5 Steps to De-Stressing & Feeling Good

When it comes to self-care and self-development, I will often consider them as one. For me, self-care doesn’t have to refer to a skincare routine or painting my nails but can refer to a spectrum of activities that make me feel better about myself and my direction in life. Whilst I am partial to a pamper, when I want to make myself feel better or pay myself particular attention, I often find myself leaning towards self-development/self-help practices.

Get Organised

When I think about self-care, one of the main things I think about is de-stressing. For me, a big part of removing my stress is feeling on top of it, and it’s for that reason that getting organised is such a big part of my routine when it comes to feeling better about myself.

First thing first, I’m a sucker for lists (and spreadsheets). I have a spreadsheet to organise all of my shoots (I’m a photographer) and ongoing projects, and I utilise weekly and daily to-do lists to help me organise what I need to do and when. Having everything written down just feels like a bit of a brain dump for me; I can relieve my mind from worrying about things because it’s all written down for me to manage and tick off and there’s not a chance that I’ll forget something, either. Another reason that I love to utilise lists is that I generally feel a lot less overwhelmed after writing one. It’s as if I can rationalise things a little bit better, step back and see that I don’t actually have that much to do. Plus, ticking things off of the list is a great boost of achievement and in feeling productive.

Something that I also do to keep organised is called calendar blocking and it’s something that I’ve been doing to manage my time long before I knew it had a name. Essentially, calendar blocking refers to blocking out time in your calendar to do the things on your to-do list. There’s a great video that explains it below.

Batching tasks is something that the video also explains, and something I also find myself doing regularly. It’s a great way to be efficient with your time. We all know that time can be limited, and so using it efficiently is ideal if you want to save time.

Books for Breakfast

One of my favourite things to do when it comes to investing in myself is to read. I read mostly non-fiction, from auto-biographies such as Shoe Dog to self-development and spirituality books such as the Power of Now and Great Vibes, Great Life. Reading, for me, is a great way to switch off and escape from reality but in a way which helps to enrich my life and often re-motivate and inspire me. I’ve got a list of some of my favourite books, plus my current reading list, for you to have a look at if you’re interested.

Eat Better, Feel Better

On the topic of breakfast, what you’re putting into your body has a massive effect on the way that you’re feeling. When I need to escape living in a rut, one of the first things that I find to help is changing up my diet or ensuring that I’m eating better. Not only does the actual food I’m eating have an effect on my mental wellbeing and the way that I feel about myself but the concept of planning meals and cooking can also prove quite therapeutic, which is a double win in my books.

Tidy Space, Tidy Mind

When I recently wrote about how to stay motivated and tackle creative block, this one was on my list for a reason. Tidying your space, whether that be your workspace, bedroom or any other space, can help to declutter your mind and regain mental clarity, avoiding becoming unnecessary overwhelmed.

Start Moving

Similarly to eating well, exercising and making a habit of moving can help to reduce cortisol (the “stress hormone”) and release dopamine (the “happy hormone”. I’ve also found that exercising creates a cycle that causes you to eat well, and vice versa. You can’t go wrong with building healthy habits when it comes to feeling good inside (and, often, on the outside too).

This self-care routine is really the foundation to all of my self-care/feel better routines and it can be built upon with other habits and activities which can be dependent on other aspects of my life at the time. As with everything, what works for me might not work for you, but I do hope that you’re able to find some use out of my feel-good routine.