It’s November! While for some it is the month of limbo between Halloween and Christmas, for us collegiettes, it is the dreaded month of never-ending assignments and the second round of midterms. It is easy to dive deep into work and neglect ourselves in this busy, busy time but instead this is the time when we need ourselves the most. You might think “but I only have so little time, how do I practice self-care?”
Well, that’s what we’re here for!
1. Take a long bath
Our bathroom is right there, so why don’t we use it to the fullest? Soak up in hot water for as long as you like and maybe even do a luxurious beauty regime consisting of body scrub, bath bombs and body butter. Try out those DIY face and hair masks we always seem to find on Pinterest and rejoice over this newfound glory (or completely regret this decision and spend the next twenty minutes picking banana chunks off our hair) Despite the downsides, that is what our bath regime is for! End the bath feeling fresh and ready to get that grind going.
2. Read that unread novel you bought months ago
With so many readings for the term, some of us might think “who in their right mind would read even more?” But this is different. Read that novel you’ve been shelving for months and that is currently collecting dust, or pick one from the recommendation list in your local bookstore. Reading for fun allows us to feel like we have been transported to a different world, a world where midterms and finals are not real. We always fall asleep reading our textbooks, but soon we will find ourselves pulling an all-nighter just to read the last 100 pages of these novels!
3. Go on a (window) shopping spree
Or go on an actual shopping spree. Hit up Robson Street or any shopping centres in the city and peruse all the things they offer. Maybe it is time to buy a new coat, the red sneakers you are not even sure you will wear more than twice, or a new eyeshadow palette you’ve been eyeing for a while now. Go to any clothing store and get that fitting room selfie or go to Sephora and try out new lipstick shades. End your day with a decadent dessert…one word: perfection.
4. Waste your time on these websites (but not really)
Ah, the internet, our one stop source for fun, fab and the finals. Instead of opening the usual Wikipedia page for that big end-of-term paper, spend five minutes on these fun sites and feel the stress melt away, click by click. There are too many to count but let’s start with this website full of fluffy animals, this website for us to vent to strangers or this website with attractive Brits and calming messages. Was the five minutes a waste of time? Not really.
5. Get moving
That’s it. It does not have to be a full blown workout; take the stairs one floor up, walk the long way to class, pump up the music and dance around in your room. We sit around for hours during the day, and there are studies that state the correlation between too much sitting and psychological distress. People who sit for a longer period of time usually have more trouble dealing with daily activities. So once in a while, let’s get up and walk the seven blocks to our favorite café rather than bussing it!
6. Reclutter
There have been many studies about how decluttering will help cope with stress, but for those of us that like having our clutters, we can reorganize them instead. Change the positions of the furniture in your room, rearrange the clothes in your wardrobe, even reorganize the spice rack (or ramen collection) in your kitchen! Set up a system to transform that mess into a beautiful mess. It is a physical and-in the case of moving furniture-back-breaking task, but in doing so we will achieve that zen state of mind.
7. Call up your family/friends to vent
When you are busy, it is easy to ignore the people that we love simply because we have no time to give them a call or even a text. Now that we can take a breather from our responsibilities, it is high time for us to call our parents/siblings/grandparents/best friends, the people who have been wondering where we were and why we went MIA. A simple hello will do, but we can also tell them what has happened these past few weeks, with all the highs and lows. That 3-minute phone call may turn into 30 but the stress? Gone.
8. Build a #goals board
With the coming of stress, so is the going of motivation. Sometimes when we are so overwhelmed, we forget why we do these things in the first place. To prevent feeling spiritless, embrace your inner creative artist and make a motivational board and put it in an easy-to-see place. There are so many things that you can put on the board: your goals, motivational quotes, pictures of role models, ways to achieve those goals, and progress. The possibilities are endless. Whenever you feel lost, take a look at the board, and feel that fire getting stronger and your steps even bolder. You’ll be ready for anything life throws at you.
There are many more things that you can do, but there is only one thing that matters: do the thing that makes you happy, makes you smile and helps you release the stress that has been building for weeks now. After all, the one who knows you the best is you. So get out there (or get inside, the weather’s getting cold) and treat yourself, you deserve it!