021 I decided to drastically reduce my sugar intake in my diet and here’s how it went.

There are very few benefits if any, to consuming large amounts of Sugar. It is a known fact that it leads to weight gain and can contribute to tooth decay on the lower end of the scale and heart disease and diabetes on the higher end. Nonetheless, consuming a surplus of sugary treats is socially acceptable and even expected. At seminars, training days and work meetings we find platters laced with sweet treats in the form of cakes, chocolates and biscuits, ready to give us our next sugar rush. In addition to this, if we aren’t offered sugary food on a platter in real life, people’s social media feeds are embellished with food porn of the sweet variety.

I realised that I was consuming too much sugar when I found myself having a monthly Haribo binge at a specific time of the month. I would buy a large pack of the Supermix variety and found myself eating more incrementally each time. I went from two large handfuls to half the pack in one go- to eventually devouring the whole pack. As it goes, these monthly sugary cravings weren’t even the tip of the iceberg. I was habitually eating handfuls of sweet biscuits and dipping them into my tea in the evenings, as well the odd mini cake or chocolate bar. I was also addicted to fizzy drinks. It was apparent that like so many of us, I was addicted to sugar. The body has an amazing way of communicating with us and we often know when we are abusing it. That feeling of guilt after eating too many sweets or fatty foods? Yes, that’s our intuition along with our bodies telling us that perhaps we ought to be a bit more mindful in our self-care. For me it came in the form of tiredness after consuming sugary snacks or carbonated drinks- the obvious symptom of an energy crash after having spiked my insulin levels so rapidly.

I took to the internet trying to learn how I could even begin to curb my sugar addiction- yes, addiction. Previously I wouldn’t have accepted this to be a thing, however I was finally able to admit it to myself and wanted to do something about it. Below I will outline how to reduce sugar intake in simple steps.

The first thing I did was to educate myself. Yes most of us have a basic idea of what is good for our bodies and what isn’t. In fact, when we make poor choices we often know this and that we are over indulging. I knew perfectly well that drinking excessive amounts of sugary carbonated drinks, sweets and biscuits were not conducive to a healthy diet, however I really had to sit down and inform myself on what could be at risk if I were to continue with my habits. Upon learning what the specific disease risks were, I set about finding more practical information on how I could make informed choices on what I chose to snack on, sugar wise. The British Heart Foundation Website really outlined the importance of understanding that sugar had MANY different names. I began to learn the lesser known ones and made a note to also avoid them within reason.

Aside from educating myself on how to reduce sugar intake, I learned that my huge sugar consumption also came down to a range of different factors which were:

Mainly allowing for huge gaps between meals without snacks, not even slow release ones. As a result, by the time I returned home in the evenings I would be ravenous and reach for something gratuitously sweet and readily available.

A lack of meal preparation then fed into this, also increasing the chances of reaching for a sugary snack.

Forming poor habits in the form of allowing myself to consume harmful amounts of sugary substances without allowing myself to dwell on the consequences they might have.

I started to religiously read the backs of food packets in the supermarket. I would spend ages, pouring over the nutritional information. To my dismay, I found that so many so called ‘savoury’ foods had sugar contained in them. Things as simple as a jar of pasta sauce or a tin of baked beans or soup, even savoury cheesy biscuits! You name it, sugar was everywhere. I did it though. I made a point to find no added sugar alternatives and went with them. I felt a growing sense of achievement that I had successfully removed sugar from my life. Admittedly I became one of those annoyingly smug people who gleefully told people that I didn’t eat sugar when they offered me treats. Of course, they were impressed every time because sugar addiction is absolutely no joke and most of us, who can consume sugar (non-diabetic) absolutely will.

At this stage, the hardest thing was letting go of chocolate as I knew it- large creamy bars of regular milk or dark chocolate. I found something called ‘black chocolate’ in a brand called Montezuma. It was 100% cocoa solids and contained no sugar. I was slightly nervous when I took it home and anticipated the taste. After all, this was going to be all I would be able to have from now on, I thought glumly. When I tasted it, it had a strong bitter kick but tasted rich and surprisingly moreish. I allowed myself to eat three squares at a time, adjusting myself to it and happy in the knowledge that it was at least, as an antioxidant, good for me. I was in fact being very good, but if I were to instruct someone on how to reduce sugar intake, I would not advise this stringent, punishing method of going cold turkey on sweetness. Still, I continued with it.

At this first stage of my sugar free/ low sugar journey, I refrained from eating absolutely anything with sugar in it.

