forgetfulminks

[forgetfulminks]

Nothing is a Waste of Time

Everything in this world has knowledge and skills that you can learn from.

If you like reading, that's great! It teaches you new vocabulary and increases your reading speed (no matter what book you read). If you like gaming, that's great! It gives you better reflexes and teaches you to solve problems faster. If you like watching movies, shows, or the tv, that's great! It can help you find friends who like the same shows as you. If you like posting and interacting with social media, that's great! It helps you be more social and can help you make new friends (as well as keep up your current friendships). If you like drawing, painting, or creating art, that's great! It teaches you to express yourself creatively, and it can help create a more creative and vivid imagination. If you like knitting or crocheting, that's great! It helps with small motor skills (delicate movements with your hands), and it helps with focus. If you like sewing, that's great! It teaches you to mend your clothes when you need to and how to make your own clothes.

No matter what it is that you are doing, don't let anyone tell you that it is a waste of time. Even if you don't make money off of it, it isn't a waste of time. Of course, if you do any of these activities for very long periods of time every day without breaks, then all of them will negatively impact your health. But that doesn't mean you should give them up. You do your hobby and you do it happy! 🤍

[forgetfulminks]

When do you stop putting yourself down? Stop telling yourself you’re ugly? You’re not enough? You’re not worthy? You come second? When does all this self-abuse end? When you get the Porsche on your vision board? When you get the ring? The man? The baby? The house? The six-figure job? The designer handbag? Because the truth is, getting the above might soothe you, it might put the band-aid on the wound…but the wound is still there! 

You have to make peace with yourself regardless of where you’re at in life. You have to learn to love yourself where you are, because if you can’t love, respect, and honour yourself being broke, or being in your most natural form how will you do this once you’re in a relationship? Once you have more money? Once you have the surgery? Do you magically love yourself and respect yourself? If you can’t take care and love yourself and accept yourself as you are, in this very moment, with all your perfect imperfections, in your single season, in your times of difficulty then there is some serious work to be done…. Self-love is your foundation, so make sure you’re building a house on love and not self-hate as you navigate through your growth season. 

[forgetfulminks]

My Tags

Here is a list of tags that I use on my posts. You can use this to find posts that you are looking for or to just navigate my blog.

#my post - all my own posts, use to filter out reblogs

#reblog - only my reblogs, use to filter out my posts

#self love - self love advice from either me or other users

#self care - ideas for self care routines, discussions about self care, etc.

#good advice - helpful tips and advice about life, mental health, or general health

#beauty tips - everything about beauty. If you want more specific advice, I also tag stuff with skincare, hair care, nail care, hygiene, etc.

#gentle reminders - things to remember and advice written in a very gentle and sympathetic way that makes you feel safe and cared for

#thoughts - usually my own posts that are about my opinions on things

I hope this helps you navigate my page and helps you find specific posts! 🤍

[forgetfulminks]

I'm Back

Thank you for being patient with me as I took a break from posting. Now that it's winter here in Australia and the uni semester has ended, I lost a lot of motivation to keep up with my routines. So, I took a break from everything for a little bit and gave my body and mind the rest it needed. After a little while, I started to feel like a potato, and that's when I knew that I needed to start my routines again. I realised that my routines were things that I needed to do to love myself and my body, and that worked for a little while, but now it's too general and not specific or motivating enough to keep it up. So, I created more specific reasons to keep up each of my routines, and that helped a lot! Now, I'm ready to come back to tumblr and keep spreading my self-love and self care message! Expect some new posts from me soon! 🤍

[forgetfulminks]

Nutrition + Gut Health

Nutrition is hard to give advice about because everyone's eating habits are different, and things like the country you live in and your income can affect it too. However, this post will aim to give you a rough guideline to healthy eating and making sure you are giving your body the nutrition it needs. Gut health is also important to keep in mind, so I'll mention that too. Let's begin!

BIG NOTE BEFORE STARTING: Eating something is better than eating nothing! If you are having trouble eating due to your mental health or thinking about all this nutritiounal stuff is just overwhelming you, make sure that you eat something even if it's not "healthy". All foods have something in them that your body needs! So make sure you give your body something to work with. Once you are eating consistently and you feel ready to start making your diet more balanced, then you can start thinking about what foods are better for you.

