During my preteen years, I watched a lot of YouTubers. YouTubers back then used to be way more enjoyable to watch. The internet is just not as much of a happy, carefree place that it used to be. As I progressed through my preteen years, I noticed a lot of “lifestyle” types of videos being made by some of the YouTubers I watched. These consisted of morning routines, nighttime routines, school/work routines, etc. Some of these routines were extremely intense, with what felt like one million steps packed into a five to ten minute video. This ended up getting to me, making me constantly feel as if I was not accomplishing enough.
Even the big victories I made felt small and insignificant because I was always watching these “perfect” YouTubers with their immaculate routines. They seemed so happy doing their routines too, like there was not a single care in the world. In their videos they even said they do these routines every day. I remember I would feel absolutely horrible if I missed a day of doing one of my routines. A couple years later I realized that it was mostly, if not all, a facade. They don’t do this every. single. day. There is absolutely no way. Not to mention YouTubers, influencers, whatever you want to call them, edit their lives to look presentable and “perfect” to the public. They only let us see what they want us to see.
This ongoing phenomenon is extremely harmful to everybody, this culture of faking positivity and productivity. It is okay to have bad days, it is simply a part of the human experience. Every single person has bad days, lazy days, what have you. Obviously it is beneficial to be productive, but it is also beneficial to have rest days. Humans are not made to operate like robots, doing one million things every single day to perfection. If anything, it is healthy to take a step back and take time for yourself every now and then.
My message to you all is to not take these “lifestyle” influencers so seriously. At the end of the day, we have no idea what they are going through in their day-to-day lives. Make your own routine that is reasonably achievable and comfortable for you. Also remember to take a step back and appreciate the progress you are making and that is okay to make mistakes! You can always learn more from your mistakes than your successes, they can teach you how to further better yourself.