I feel like this post is going to come across a little tongue in cheek but I think after the 18 months we’ve all had, with so many of our lives being thrown out of whack, up in the air, around the bend and back again, these small and simple suggestions I’m going to share in this post could genuinely make a whole world of difference to someone.
During most of my 20’s, I’ve felt like my life has been in disarray.
Yes, I’ve been healthy. I’ve had a roof over my head. I’ve had two parents who helped me. I ended up with a great boyfriend. Have a cute dog. And now have a job that I adore and make a very decent income from. It all sounds great from the outside.
But from the age of 20, when I first developed my anxiety disorder which left me with no money, no job, no friends, no independence, no prospects and potentially no future, well things looked very different back then.
My life was spent in one room for a number of months. For years, it was spent in a suffocating fog of anxiety. For almost a decade, it was spent wondering whether I’ll ever have a “normal” life, free of anxiety, with a future ahead of me.
Spoiler alert, I’m now in an extremely good place with my anxiety (being officially anxiety disorder free since December 2019) but for a huge chunk of my 20’s, I didn’t have my life together at all. Not even close. I couldn’t function with being an adult, period.
So I had to lean in to those really small things which helped me feel a little bit more human. And something as small as some of the things mentioned in the below list was enough for me to just feel okay and like I can manage a little bit better. Even just for a second.
And I think a lot of people have felt that way over the last 18 months as well. It doesn’t matter whether it’s an anxiety disorder or a global pandemic, we will all have periods where we feel like our lives are all over the place.
It’s nothing to be ashamed about. It’s perfectly normal. And it happens to the best of us. But I’m here as your humble guide today to share with you 33 super easy suggestions of things you can do when you need to feel like your life is together (even if it’s not).
33 small and easy ways to feel like you have your life together:
- Make your bed in the morning
- Own a plant (and keep it alive)
- Keep a journal (and maybe try some journal prompts)
- Buy an expensive candle every now and again
- Drink the correct wine with the correct meat
- Have a signature perfume
- Keep up to date with your medical appointments (like your cervical screenings)
- Learn to say no when you need to
- Stop comparing your timeline to others
- Get your nails done
- Keep a finance spreadsheet of your incomings and outgoings
- Buy bird feed for the wildlife in your garden
- Use all your best lotions and creams whilst having a bath
- Grow your own vegetables
33 small and easy ways to feel like you have your life together continued:
- Reply to all your emails
- Finish that book you started reading
- Wash your make-up brushes
- Cleanse your crystals
- De-clutter your phone, laptop and tablet
- Dress up smart and go on a solo coffee date
- Prepare a meal from scratch
- Update your calendar for the next 6 months
- De-clutter your wardrobe of anything that doesn’t fit
- Take your car for a service or MOT
- Wake up a little earlier and practice a morning routine
- Cancel all your unused subscriptions
- Clean your windows
- Donate unwanted items to charity
- Get a hair cut or a new look. Even something small, like removing your glasses, can make you feel a little more put-together and boost your confidence without much effort. You can buy contact lenses in advance, making it easy to switch things up whenever you need a change.
- Do a full skincare routine morning and night
- Buy yourself some flowers
- Eat a healthy meal
- De-clutter your Facebook friends list
Of course these suggestions won’t fix anything but they are handy to keep in your back pocket for those times when you feel really overwhelmed and scattered with no idea what to do or where to turn next. Remember, there’s always SOMETHING you can do. And even if it seems irrelevant to someone else, as long as it matters to you, that’s all that’s important. Even if it is something as small as getting your nails done, just so you can feel a bit more put-together.