Things to Add

The first step to making your diet more balanced and nutritious is adding things to it. Cutting things out only makes you crave them more, and it's also really hard to stop doing something that you've already made a habit of. So, here are things that you can add to your diet:

In every main meal that you have, try to include foods with protein, carbs, fats, fibre, and vitamins. Including all these nutrients in your meals helps your body function better.

Whenever you feel like eating something (even just small snacks), try to include some sort of protein. Protein makes you feel fuller, which can help with over-eating and also helps you figure out your hunger and fullness ques.

Eat more fruits, vegetables, and nuts. They have so many vitamins that help your body. Find ones that you think taste good and add those to your diet. You do not have to force yourself to eat something that you really hate just because you know it's good for you. We want to enjoy our food, not force ourselves to eat something.

Things to Limit

After adding things to your diet, it's time to think about things that need to be limited. This part is really hard, but it's an important step. Over-indulging in certain foods can lead to health problems, so it's important to moderate how much you eat. But again, don't think you need to cut them out completely! Just because it's not healthy to eat too much of it doesn't mean you can't eat it at all. All foods have good things in it that can benefit your body! It's just important to moderate it. With that being said, here are some things to limit:

Soda + juice - they both have a lot of sugar in them, and drinking them every day can lead to a sugar addiction (as well as health problems). It's better to have sugar drinks such as this once a week, but don't try to do this right away. If you are drinking them every day, try to slowly decrease it every few weeks. This way, you can reach your goal in a sustainable way! It's also better for your health to buy cans instead of one big bottle. Cans helps you control the portion and you can hide the cans somewhere else for when that one day a week comes around, while a big bottle in the fridge will make you feel like you need to drink all of it quickly.

Sugary foods - lots of things have sugar in them, and it's important to limit how much you have. Natural sugars that are in dairy, fruit, vegetables, honey, and wheat should be prioritised over added sugars. But, it's hard to cut down on sweet treats, so just try to slowly decrease your intake rather than cut it out entirely.

Chips, crisps, and other salty snacks - eating too much salt is not so good for your body, so it's important to limit these kinds of snacks. Slowly decrease how much and how often you eat it and you'll be good!

Processed meats - things like ham, sausage, bacon, jerky, and salami. These meats contain more salt and more fat than normal cuts of meat. Ideally, you shouldn't be eating these meats every day. Again, slowly decrease how much and how often you eat them until you reach your goal.

Think About You

After thinking about what you need to add and what you need to limit, now it's time to think about your own diet goals! Everyone is different though, but I'll give a few examples:

I have an iron deficiency and I want to feel more energised - eat more things with iron and vitamin c in them. When you have a deficiency, just taking iron supplements isn't enough, you need to eat more iron as well. And vitamin c helps with iron absorption, so you can't skip that either. For iron, eat more spinach, red meat, almonds, and pumpkin seeds. For vitamin c, eat more tomatoes, capsicum, and oranges.

My hair is damaged and I want a diet that will help keep it healthy - protein and foods with biotin in them can help a lot. Biotin helps produce the protein keratin, which is essential for healthy hair (and nails). The best foods with both of these are eggs, fish, nuts, and seeds.

I want to lose weight - this is a tricky one. You don't want to limit or cut out things too kuch in your diet. I think it's better to eat a lot of protein and make sure that you eat slowly without distractions (so no looking at your phone), as it can make you feel fuller faster. Also, don't feel like you have to finish everything that you eat. If you feel really full, save it for later. Also, drink a lot of water, as it will fill your stomach up and not make you feel so hungry.

I want to gain weight- also a tricky one, as you don't want to over-indulge in foods that will make you feel gross or super bloated after eating it. I think creating a balanced and healthy diet first is key, and then slowly increase the portion sizes. Also, have more snacks throughout the day as well as three big meals. This will create a balanced diet where you can also hit your goals!

Whatever goal you want to hit, create a plan for your diet and add/limit whatever you need to.

Gut Health

Gut health is extremely important because it is related to your overall health. If your gut health is bad, then your overall health is bad. But what is gut health? It refers to the micro-organisms that live in your intestines. We are meant to have about 200 different species of bacteria, virusus, and funghi that live there (they are meant to be there and keep us healthy, they are not bad for you). But, things like antibiotics and highly processed foods can kill these micro-organisms and leave us feeling sick. But, there are many things that we can do to help improve our gut health, which will improve our overall health:

Drink plenty of water - the micro-organisms love water! So make sure to nourish them and your body by drinking a lot.

