Unplugging is THE self care

If you’ve been following my blog for a while you’ll have noticed that mental health and self-care have been HUGE on my list of priorities. Recently I’ve been trying to pay more attention to the things that heighten my anxiety and I’ve realized that a lot of screen time can REALLY stress me out. So I know that social media as an accelerant to anxiety has been the topic of plenty of mental health and self-esteem conversations so I’m well aware of that.
What I didn’t realize is that being on my phone or laptop in general for long periods of time makes me incredibly anxious. So that can mean job hunting, game apps, shopping apps, streaming, or the dreaded social media.
I love that my iPhone now has a screen time tracker which averages your screen time per week, it has a breakdown and can tell you how the current week compares to the previous one. So if a week is feeling particularly stressful I can check my screen time for correlations.

I've been spending a lot of time recently focused on doing things I used to love to do in hopes I feel less anxious and more relaxed. That has meant a lot of rediscovering things I used to love and it's been awesome! I’ve realized how much spending time doing “analog” activities can help! I love sudoku and have rediscovered my love and old sudoku books. Spending time focusing on Sudoku puzzles also makes me feel like I’m exercising my brain also which is a bonus!
I also love reading. I always have and like I said in my 2018 in Books post I primarily do my reading at work, however, it's something I think I'll be picking up more at home because it's a better use of my time than all of the Instagram scrolling and another nice activity while luxuriating in the bath.
The weather has been particularly shitty recently in the Northeast US with all of the late winter snow and cold but getting back into running is one of the things I'm planning to do more of as it warms up. I planned to train for a 10k but missed the registration deadline so I'm thinking I'll look for another one later in the year. I have always hated running by myself but nothing ever makes me feel as "good tired" as running and that's so worth it to me!
And last but certainly not least I've been LOVING painting! I've always loved the motion of painting but I have always felt like art needed a deliberate focus. I think I've never liked drawing for that reason, that I struggled to translate things realistically and I always felt like I needed a subject. Abstract painting has been freeing, fun, and relaxing for me! I love making them and I'm enjoying sharing them as well on my Instagram @danayadoes. I primarily share my paintings there and you can follow me to see what I'm making.

I'm enjoying getting back to things that bring me stillness and calm and was dying to share and I hope they'll give you some ideas for things you can do. And if you have any suggestions for me I'd love to hear them I'm always looking for new things to try!
xx