December is always a super productive month for me. I like to look back at the year and evaluate all the areas of my life, whether it be good or bad. It has become essential for me to do a self evaluation and decide what traits and habits need in stay left behind as we jump into the next year. I am a firm believer that you should constantly strive for change and growth. For that reason, I have chosen four bad habits that I would like to break, BEFORE the new year begins.
The first habit I would like to break is 'Using My Phone Too Much'. I definitely think I use my phone a lot. I don't tend to use it as much when I am with my friends and family, as I like to be in the moment, however I use it A LOT whenever I am alone, especially since starting university. Sometimes I'll be scrolling through Instagram for so long without even realizing. It is a very unhealthy habit to have and I know that breaking it would make my life so much more productive. There are so many things that I could do in replacement of using my phone when I am alone. For example, I could do Bible Study (something I have definitely been lacking), I could read a book or I could write. I bet I would have gotten a lot more blog posts up if I didn't have my phone on me, all day.
Some ways I have already limited my phone use:
- I put it on Airplane mode when I am doing assignments, to stop me looking at notifications.
- I log out of Snapchat for 24 hours, every other week
Some ways I will limit my phone use:
- I will set alarms at random times in the day to tell me to turn it off
- I will do regular social media DETOX's
The second habit I would like to break is 'Over Snacking'. Again, this is a habit that I have only really picked up since being at university. Ever since I have done my own grocery shopping, I have been buying so many snacks! I think it was back in October, I spent £15 on snacks, in just 2 days. THAT'S RIDICULOUS. It was such a bad idea to have a snack section in my room, because I over eat so much. I even had M&Ms for breakfast one morning because I couldn't be bothered to go to the kitchen (sorry Mum). It was at that point that I knew I messed up. Even as I write this, I'm craving popcorn. Of course eating snacks and indulging once in a while isn't a problem, but it definitely becomes an issue when you eat more snacks than real food.
Having a Tesco on campus is probably a huge contribution to the mess I am in.
Not only do I think over eating snacks has made me sluggish, but I think it's starting to affect my overall happiness. You are what you eat. I am therefore making a conscious effort to change my eating habits.
Some ways I have already limited over eating:
- I have started buying more fruit to replace sweet treats
Some ways I will limit snacking:
- I will set a very small budget for snacks every month that I cannot exceed
- I will replace my favourite snacks with healthier options
- I will make my snacks less accessible, by having a smaller snack box
The third habit I want to break is 'Going To Bed Late'. I'm not as bad as some people, but it is still pretty bad. I know SO MANY people who live in my building that A) Go out every other night and B) Don't sleep until the sun is up. I am definitely not at that stage, however I definitely need more sleep. My sleeping pattern isn't necessarily messed up, but I do go to bed far later than I used to. I used to go to bed at midnight and wake up at like 5:45am, which worked quite well for me. Although it was still less than 8 hours sleep, it didn't cause any issues. However, I now go to bed at like 2am and wake up at different times depending on when my lecture is. I don't know what it is, but I struggle to wake up before nine on days where I don't have a 9am. It is such a task to get up in the morning! It could be 11am and I'm motivating myself to get out of bed, whereas only 6 months ago, my alarm would ring once at 5:45am and I would already be in the shower by 5:50am.
I guess the aim is to go to bed early and wake up early. My issue is that I'm usually working on an assignment until late and get carried away or I'll be at dance until about 9:30pm, then make my dinner. By the time I have eaten and showered, it's already midnight and I still have too much energy from dancing to go to sleep.
Some ways I have already tried to stop myself going to bed late:
- I worked out what time I roughly wanted to wake up in the morning and saw what time I needed to be in bed by in order to get my full 8 hours
(SPOILER: IT DIDN'T WORK)
Some ways I will stop myself going to bed late:
- I will set a cut off point from doing my assignment, so that I am not working past 7pm (Unless it is a last minute deadline).
- I will make sure I am off my phone, at least 30 minutes before I plan to sleep
- I will do a cool down and stretch after every dance class, to get rid of all the energy built up
The final bad habit that I would like to break before the new year is 'Overthinking'. This isn't just a habit I WANT to break, but one that I NEED to break. I am my BIGGEST bully. I have really struggled with my confidence these past 3 months and it has affected me in so many ways. Naturally I am quite a reserved person, but I also have a big character. I shy myself away from people as a way of protecting myself when I feel intimidated or low in confidence. It's very hard to explain but I feel like people who have met me will see it and understand what I mean. I'm totally aware of who I am and the character I have, however I'm very selective about who gets to see that. I almost feel like I've trained myself to shut down whenever I meet someone who could potentially hurt me. They could be the best person in the world but sometimes I work myself up to think that they don't like me and shy myself away until I end up in my own bubble. Once I'm in that bubble it's very hard for me to get out, so people can take it as a case of me not liking THEM, which is never true.
Whenever I overthink like that, it never brings anything good to my life (of course). I have really struggled to make friends at uni and go to certain events because of it. Of course I have friends but nowhere near the amount I COULD have if I treated myself a bit nicer. I look out for other people more than I look out for myself. I know I am a good person and I have so much love for people, however I somehow convince myself that nobody else thinks the same. Bit deep but it's just how it has been.
If there is just ONE thing out of the four habits that I want to break the most, it is this one.
Some ways I have already limited my overthinking:
- I have a journal that I write in whenever I feel anxious. I like to write a list of all the good things I have done that day and what I like about myself etc
- I pray about it. This is probably the most effective way for me
Some ways I will limit my overthinking:
- I will try to push myself out of my comfort zone more often
- I will talk to someone whenever I feel anxious, rather than keeping it to myself (I'm a huge bottler and it often results in a break down of some kind)
Sorry to go so deep for the last one, but part of breaking a bad habit is admitting that it's there. I definitely think explaining it to you all will make it easier for me to be more social, especially in the second term of university. It's one of those habits that has always been around but it's only gotten this bad recently. I definitely don't want to enter 2019 with it.
So those are the four bad habits that I want to break before 2019. Do you have any habits you want to break? Let me know in the comments.
Thanks for reading,
Have a great day x
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