Get plenty of sleep - not getting enough sleep also impacts your gut health, so make sure to get plenty of it.

Eat foods that are high in fibre - vegetables, beans, peas, nuts, fruits, etc.

Eat garlic - not raw, but like add it to your cooking. Garlic was found to improve gut health, so find some recipes that include it.

Eat fermented foods - kimchi, yoghurt, sauerkraut, natto, etc.

Eat collagen-boosting foods - collagen-rich foods include bone broth and salmon. Collagen production foods include citris fruits, broccoli, meat, eggs, and nuts.

So there you go! Now you know how to have a diet that is good for your health and good for your gut! I hope this helps 🤍

[forgetfulminks]

organize your week like this to be closer to the best version of yourself

i interpret the process of becoming our best version as climbing a ladder, on each step, we learn something new that serves us, and the next we complement it with something new, and so on until we reach the end and after many small habits we have become that version we wanted to be. little by little we are learning and although sometimes it is complicated to climb because of the adversities that may arise we can always take up the path again and put into practice what we have learned. that said, today i want to share a method that i have created to organize our habits and thus fulfill them more effectively and feel motivated. in this post i will only present some examples, you have to apply it to your own situation and my recommendation is to start now even with small habits that will be the ones that will lead you to success. i recommend that you try it for this week and write down your results, if it has worked for you keep using this "organization method" and adding new habits or increasing its time.

organize by categories.

create groups to categorize the habits you want to implement in your life, for example like this (the habits are examples, use your own)

🌿 health (body and nutrition)

10 minutes of exercise every day

30 minutes of walking every day

drink a lot more water

start eating consciously

one self-care day a week, for example on friday. we can take this day more relaxed and take more care of ourselves, dedicate more time to our personal and mental care.

do massage with the quartz roller and gua sha

make an appointment for nails, hairdresser, spa, eyelashes or even go to a coffee shop with yourself.

use a face mask and hair mask

🌿 personal growth

read 10 pages a day

listen to personal growth podcasts or audiobooks (choose one and listen to it all week long)

choose an affirmation and write it down every day

record in a diary or an app your mood and what you did during the day.

create a to-do list of what you will do for the day (the night before)

choose a video of affirmations and listen to it every day at a time that suits you best

🌿 studies

study about what you are studying or training for.

dedicate e.g. 20-30 minutes each day to study or review.

study a new language, 15 minutes a day, 5 days a week.

🌿 hobbies

1 - 2 hours to what you enjoy doing (depends on the day and your schedule)

you can write down in a notebook the groups you want to choose for yourself and then the habits you are going to implement, even if they are very small, for example 5 minutes of daily exercise, that is a good start.

to stay focused and not fall into old habits we can also replace the old habits with new ones that we want to implement in this way.

old habit: too much time on instagram new habit: reading or listening to an audiobook while i take a walk. or even just 15 minutes of social media a day.

other examples:

drinking soda or alcoholic beverages > drinking a lot more water and starting to drink natural juices.

watch a lot of series on netflix (or any streaming platform) > read or listen to podcasts/audiobooks that nourish my mind.

overthinking, worrying > meditating for about 5 minutes

lying in bed without doing anything > organizing my room

think in negative > think about the things you would like to happen to you

other tips to connect with your best version

write in your diary how you would act, be and what habits your best version would have. this will give you clarity about what you want and you will feel closer to that because you will know how to act.

establish small habits to start with and take it as a kind of game or test during this week. don't push yourself too hard.

at times when you don't know how to act or react, think about how your best version would act and what it would do.

write down things you are proud of or would like to be proud of.

if you are easily distracted or do not know what to do at any given moment, set alarms to know what to do at that moment.

if you use social media a lot, set a limit of use.

choose habits that you know you will be able to do easily, that will make you gain confidence and little by little establish those habits in which you have procrastinated or which are more difficult for you.

think big, open yourself to the possibilities that life offers you every day and keep a positive attitude towards any situation.

apps i recommend: habit: it serves to keep track of your habits and also get organized, it's a kind of to-do list. daylio: you can record your mood, what you did during the day and your habits, it also allows you to write and add photos. it is very complete, it can be used as a digital diary. notion: to get organized.

duolingo: if you want to learn a language a few minutes a day will be enough. i learned a lot of grammar in english thanks to this, which works if you practice daily.

and as always my blog is about this and there will be many more related posts in addition to the existing ones, all to be our best version 🤍 in fact if you try it i would love to know your results.