I cut out:

All sweets, cakes, biscuits and chocolate apart from ‘black chocolate.’
Processed breads containing sugar
Processed tinned foods such as beans and soups containing sugar
All sweet drinks including fresh fruit juices

I managed this for two straight months. However after this something began to happen. I started to physically struggle with the absence of sweetness. You would think it would have gotten better, however I was run down and exhausted battling winter illnesses on top of being a human being who simply wanted something sweet sometimes. Still I refused to fold. I actually produced alternatives for these times which I will speak about in another post- they really helped to keep me on track.

With Christmas on the horizon I began to think about what I would have for dessert on Christmas day/Boxing day. I decided that I would bake a cake and in this instance, break my rule of not consuming fresh fruit juice. Yes! I would make a cake and sweeten it with pineapple juice, I thought to myself. Ingenious, I thought, mentally patting myself on the back. In the end, I was too busy with Christmas preparations to make this cake and ended up having a sugar free whipped dessert from the supermarket. It wasn’t the greatest to be honest but I survived it!

Remarkably I somehow managed to avoid every sweet treat that was in my cupboards this Christmas season and there were and still are too many: multiples boxes of chocolates, a pack of chocolate rolls, two packs of chocolate brownie treats, a tin of Roses, a special pack of shortbreads presented in a mini- lighted house, the list goes on and yet I somehow managed to let not one pass my lips. I am genuinely not being boastful here and I do believe that a part of this mental resolve comes down to the fact that I felt a great sense of achievement from knowing how to reduce my sugar intake and somehow, eating a sweet treat, would ruin all the progress I’ve made so far and possibly have a negative effect on me. Besides this, high sugar foods do make me crash badly and I have genuinely benefitted from ridding myself of that unpleasant feeling.

The main two pieces of advice I would give someone on how to reduce sugar intake would be:

Educate yourself on what sugar in excessive amounts does to the body so that you know why you are making this choice and to help keep you motivated (this was major for me).

Only cut down your sugar intake to an extent that you are comfortable with. In hindsight I believe that I was excessively harsh on myself at the beginning of this lifestyle change and have since reintroduced moderate amounts of (mostly diluted) fruit juice into my diet for nutritional purposes. I am considering taking Manuka honey for its benefits if I get a cold or flu as I currently don’t eat honey as it is still technically sugar but a naturally occurring one.

I hope this has been of some help to someone. Have you ever reduced your sugar intake? How did it go and what did you cut down on or substitute the sugar with?

Let me know in the comments below!

How to Get Motivated in 5 Steps Now

1 Reply

If you’re wondering how to get motivated, why not start here and read through these five tips to help you get back on track.

We all have goals, tasks and necessary errands that need to get done. It doesn’t matter what they are, we all need help from time to time, conjuring up the motivation needed to achieve them. Your goal could be as simple as getting round to making that application or as large as writing a book. If you do happen to be writing a book, check out my previous article on this.

Think of motivation as something that you need to ignite within yourself at set times instead of something you should always have. There is a time for everything, including having relaxation time, so If you hold the belief that being motivated is a state that you should always be in, then not being motivated can be, well, demotivating and it becomes and endless cycle. I hope that wasn’t too much word salad for you!

Instead, it’s important to know that we all go through different stages which require different levels of motivation. For those times when you find it difficult to pick yourself up to complete the important tasks, try these six tips.

Tip One: Who will you be if you keep this up?

How to get motivated, visualisation method.

How to stay motivated you ask? Use this visualisation method. Look at yourself as you are now. This could be in a literal sense by looking in a mirror if your goal is a physical one such as personal grooming or fitness related or in a more figurative sense by taking time to think about where you are in life right now and the distance between yourself and your goal or task. If you don’t take action where will you be a year from now? I know when I do this, it kickstarts me towards taking the steps needed to get started. The last place you want to be this time next year is even further away from your goal. Use your currently untapped potential to warn yourself of the not so pleasant results to come (an unrealised you) in the future if you don’t act soon.

Tip Two: Write it down

The simplest way to get motivated is to get organised with a good old pen and piece of paper. I have previously mentioned in this article how beneficial it can be to make lists. However, how many of us are actually listing our goals and then listing the actions needed in order to make them happen? This simple, no thrills method, makes all the difference- let me be a testament to that fact! In fact any written form, outlining your goals and plans are a valuable way mapping out a clear way to achieve them. Check out my previous article, detailing how to use different methods to do this, here.

