7 Small Changes To Make Your Week Better

Put some pep in your step.

Sian Butcher/ BuzzFeed

1. If you have 3 minutes: Delete Instagram from your phone.

Kendall Jenner/ buzzfeed.com

I think Kendall Jenner speaks a lot of sense when she talks about deleting Insta:

"I just wanted a little bit of a break. I’m always on it. I would wake up in the morning and look at it first thing; I’d go to bed and it was the last thing I’d look at. I felt a little too dependent on it so I kind of wanted to take a minute."

I deleted Twitter and Facebook from my phone about a year ago, and have never looked back. I still use the browser versions of the site, but it's so nice not to feel tied to notifications, and to stop scrolling for the sake of it.

2. If you have 5 minutes: Find a quote that resonates with you.

Flickr: victius

Commenter Sara Reichert suggests:

"One of my favourite self-care methods is looking up quotes from my favourite authors. When I'm anxious or overwhelmed, it really helps to spend just a few minutes re-reading pieces of wisdom from a writer I admire so much. It's almost like getting a miniature pep-talk from Sir Terry Pratchett or J.K. Rowling (my favourite authors). I always end up feeling both relaxed and energized, ready to flex my own creativity."

Here are 49 quotes to get you started.

3. If you have 10 minutes: Try out "Flowy Beta".

Flowy App

Commenter Laura Hughes suggests playing "a brilliant app called Flowy Beta on Google Play for a great calming game."

It's an app designed to help with anxiety and panic attacks. So far it's only available on Android, but keep an eye on the FB page for more.

4. If you have 15 minutes: Read about how someone else got through a stressful time.

Charlotte Taylor

All experiences are different, but I find that if I'm having a tough time, reading about somebody else's resilience really helps. Here are two essays to get you started:

My Daughter Was Born With A Cleft Palette And We're OK

7 Things I Learned When I Got Breast Cancer

5. If you have 20 minutes: Designate a time to do your least favourite task.

instagram.com

This article on getting the most out of your weekend has this tip:

"Identify the one thing that hangs over you all weekend — the thing that, when you think of doing it, stops delightful relaxation in its tracks. If it’s at all possible, do that thing on Friday. Use your Friday lunch break to answer emails, pay bills, make that phone call you’ve been dreading. Heck you can even take an hour out of your Friday night to clean your bathroom. Taking that one terrible thing off the table will help you go into the weekend feeling lighter."

6. If you have 30 minutes: Set yourself a timed goal.

Rachel Miller/ BuzzFeed

Hilary has been finding it hard to set aside time to be creative, so she suggests putting time aside each day:

"I created a Medium account and I've challenged myself to write for 30 mins a day. Either a very short story that can be finished in 30 mins (that's the rule) or a small part of a longer story I'm working on.

"I was inspired by Phillip Pullman (His Dark Materials) who has a writing shed and sets himself a 3-pages a day quota. As soon as he reaches the end of the third page he stops. If he's run out of steam or finished a chapter, that's perfect. If he has more in him, that's fine too as he says it makes it easier to start again the next day."

7. If you have 30 seconds: Read this tweet.

Megan @molly_finn_

Why does this dog look like he's giving an eyewitness account on the 6 o'clock news

02:05 PM - 20 Nov 2016

https://twitter.com/molly_finn_/status/800339318476836864

This is a weekly series. Have a self-care tip you think I should include? Let me know in the comments, or tweet me!