[forgetfulminks]

A reminder for your journey…

not all work feels like work.

sometimes, it really is the exercise, changing your routine, or making conscious choices to change long-held habits.

but sometimes, it’s just learning how to sit. to be.

When was the last time you paid attention to thoughts that weren’t searching for a way to change something about yourself?

When was the last time you enjoyed your surroundings?

If you’re always looking forward, you’ll miss the view in your side mirrors.

What’s the point in doing all of this work on yourself if you’ll only have yourself at the end of your journey?

If you spend all of this time being busy, what time would you take to make sure the internal would match the external you’re creating?

Sadness, loneliness, self-doubt, self-criticism, and self-hate exist at your prettiest and wealthiest too.

You have to remove the noise in your head regularly.

Some ways to do so:

- spend time outside

- spend time without your phone, even if it’s just an hour or two

- greet a stranger when you’re taking a walk

- discover a new place in your city

- journal without erasing or correcting yourself before you even put pen to paper

- scribble random drawings on paper

Learning to love and be at peace with yourself is the key to being truly happy and magnetic.

The version of you at this current moment will become history within the next nanosecond. Crazy to think about, right?

Cherish your time. Cherish your surroundings. Cherish yourself.

I believe in you 💘

love,

someone who’s also on her own journey to become the best version of herself :)

[forgetfulminks]

"You are worth being loved, especially by you"

[forgetfulminks]

Understanding the Difference Between Hard Work and Workaholism, and Self-Care Strategies for Avoiding Burnout

Hi friends,

In today’s post, I want to talk about the idea of hard-work vs workaholism and the resulting consequence of burnout. It’s a longer post today because I believe this is something that many people are dealing with, especially in this space.

In the self-improvement and personal development bubble, there’s a constant culture of ambition and striving for improvement. While the intention behind this can be rewarding, it can sometimes fall into toxic territory with constant encouragement of and sentiments such as “just work harder” or “you‘re not disciplined enough”, often leading people to exhaust and overwork themselves.

Due to this, I'd like to discuss the significance of distinguishing between hard work and workaholism — both for productivity and well-being. While hard work can indeed lead to success and fulfillment, workaholism can result in burnout and physical and mental health issues. Recognizing the distinction between these two and equipping oneself with self-care strategies is essential for leading a balanced, healthy life.

What is hard work?

Hard work can vary from person to person, and it’s the same for everyone. Generally, hard work can be described as dedicated and focused effort towards achieving a specific goal. This can mean anything from daily runs to train for a marathon to watching numerous youtube tutorials to learn how to code.

The point here is that, although hard work involves a certain level of persistence, discipline, and strong work ethic, there’s often rewarding outcomes as you know you’re making progress towards something you want to achieve.

Understanding if you’re a hard worker or someone suffering from workaholism dictates a high level of self-reflection and introspection. In my experience, hard workers are those who:

Have a clear understanding of what they want to achieve

Are action oriented and know the purpose behind their efforts

Have the ability to achieve a work/life balance

Are either intrinsically motivated and have a high level of identified motivation

Maintain an internal locus of control

Know when to take breaks

Being a hard worker is a significant skill, one that can lead to personal development, growth, and multiple career opportunities, these are facts that can’t be denied. However, in our current environment where an individuals worth is often determined by their accomplishments and successes, the line between working hard and being a workaholic has been blurred.

Understanding workaholism

Now that we’ve talked about what exactly makes a hard-worker, I want to uncover the other reality: workaholism.

Workaholism is an uncontrollable and compulsive need to work constantly. It comes from feelings of from anxiety, perfectionism, or a desire to escape personal issues. This includes:

Obsessively thinking about work

Struggling to relax or unwind outside of work

Ignoring personal relationships and self-care

Feeling physically drained with fatigue and insomnia

Multiple studies have explored the mental and physical impacts of workaholism, revealing impacts such as high levels of chronic stress, anxiety, depression, fatigue, cardiovascular issues, among others. It’s truly an exhaustive list of consequences, all of which can lead to burnout and emotional exhaustion. Beyond mental and physical health risks, the effects of workaholism can include professional issues. It’s ironic that overworking oneself can have a negative impact on your career, yet there’s a higher likelihood of decreased job performance and strained professional relationships as a result.