Tip Three: Start a small exercise routine

Want to know how to get motivated within a matter of days? Start up a small achievable exercise routine. Don’t overwhelm yourself as it’s always good to start small for two simple reasons. The first being that a small simple routine will help you stick to it. The second being that if you can stick to it, you have then kickstarted motivational energy, that energy can then be used to fuel other goals. Work on one goal at a time until that goal no longer feels like a goal and instead becomes a habit, then work on the next one and so forth. This is a process that can take months but if you remain consistent, you will see your motivation levels increase.

Remember: Motivation can be contagious so when you have achieved it, you can then turn to other goals and start transferring that energy and discipline towards them.

Some ideas for simple work outs are:

A light dumbbell routine

A low impact YouTube video

A ten-minute stretch routine

Breathing and posture exercises

Tip Four: Create a Vision Board

Vison board enthusiasts know just how to get you motivated. Yes, ten people have probably suggested this before me but vision boards really do work. According to Psychology Today, pursuing goals that keep you motivated will increase the likelihood of you achieving them, hence the major tip I’ve outlined above about the benefits of starting out small.

Tip Five: Visualise your end product

This visualisation technique is similar to Tip One, except it is in the reverse. This time imagine your end product. How will you feel once you have achieved your goal? Imagine how you will look physically after achieving it. What positive lasting impact will it have on you and your perception of what you can achieve?

Remember, it takes one small, sustained action to motivate yourself towards one particular goal. Take the faith of a mustard seed approach and pick a time to start that small habit. Then take small actions to water it like a plant each day. Go easy on yourself and slowly but surely you will start to see growing results!

Do you have any tips that keep you motivated to share goals? Let me know in the comments below!

How To Calm Your Anxiety down

5 Replies

The question of how to calm anxiety down became one of the biggest of 2020. In fact the overarching events of the difficult year cast an umbrella of uncertainty over people from all walks of life. Nobody went untouched in some way, shape or form and anxiety became a collective experience shared by many.

Anxiety is a feeling of uneasiness usually marked by an emotion of worry or fear. According to the UK Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS) average mental distress levels were 8.1% higher in April 2020 ‘than it was between 2017 and 2019.’

I am no stranger to anxiety myself, however, this didn’t stop global events from heightening my experience of the dreaded emotion. Here’s how I manage anxiety when it rears its ugly head.

Slow Down to Calm Down

Take the time to be still and take stock of how you are feeling. Try to pinpoint which exact thoughts are making you feel this way. You won’t be able to find a solution if you can’t pinpoint the problem in the first place.

Put Pen to Paper to Calm Anxiety

Next write your worries down. Writing bullet points or even creating a spider diagram can act as a tool used to assist you in how to calm anxiety down. Making the issues tangible can allow you to address them and make plans to tackle them in a more practical manner in due course. Writing can be a very therapeutic exercise. Check out my previous article on Writing Project Ideas for Adults.

Do Some Exercise

Take up exercise to increase endorphins and calm your anxiety down.

Doing exercise increases your endorphins which are the hormones responsible for our happiness. For a more in-depth explanation on how endorphins actually work, check out this article.

This is where getting your body moving comes in. Why not calm your anxiety with a quick burst of physical activity? You can go for a brisk walk locally, schedule in a gym session, go for a run or do a YouTube Workout video such as this one, completely free of charge.

Listen to Some Music

Create a special playlist to help calm down your anxiety.

Wondering how to calm anxiety down instantly? Use music as therapy and pop on your favourite tune. Music is powerful and it can connect us to both positive and negative emotions. Identify the music that uplifts you. Why not create a Spotify playlist to help calm your anxiety.

You might want to find music which:

Energises you

Makes you feel optimistic

Makes you feel nostalgic

Makes you feel completely relaxed

Overall, you want to craft music lists that take your mind off of your anxiety and lift your mood to a different state, even if temporarily.

You might want to craft several lists that have you feeling different positive emotions.

Just Do It!

Sometimes, we feel anxious because something is looming over us. We know we have a chore or task to do that might fill us with dread. There’s a document to sign or a phone call to make. When we leave these tasks undone, it leaves more room for our minds to wonder and for us to maximise the actual significance of them over our lives. I am very guilty of doing this. I can procrastinate over things until I start to worry about them. When this happens, I will usually make a quick list, either mentally or on paper and commit to ticking off those boxes at some point, even if it takes me weeks or months.

None of the suggestions I have given provide permanent solutions on how to calm your anxiety down, however, through personal experience, I can attest that they can definitely help. What methods do you use to calm your anxiety?

Let me know in the comments below!