These Three Simple Every Day Habits Helped Me Boost My Emotional Health

Do these when you feel disconnected from your core values.

I continued to watch the tenth episode at three in the morning because I was too anxious to sleep. This was the fourth day of a binge-watch.

I had devoured two series to completion in just three days. My creativity was drained and I felt emotionally empty.

It was the lowest of low. I felt a disconnect which became a hindrance to my creative process. Emotional exhaustion cannot be corrected by plunging yourself into the content universe.

You need to get out of the reel world. Step into the real world and smell the roses.

Here’s how I filled this emotional void:-

1. The essential element for true happiness

Emotional unrest is a symptom of overconsumption, but it’s also one of the reasons that pushes us to evade boredom at all costs.

It’s not a pleasant activity to experience or accept your negative emotions so you distract yourself by consuming content like it’s the end of the world.

This distraction will only prolong your suffering when you finally come face to face with problems that are wrecking your mental health. And the only way you can do that is through solitude.

A small dose of solitude every day can help you clear away the emotional messes as they happen in real-time, it prevents you from procrastinating.

The founding father of neuroscience believed that solitude is an essential element for happiness.

You need to first figure out who you are and what you want. You need to mold yourself according to your values to have an original thought and a mind that is completely yours.

Oh comforting solitude, how favorable thou art to original thought!”

— Santiago Ramón y Cajal

How to not be afraid of solitude

Solitude is scary.

The thought of sitting alone without a device or a book to entertain you will make anyone’s skin crawl.

Digging deep into your psyche to unveil the monsters that keep you up at night is no fun, it’s the stuff nightmares are made of but still, it’s essential for your mental well-being.

The challenge is to embrace your demons and you can only do that once you get past the mental chatter. It will be daunting but you can make it better.

Practice is the only way you can make solitude bearable, the more consistent you get the better it gets.

The real challenge is to get through the first few sessions which you can make easier.

Here’s what you need to do:-

• Viewing sunset or sunrise is the prettiest way to ease into solitude. Enjoy them alone with a cup of tea.
• Go on a music-free walk in a new park where you’re less likely to run into friends and acquaintances.
• People-watching from a cafe window while sipping on hot chocolate is my go-to solitude activity.

2. Familiarity is the path to greater connection

Everyone needs an anchor that keeps them grounded in reality especially now when it’s so easy to lose your way in the social media dystopia.

We are more connected than any other period, yet we’re the loneliest generation on record.

Being on the grid all day long is not doing your mental health any favors. The false sense of connection leaves you feeling more alone than ever.

A social media detox can help as it reins in the dopamine hits but that’s not the complete solution.

Social media creates a fake sense of familiarity, you start to feel like you know someone just because you follow them online.

You need to get close to the things and people that you know and love to get back that sense of belonging. It’ll center you. Familiarity will bring you closer to your goals and desires.

Find the thing that anchors you to your core, something that reminds you who you are when you lose yourself in the glitz and glitter of this life.

The thing, person, or activity that centers you.

• Getting face-to-face with people who infuse your life with positivity and love will help you boost your mood and with it your spirits.
• A hobby or an activity that centers you and shines awareness in the present moment. Yoga is my go-to activity whenever I feel lost.
• Go to a place that brings back memories of childhood. For me, it’s the terrace of my old house, where I used to play in the rain.
• Crank up some tunes that always make you want to dance or cry your eyes out.

How to break free from loneliness

Distancing yourself from society is not optimal for your mental health. You are being tricked into thinking you’re well-connected.

But in reality, you know a lot of useless information about people whom you’ll probably never meet, it’s completely delusion.

These parasocial relationships will wreck your mental peace and make you feel more lonely than ever.

So, for any of the above habits to work, you’ll need to rectify your tendencies that fool you with fake social connections.

• Schedule social media into your day. It’s an important part of our lives but it should not be a priority. Use it during breaks in small doses.
• Focus on real-life relationships, and nurture them by spending more time with loved ones.
• Social media detox is a good way to keep check on your usage.

3. One-morning practice to be more centered

Distractions are a cry for help, the more distracted you are the more disconnected you’ll feel.

There are so many ways to distract yourself from a task, the list is endless you’ll run out of time but not distractions.You can form a self-connection in minutes.

Journal your heart out till you discover the root cause behind all the distractions. It unravels all your anxiety about the future and regrets of the past.

Writing will separate your fantasy from reality, it will give you an insight into how your brain works.

Over 5 years of journalling has taught me that my mind can wander at the slightest interruption which will lead to a series of wasteful thoughts that will end up draining my focus and productivity.

Also, I waste a lot of time daydreaming. A small journaling session is enough to bring me back to reality.

Practice makes perfect

Again, it’s an intimidating habit in the beginning but here are a few prompts that can make it easier for you to get started with it.

• Follow the one-page-a-day rule. Get a small diary and make it a rule to write only one page a day, it will help you avoid the clutter.
• Or you can try the exact opposite approach, where you write freehand till you get to the crux of the matter.
• If you’re not into writing, then voice memos can come in handy but remember it’ll be a bit weird to hear yourself talk.

Conquer the beginning phase:-

Make it so simple that it becomes hard to avoid journalling. I keep a notebook on my bedside table to write first thing in the morning, a habit that took me almost a year to form.

I was used to journaling in the evening, I had followed that routine for more than three years.

But when I started writing I learned about a journaling writing practice, “the morning pages”, which you need to do in the morning.

So, I adopted these habits to make this challenging task easier.

• Start every entry with the same intention. The hardest part of starting an entry, it’ll become less daunting if you have a sentence locked and loaded.
• Keep your diary and a pen ready, or the app if you do digital journaling.
• Do journalling daily at the same time and same place. I do this journaling exercise every morning in bed.

Conclusion

Disconnection is a potent symptom of loneliness, which can kill you. Act on it immediately to recover from the difficulties of modern life.

It will wreck your productivity and creativity. It will haunt your nights with insomnia. I will inch you closer to mental illnesses.

Loneliness is terrible but solitude is a gift and it can help you revive your spirit and mental health as well.

Find the anchor that grounds you to reality and keeps you connected to yourself. Construct small routines that bring you back to reality.

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