I think Jordan Peterson said it best: “You don’t want to do so much work that the amount of you do interferes with the amount of work you could still do”.

Here are some of the key differences between hard work and workaholism to keep in mind:

Purpose and Motivation: Hard work is driven by intentional goals and motivation, while workaholism tends to be more compulsive.

Work-Life Balance: Hard workers manage to balance their professional and personal lives, while workaholics often neglect their personal life and self-care.

Sustainability: Hard work is sustainable over time with breaks for rest and recovery, whereas workaholism leads to burnout due to its unsustainable nature.

Control Over Work: Hard workers can regulate their work habits and take breaks when needed, while workaholics often feel out of control and struggle to stop working.

Stress Levels: Hard work can be stressful but usually within healthy limits, while workaholism leads to chronic stress and health problems.

What is burnout and how can we prevent it

With all that being said, I want to move on to clearly defining burnout and how we can avoid it. Burnout is a work-related state of exhaustion where you feel extreme fatigue, have a hard time concentrating, suffer from emotional dysregulation and poor cognitive function, and mentally distance yourself from the people around you.

Burnout doesn't happen all at once; it's a gradual process that builds up over time, often linked to workaholism. When you’re constantly in a mental state of go-go-go or feel the need to work excessively, you’ll start feeling stressed out from trying to meet all these demands. Over time, if you don’t find ways to take breaks and rest to recharge, you’ll lose energy and find yourself in a state of burnout.

This all happens because burnout leads to emotional exhaustion, detachment from work and others in your life, and a decreased sense of personal accomplishment and motivation.

So how can we prevent this?

There are 5 domains in our lives that we can pay more attention to for preventing burnout: physical, mental/emotional, social, work, and personal/leisure.

Physical Well-being:

Find a form of physical activity you enjoy and do it regularly

Take short breaks during work sessions to stretch and move around

Maintain a balanced diet to sustain energy levels

Get enough each night to support brain function during the day

Mental and Emotional Well-being:

Practice mindfulness techniques and meditation to reduce stress

Practice gratitude daily to adopt a positive mindset

Use deep breathing exercises to calm your mind and body.

Social Support and Relationships:

Seek help when needed through therapy, counseling, or support groups

Make time to connect with family and friends outside of work

Set boundaries for maintaining balance by defining working hours and learn to say no

Workplace Strategies:

Try to opt for projects or tasks in your work that align with personal goals and preferences

Try to schedule meetings to obtain feedback from your higher ups so that you have clear measures on your performance can identity areas for improvement

Find ways to make your work fun to sustain motivation and satisfaction in your work

Leisure and Relaxation:

Schedule leisure activities throughout your day to recharge

Dedicate time to hobbies and interests outside of work

Spend time in nature to connect with the environment and reduce mental fatigue

Thank’s for tuning in.

As always,

L <3

[forgetfulminks]

Oral Health

Keeping your teeth healthy is one of the most important things you can do for your overall health! If there is an infection or anything like that present in your mouth, it can carry the bacteria to the rest of your body. Also, keeping your teeth and gums healthy is an important part of long-lasting overall health. So, how do we keep our teeth and mouth healthy?

Your daily oral health routine should look like this:

Brush your teeth twice a day with toothpaste that contains fluoride.

Use a toothbrush that is suitable for your needs. If you have sensitive teeth, you should use a soft or extra soft toothbrush. If you can, an electric toothbrush is always recommended by dentists, as it can brush your teeth very efficiently without you needing to move it too much (you just kind of glide it over your teeth and let it do the brushing motion for you). But, a normal toothbrush is also fine, as long as you brush correctly.

Brushing correctly means using small circles around your teeth, making sure to brush the front and back (and don't forget your back teeth). Also, try to angle your brush towards your gums when you're brushing so they can get clean too.

Make sure to brush your tongue as well. Your tongue holds a lot of bacteria, so it's good to brush it at least once a day. Make sure you don't over brush it though, as it can break the skin and cut your tongue.

After brushing, make sure to floss once a day. It's better to floss twice a day after brushing, but once a day is the minimum for healthy teeth.

If you can, you should be getting your teeth checked by a dentist every six months, as they can advise you on what you should and shouldn't be doing. They also clean your teeth very thoroughly, so it's a good thing to do for your oral health. But, I understand that those appointments are expensive, especially if you are not covered by health insurance. So, once you have some money saved, it's a good idea to go get them checked when you can.

