Hi, I'm Krista and I don't know about you, but I haven't been doing so well in the self-care department since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
I'd be lying if I didn't say being cooped up at home is making me go a little stir-crazy. And I've been coping by watching too many funny TikTok videos to get my mind off of things. So, I decided to start looking for positive content on TikTok to help me feel less stressed and more productive while I'm at home for the next few weeks.
Here are some healthy morning routine tips I found from TikTok users @spiritofellis and @drmonavand:
In addition, user @chloemuellerc is an aesthetician who says to exfoliate twice a week and user @doctorrose is an eye doctor who says to practice the visual hygiene rule for eye health. (This is looking 20 feet away for 20 seconds for every 20 minutes of up-close work.)
Here's how my first week went...
After I wake up, I usually look at my phone for a bit 🙈. So, right away, that was a change. I also typically hit snooze, so I placed my phone across the room the night before so I couldn't snooze it! I grabbed my glass of water, took in some fresh sunlight, and tried meditating.
I started a journal for writing down the things I was thankful for and some simple things I knew I would be able to accomplish.
Honestly, because I had written down that I was going to organize my two junk drawers, it made me feel like I HAD TO DO IT. I wanted to be able to cross it off my list. Here are the after photos — trust me, you don't want to see the before ones:
I caved and looked at my phone after I woke up 🤦♀️. This had a spiraling effect on my morning routine. I still did the same routine I did the day before, but once I fell into the trap of looking at my phone, I was definitely more distracted. I tried to turn things around by drinking coffee and eating fruit.
I felt more anxious than I had on Monday (partly because of the news going on in the world). I just couldn't focus because I had so many negative thoughts in my mind. I decided to force myself to take my dog on a long walk and at least to try to re-center again. It wasn't life-changing, but I felt better after doing so.
Later that afternoon, instead of reaching for the Cheetos in the cabinet, I decided to look up some healthy snacks. I found a recipe for energy bites and made them. They are good:
Day two was definitely less productive than day one, although I did force myself to finish the tasks I wrote down in my to-do journal. So, at least writing stuff down was helping me be able to complete things.
I really felt the negative effects of looking at my phone first thing in the morning, so I had to make a conscious effort to not do so on day three! (It is harder than you think, especially when you see the unread message notifications.) But I got through it and tried to focus on my upcoming day and how I was going to do my best to make it a good one.
Getting ready for the day — like putting on makeup and wearing something other than sweats — was something I hadn't done the days before because I was proud of myself for just showering! Wednesday, however, I decided to do a face mask and then get ready like I was actually going to work.
I am happy to report that simply putting on makeup and changing my clothes to something other than pajama pants DID make me feel better.
I decided day four was going to be my true self-pampering day. I blocked out time (not like that was hard, lol) to do a deep conditioning treatment on my hair, paint my nails, exfoliate my entire body, and then take a bubble bath. (75% of the self-care videos on TikTok include taking bubble baths with bath bombs and wine.)
Since I am still working full-time from home and noticed a lot of my "to-do" things for the day started being work-related, I wanted to only write down non-work-related tasks going forward. For instance, one of them was finding the beauty in nature. And, literally, I walked outside to this:
Even though not looking at my phone every morning was still hard, the morning routine was getting easier. I was proud that I was doing small things to take care of myself. I wasn't going to put on makeup every day, but I was at least going to change out of my pajamas.
In addition to the morning to-do list, I really found it helpful to make a loose schedule for each day. That way I was not giving myself "free time" to start worrying or scrolling on my phone for hours on end. For instance, this day I wrote down that I wanted to try an egg pore strip mask from user @alicia.j1. I am still floored that it actually worked.
Overall, I found that you have to focus on the positives right now. And using this isolating time alone to learn how to better take care of myself really helped. If you have any other self-care advice, please share it in the comments. Sending love!
