I am the number one consumer of ‘daily life’ media. What I spent today, what I wore today, even something as simple as a day in the life. A come through my day with me TikTok? Watched from start to finish. My friend’s VSCO posts showing campus life? Favorited and reposted. A Her Campus article about self care tips? Read multiple times.
Though I consume this media so frequently, there are lots of trends that I see amongst them that I have not adopted into my everyday life. The benefits of these habits plague my mind the more and more that I see them, so here I am, trying to make them habits in my life. Here is a list of self-care methods that I have been trying to make habits for myself:
1. Drinking 100 oz of water per day
This is the one I feel that I have been the most successful with. I used to be a very consistent water drinker; however, the trusty water bottle that I’ve had since freshman year of college had begun to make a sound every time I took a sip. While I love water, I couldn’t have heads turn to look at me every single time I took a sip of water. So, I stopped drinking water as much. The sound began to get louder and louder, so I caved and ordered a new water bottle: an Owala. My roommate has an Owala and it has two features that really convinced me: 1. it has a sippy straw that is SILENT, and 2. it’s able to fit in the cup holder of my car. My Owala is so easy to just sip, sip, sip, so I’ve been hitting 100 oz a day with ease!
2. Getting ahead of assignments
Now, I will say that this one isn’t typically explicitly stated in the ‘day in the life’ videos. I just see lots of people spending time in their campus libraries working on schoolwork. I am, unfortunately, a chronic procrastinator and will wait until very close to the due date to begin working on projects, even if they’re pretty large. Over the past few weeks, I have been taking the little breaks that I have when I am on the main campus to go to the library. I simply sit down, put on my headphones, listen to Chappell Roan, and get as much work done as possible. Though I’m rarely ever in the library for more than 2 hours consecutively, I have realized how much those little breaks from classes add up. The amount of work I have left to do is considerably less than if I just went back to my townhouse. My productivity level has increased so much and as a result, my stress regarding school work has decreased exponentially.
3. Capturing the little moments you’re thankful for
Life is beautiful. While we can get caught up in the whirlwind of college work and life, we cannot deny that it is simply a fact that life is beautiful. My roommate, Claire, has a digital camera that we use to take photos in happy moments in our townhouse and on special occasions. I get so excited when it’s a day that Claire takes the photos off of her camera and sends them to us. It reminds me of how lucky I am to be able to do such fun things with such amazing people.
When I was home for Thanksgiving break, I found my family’s old digital camera and asked my mom if I could take it back to school with me since we don’t use it at home anymore. She said yes! I brought my camera back and decided that I was going to take it everywhere with me. I love the feeling of remembering our special moments and I am trying to train myself that amazing stuff happens all the time, even if it would otherwise be seen as mundane. My camera has captured the snow falling outside of the library, my roommates coming into my room to visit, and it has even vlogged a trip to Walmart.
Our little lives are beautiful, and I have been trying to consistently capture that every day so I have things to look back on when maybe I don’t feel so great. I can then remember how beautiful my little life is.
Some of these things seem quite minuscule and like they wouldn’t make all that much of a difference. That’s not true in the slightest. Ever since making a concerted effort to turn these into habits, I have seen such an increase in my happiness, and in my health, as well as a decrease in my stress and anxiety. So, if you have been trying to make new beneficial habits, take that jump! You never know how much it could help :).