My November Goals.

This year been a weird one for me, in some ways I feel I’ve been very accomplished in what I’ve got out of this year. Passing my first year of university to name a few. However, with only two months left in this year, I really want to try and make more of an effort to be more productive and proactive. So I've compiled a list of things I want to get done.

Participate in many a holiday activity or tradition.

With November comes Christmas light switch on and fireworks. Pub quizzes and festive dinners. I wanna make more of an effort to make plans with friends. To go out and see and do things a lot more. I love surrounding myself with good energy and friends and this month I want to really engage.

Take up a new hobby.

This month and October I’ve really taken a personal reflection upon scheduling myself and making sure I’m not spending hours upon hours on the university to the put that the sheer amount of work I am doing is counterproductive and I end up getting less done than one had thought. So now I have a bunch of free time opened up for me that I really want to use this time to invest in doing things I love. Aside from getting back into reading for pleasure and not for my degree. I want to learn a new hobby whether that be learning to play the piano or getting back into yoga we shall see. Spend more time committing to my blog and writing in general. I’ve been a bit sporadic when it comes to writing on here, sometimes I’ve been able to write once a week others I’ve not posted in a few months. I really want to stick with posting regularly whether that be once a week or twice a week. I am yet to decide what I do but stick around for what comes next. Really look after my skin.
I suffer from spots quite badly. I eat sweets I get a spot. I don’t drink enough water that day, I get spots. So I really want to focus on what I’m putting in my body and making sure i get back on track with my healthy eating and working out. Something I’ve been neglecting during my bad mental health days. I see a real improvement in myself when I’m stretching and working out every other day.

Making more time for myself.
Alongside the hobby and scheduling my work//home life balance I want to make sure I have a lot more free time and what free time I do have I use for doing things I actually enjoy. A lot of the time I come home from work and I end up telling myself I’ll spend a bit of time working on my uni work which normally results in me spending hours and it’s already 8 o’clock in the evening and the time has just flown by. So for me, it’s really important that I manage my time more effectively.

I hope you enjoyed reading this little blog post today and I’ll for you to share some goals or things you need to tackle upon your to-do list for this month.

Toodlepip lovelies

Lucy x

What To Do When You Are Feeling Funky.

We all get that feeling every now and again. Sometimes it's just pure waves of sadness and we are not entirely sure why. Sometimes it's just a mixture of all of those types of emotions and they just make you sort of feel as I call it, Funky. It's not the nicest of feelings so I thought I would create and share this list with you all that help me during my time of need.

Listen to a certain song or playlist that you know boosts your mood and productivity. 

Music is the key to emotions. Some genres of music can increase productivity and staying focus, while others can create an ambience that relaxes you. I find listening to music that makes you feel happy and/or is tied with happy memories, helps in slowly getting you out of the funk you are feeling. It's not an instant fix, as sometimes funks can last for a while. For me, I find listening to the ABBA soundtrack boosts my mood and makes me feel productive to do the tasks on my to-do list.

Get up go out and breathe.

Studies have shown that leaving the place where you are feeling stressed or anxious and going outside even if it’s just for five minutes or going on a walk makes you feel at peace and calmer within your surroundings. For me, I find walking helps clear my mind and understand a situation and how to deal with it to reduce the amount of stress I was experiencing. I’m very much known as a stress head in my everyday life and a bit (my friends would say more like a lot) as a worrier. So anything I can do to help ground myself instead of running around like a headless chicken is appreciated.

Exercise. Move your body around.

Exercising for half an hour to an hour a day it really beneficial not only for your physical well-being but your mental health also. Exercising releases endorphins, the happy drug and gets your blood pumping inside your body. Whenever my head is in a weird headspace I find exercising helps clear my head. Tidy mind tidy workspace is a quote I’ve stuck towards for most of my life. Dancing is something I enjoy doing on the regular but stretching//Yoga or Pilates is another two forms of exercise that I find I really enjoy. Exercise and the words happy and enjoy are not what a lot of people associate with each other.

Relax. Light a candle and have a soak or just have a quick shower.

Whenever I'm feeling down, I find relaxing and taking a bath also helps if I don't have any prompting tasks to complete. I find giving myself the time to be able to really think over what I need to do and sort it out in the near future helps put things into perspective. However, an option, if I have a lot of prompting tasks that need to be done that day, is to take a quick shower to make you feel refreshed and clear your mind and be ready to reduce your mood funk.

Read a book and I'm not talking about an academic one for your University. 
Taking time to enjoy things you love, like for me reading can help reduce the mood funk you are in. When I don't take time out for myself and I'm just constantly working working working, has a massive damaging impact on my mental health and mood. So I like to take a step back every now and again and really look at my work/life/social/hobbies life balance.

I hope you enjoyed reading this week's blogpost! What are your tips/ what do you feel when you are in a bit of a 'funk'?

Toodlepip lovelies! 

Lucy 

x