6 Easy Steps to Embrace Self-Improvement this Spring

For those of you who live in climates such as mine where winter seems to drag on for over half of the year, spring is a sort of savior. As the temperature changes and we can go outside without our faces hurting, we feel renewed and ready.

We may not even really realize that we have seasonal depression until spring finally reintroduces itself to us and we feel like we've taken a party drug! Who knew fresh air and tiny blossoms on trees could heal us so effectively?!

This year has been especially rough for most of us: being cooped up inside, fearing for our lives every time we so much as go to the grocery store, not being able to see family... for some people, the pandemic has vastly stunted their creativity, positivity, and productivity.

However, spring is the perfect time to make some behavioral changes to improve our lives and viewpoints. #springresolutions

So here is my advice for springing forward into positivity while staying safe:

1: Get out of bed and then make it

I know, this is one of those annoying things that our parents made us do, but it truly does help you to start your day on a positive note. Doing this one simple task of making your bed, makes sure that you at least accomplish something each day.

Also, another benefit is that if your bed is made, then you are less likely to climb back in. It creates a sort of barrier and it encourages you to stay out of bed all day.

When I dealt with seasonal depression, I would spend all day in bed and that made me feel even worse. Recently, I have been waking up at 8:10 in the morning (which doesn't seem that early, but as someone who is married to a chef who works the dinner shift, it's pretty early) and I have felt a significant difference!

I used to feel like I didn't have enough time in my day to accomplish all that needed to get done. But now, I truly do have more hours and it has allowed me to enjoy hobbies that I had been neglecting, such as writing! And it also gives me more time to get other (not so pleasant) things out of the way...

2: Do something you dread right away

We all have things we put off until later. While it might feel nice to momentarily avoid a dreaded task, it causes mental strain because it'll be nagging you in the background.

It doesn't have to be some monumental thing; it can be a fairly simple task. For me, it was cleaning my cat's litter box. Now, I take the time every morning to go downstairs and clean his box. So in just a few minutes, I cross something off my daily to-do list and I immediately feel better and it oftentimes encourages me to do something else.

The secret is to start small. Get the simple but dreaded tasks out of the way. It helps to clear the background noise in your mind and allows you to take on the rest of the day. If that process is good enough for operating systems, it's surely good enough for us!

So you've gotten up, made the bed, took care of something you dread... now it's time for something fun:

3: Take 15 minutes every day to dedicate to a personal interest

In our crazy busy world, it can feel impossible to commit any time to extra activities. Between working, eating, cleaning, and sleeping it feels like there isn't enough time to practice any hobbies.

I promise that you will feel so much better if you just take 15 minutes to do something just for yourself. Oftentimes we feel like work-horses who are saddled with debts and obligations. But, we must remember that life is for living!

We deserve to give time to ourselves whether it be to paint, to write in a mindfulness journal, to work on creating a video game, to do a quick exercise, to meditate, to do food prep, to study a foreign language, to practice that one song you want to learn on the piano, or to simply sit in a sun spot on the floor like your cat does (with your sunscreen on of course!)

Bonus: if you are interested in working on your foreign language skills, Preply is a great site to work with native speakers! I am an English tutor and I work with students from all over the world. There are language tutors who teach all different languages. Here is a link to get 30% off your first lesson!

By giving yourself some much needed you-time, you can steadily work towards that goal you've been wanting to achieve. I'm not super great with time management when I don't have a concrete deadline, so all of my personal passion projects often get neglected. But, when I take the time to write for at least 15 minutes a day, I can pace myself while working towards my goals.

This will make you feel productive and like you aren't just some capitalist machine who only lives to work instead of working to live. Feel like you don't have a spare 15 minutes? The next tip will solve that problem:

4: Stay off social media

This tip has truly helped me so much. Earlier this crazy year, I was spending so much time on social media. I found out that it was severely negatively affecting my mental health. Not only was I feeling anxious, comparing myself to other people, getting angry when I saw other people not taking the virus seriously, but also I was wasting so much of my precious time that I could have been using to work on my goals.

I really thought about what social media was bringing to my life, and I couldn't think of many positive things. So, I deleted the FB app from my phone and I set a limit on my phone for my time on Instagram. Now, I can only scroll on Instagram for 30 minutes a day as opposed to the three or four hours I wasted on there daily.

At first, it can feel like you are missing out on what's going on, but you'll soon realize that not being on social media can be a very positive thing. I now feel like I have so much more time for myself and I don't need to keep up with everyone else. I just need to make myself happy.

Obviously, if your job includes working on social media, this advice might not seem valid. But, you can still apply it to your personal usage of those apps and sites.

During your newly allotted time that will no longer be spent scrolling idly, you can use it to do a little spring cleaning!

5: Streamline for Springtime

Spring gives us the chance to finally open up our creaky winter-weary windows and breathe in some fresh air. So bring it on!

Open up those windows while you take a little time to organize and streamline. When I was little, we used to spend one spring weekend during which we would deep dive into a deep clean. While it could be fun to complete a big purge, not all of us have the time to spend an entire weekend cleaning.

So my suggestion is to tackle one small area of your room(s) at a time. Is your desk overflowing and crowded? Take a few minutes to look through things. Maybe you can repurpose or rehome a few bits and baubles that are taking up precious space.

Does your bathroom need a little pick-me-up? Go through your products. Assess what you have and what you really need. Oftentimes we have way more than what is necessary. If you need some advice on paring down your skincare products, check out my profile in a week to see my entry about cruelty-free skincare must-haves!

Take just a little bit of time every day to streamline and organize a small area. Trust me, you'll be hooked!

The last bit of advice has a good chance of making you feel all warm and fuzzy inside:

6: Reach out to a loved one

This year has been tough. For a lot of reasons. Many reasons. I think one of the hardest aspects has been the inability to gather with friends and family as much as we would like.

That's why I suggest that you reach out to someone you care about every day. I doesn't have to be a handwritten letter with a wax seal (although I'm super stoked that wax seal and personalized stamps are making a comeback!) It could simply be a short text to let someone know you are thinking of them.

It will help you to feel more connected. Sometimes it can feel like you don't have anyone who cares about you and so you might not reach out, but people love to know that you are thinking of them. So text your friend who lives far away or call your grandparent or take the time to mail out a letter to someone who might need some cheering up.

We are social beings, even if some of us are introverts (guilty as charged), and we need to feel connected to others. This simple act has brought a lot of joy into my life.

I hope these tips help you to feel more positive, productive, and powerful as we step into spring. Cheers!

If you liked this advice, please feel free to leave a tip and check out my other written work! xo