7 Habits You Should Drop to Enhance Your Emotional Well-Being

Creating a self-care routine also means swapping out habits that make you feel emotionally drained.

Creating a self-care ritual — a routine you implement in your daily life can increase your emotional well-being.

And part of that routine is also removing certain activities that drain your energy and leave you feeling worse off.

We’re all still passing through hard times, and some of our goals are still on hold because we don’t know when life will get back to normal. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t still things we can control.

Like our daily habits and actions that affect us mentally and emotionally.

Sometimes it’s not about adding more habits into your life but breaking the harmful ones.

Here are 7habits you can swap out this year.

1. Mindless scrolling on social media

Now that we’re spending more time at home it’s easy to get distracted by social media.

Whenever you feel bored it’s the easy way out. You can just go on Instagram or TikTok and watch funny clips of people teasing their pets or doing weird stuff.

Social media offers an endless source of dopamine, but when used too frequently it makes us feel increasingly unhappy and isolated.

This constant, instant gratification makes us feel bored with mundane day-to-day activities. That’s why we keep reaching for our smartphones every two minutes.

What you can do instead…

Avoid grabbing your phone right after you wake up. You can meditate instead or try the Wim Hof breathing exercise, read, make your coffee, and then start your day feeling rejuvenated.

During the day you can try new hobbies you never had the time for, learn new skills that can help you advance in your career, or just enjoy a walk in nature, take a bubble bath and cuddle with your pets.

2. Engaging with toxic people

We live in an era where the average Joe can post his thoughts online. Then comment section gets filled with people who try to impose their own opinions on one another.

They start arguing even though the post wasn’t about them but they still take things personally.

One of my favorite standup comedians, Ricky Gervais, explains it really well:

Engaging with toxic people who are set on misunderstanding anything you say is a waste of time.

Let go of having to explain yourself to others, or convince them that you are right; not only on social media but also in real life. Letting go of your ego is one of the best things you can do for yourself.

3. Finding excuses to not work towards your goals

Constantly coming up with all kinds of excuses to procrastinate working on your goals can only lead to regret.

You end up feeling worse about yourself because you don’t believe you can achieve a lofty goal; you think it’s too late to engage or that you’re not good enough.

These are all excuses and alibis to avoid doing the hard work.

Instead of wallowing in self-pity, we’re much better off when we strive to achieve a noble quest. Because it’s only through effort and struggle that we gain experiences and grow from them.

And when we see our efforts producing meaningful results, we feel excited and motivated to keep going.

4. Overscheduling

“There is nothing quite so useless, as doing with great efficiency, something that should not be done at all.” — Peter Drucker.

Sometimes you might be preoccupied with activities and tasks just to fill up your schedule and keep yourself busy. But that doesn’t always mean you’re using your time effectively.

When you take back control of your schedule you can be more productive and creative.

Think about the three most important tasks you need to accomplish for the day and focus solely on them.

That way you also allow free time in your schedule to socialize with friends and family and engage in hobbies you love.

5. Buying things you don’t need

Now that it’s harder to travel, to go out, and join social events, most of us turn to consumerism. We buy things we don’t need to fill up that gap.

We think that the pleasure we get from buying a shiny new object will make us happy, but pleasure is only a fleeting emotion.

Instead of buying unnecessary stuff, you could create memorable experiences with loved ones, start a new side hustle that makes you excited to get up every day, find a new hobby, go hiking, learn photography, or digital drawing.

Seek out activities that put you in a creative flow where you create something tangible with personal value, will give you more lasting joy than spending money on more clothes.

6. Trying to have control over everything

You may now know more than ever that you can never fully control everything that happens to you. Make peace with that realization and aim to stop worrying about things you cannot control.

Meditation can help you stay present in the current moment, calm your mind, and have control over your thoughts.

Train your mind to only focus on what you’re experiencing right now at this very moment.

7. Beating yourself up for your mistakes

All of us make mistakes; we are not perfect.

That’s just how life is.

The difference between people who learn from their experiences and those who keep reminding themselves of their failures is perception. How you perceive your mistakes and failures can make all the difference.

For example, when you believe that one failure can ruin your whole career, you won’t even bother trying. You’ll be too scared to take even a tiny risk.

But when you see it as an opportunity to grow you’ll be more likely to seek out new adventures.

The key is to treat yourself as a friend would. Have self-compassion. Stop beating yourself up for trying. Accept that you’re a fallible human being, stand up and try again.

Final words

Sometimes we can’t help but become affected by external circumstances.

To take control over our personal well-being we need to take care of ourselves and that means following a self-care routine. Such routine also requires us to let go of bad habits that don’t benefit us in the long-run.

What other habits are you unconsciously applying in your daily schedule that are hindering your emotional well-being? Figure out what they are and eliminate them from your life, especially if they have become an obsession.

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