writing – Eve Crabapple – A Lifestyle and Literature Blog

Sometimes we need a good pick me up to make us right again and I’m sharing with you some of my favorites that always work for me.

Get up and get out

If you’re feeling down it’s so tempting to stay in bed all day watching Netflix and vegging out. But do you ever notice how doing what you want isn’t what you need? The first thing I must do to feel better is to get up, put my make up on and a nice outfit and get out of the house. Once you take a look at your reflection and see how great you look, you’ll instantly feel your mood start to lift.

2. Get a manicure and pedicure

While you’re sitting and relaxing you can start to unwind from whatever is on your mind. A manicure is so relaxing and afterwards you’re left with clean and pretty nails! It’s just another way to look good and therefore feel good and it never fails to lift my spirits. If you don’t like manicures you could also get a massage or a facial or maybe even a hair cut.

3. Do something for someone else

Sometimes what you need to do is just get out of your own head. A good way to do this is to stop thinking about your own issues and help someone else with something. This weekend my grandmother was busy making kimchi and I offered to help her since it is a very arduous and time-consuming process. She was glad to have me help and it felt good to be useful for someone. I bet you have some family or friends who can use a helping hand and I bet you’ll feel better for helping them.

4. Sit in a cafe

Sitting down and enjoying a coffee while watching people in the city walk by can really help you think through your issue. Bring along a book and the change in scenery and fresh air will do you some good.

5. Write about it and make some movement

Whatever is bothering you — write it down. Sometimes if its something that someone did that is bothering me I will write a letter to that person, describing exactly how I feel and exactly what they did. I won’t actually send the letter because the language will probably be quite strong and hurtful, but it does help to get it out so that when I do face the person I can face them more composed and clear- headed since I’ve removed my emotions from the situation. Once the writing is done I encourage you to take the next step to righting what’s wrong. Whether it concerns another person, your work, or a personal issue, make a positive move towards the direction you want to go. It’s so easy to get complacent about a situation, so if you recognize that something isn’t how you want it to be, then take the necessary steps to make it so.

If you’re anything like me, you have a lot of projects and a lot of goals that you’re trying to achieve all at once. And if you find yourself in a cycle of starting, losing steam a few days in, stopping, feeling bad for stopping and then vowing you’ll finally see a project through this time, let’s do both of ourselves a favor and end this circus.

I have discovered a more effective way of finishing my goals sans the self-doubt and discouragement. It’s so simple, yet easy to overlook in a world that demands us to be bigger, faster, stronger. Here it is:

Begin only one goal at a time and focus on mastering your process

How I used to operate is, I would have a burst of enthusiasm that was probably inspired by my procrastination and start to work on a list of things that I wanted to achieve. I would start a blog, exercise everyday, learn Arabic, create a meal plan, read a book a week, and start writing a book all at once. I would have a lot of fun planning all of this out, but the longest I’ve ever gone on this sort of regime was probably 2 weeks. Not exactly a sufficient time frame to even begin to make a small dent in that list.

The reason I would inevitably give up on everything is that I had not yet mastered the different processes for each item on that list. I was being pulled in too many directions at once without firmly establishing the rhythm of even one project into my life.

What must be done instead is start with one. For example, if I was learning Arabic at the beginning of the month I would start my process by committing to study at least 10 pages from a self-guided language learning book, or 1 exercise a day, or whatever method of measurement is the right fit for me.

After I giving myself enough time to form the habit of learning Arabic, let’s say 1 month, I can add on starting a blog. I will commit myself to that new process of posting twice a week for a month before adding on another project. If at any point, I have begun to slip in my processes, I will need to remove the very last project that was added and wait another month before re-assimilating it.

It could be that I reached my mental or physical capacity for learning and working on new things, so instead of stopping all of my projects, I can sacrifice delaying one. This way I will strengthen my capability to learn and my other projects will continue moving along.

With this method of incrementally adding goals or projects to your list, I believe you will find yourself finishing them quicker. This method is really a system that helps you learn how to learn, which is an absolute necessity for success. It’s been a game changer for me and I you should try it too — I am asking you to do less after all!

Let me know what you guys think,

Tag: writing

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