Now that you've got your routine, here's some tips to keep your teeth healthy throughout the day:

Drink a lot of water throughout the day

Avoid sugary drinks, energy drinks, and fruit juice (or any drink with a lot of fruit in it).

Limit your sugar intake overall and try to eat a balanced diet.

Never use your teeth as tools to open packets or anything like that. This can cause your teeth to chip or crack.

Limit your coffee and/or tea intake and make sure to drink some water afterwards to avoid staining your teeth.

Make sure to replace your toothbrush at least every 3 months.

Note: some people like to use mouthwash, but it should be noted that people who have healthy teeth and gums do not need it. There are also risks in using mouthwash to mask bad breath, as bad breath can be an early sign of gum disease or some other serious oral health issues. If you are concerned about your bad breath, then it's better to go see a dentist about it. They can prescribe you a specific mouthwash that targets gum disease or, if everything is actually ok, they can give you some tips to fix the smell.

HealthDirect (Australian government health info site) - Dental care and teeth cleaning

Post inspired by elonomhblog

[forgetfulminks]

How I pick myself up

~after hard times~

Information After The Divider<3

Admitting my problems and accepting my feelings: The first step for me is always admitting my problems and accepting how I feel. If you put aside and downplay your feelings they’ll only grow stronger and stronger until they eventually break out. Whenever I used to find myself in a bad place in life I would say “I’m fine” or “I’m okay” no matter the situation because that’s what I wanted to believe. In reality saying those things when your in fact not “Fine” or “Okay” will never work. Now, instead when i’m in a bad place i’ll admit it, “I’m depressed” but always add more to it.

“I’m depressed. And that’s okay.”

“I’m sad. And that’s okay.”

“I’m tired/burntout. And that’s okay.”

Now that i’ve come to terms with how i’m feeling what do I do about it?

Finding out the root of these problems/What’s causing them: Connect with your inner self and think about what feelings or events prior to the present may have triggered your feelings. Think about all the other times you’ve felt like this, if you have and what reoccurring events happen leading up to it. For example, in my case almost all times before I start feeling down I go through a sort of disappointment and stress. Those feelings cause me to spiral and I fall deeper and deeper into my negative feelings.

What needs to change in order for me to get better?: This is going to be different for everybody. Try to think of simple things you can do that will positively impact your life and situation. Whether it be your environment, your support system, or the way you spend your time, anything you think is best.

How do I do those things?: After acknowledging what needs to change in your life think about what steps you can take in order to change them. Make a plan of action for it! For example I thought one of the things I needed to change was my support system, I’m not too comfortable talking to family or friends on personal levels so I looked at free online therapy chats and decided I would try one out.

Do them: After developing a plan of action follow through with it! It may be hard but you can do it! A little after finding those chat sites I signed up and talked with a therapist for nearly an hour and though i was quite nervous before, it helped me lots!

🦢I hope you guys enjoy this short little post! Please leave suggestions for posts in the comments, it’ll be so heavily appreciated. One that note i’ll be off, bye my lovesss! <3

[forgetfulminks]

Internet Health + Safety

I want to make a quick post about this because I've seen a lot of people not really know how to safely post things on the internet. I saw this video that explains the risks and why it's so important to know how to safely interact with the internet, but I'll summarise the dos and don'ts here.

Don't:

Post anything that reveals your location - don't post pictures of the area where you live or where you frequently visit (like the supermarket or gym you go to).

Post your location when you are still at that place - if you're at a cafe and you post the food you are eating with your location tagged or with the name of the cafe/restaurant, don't post it until you have left that place.

Post information that easily identifies you - don't post your last name, your license plate, the street you live on, your postcode, your phone number, your address (like on your mail that you recieve), your school/university, any form of id (license, school card, passport), etc.

Do:

Blur out backgrounds when taking selfies - or take it in a place where people cannot easily identify where you are (no street signs, no unique structures).

If you do take pictures where you have your location tagged or you think it's easily identifiable, post it after you have left that place.

Be careful what information you include on profiles - you can include your first name and age, but think very carefully when including anything more than that.

How to use the internet in a healthy way:

Follow people who's posts motivate you, build you up, and make you feel good! If someone's posts start to impact your mental health, consider unfollowing them. If it's a friend or you feel bad for unfollowing them, consider deleting that specific social media app or limiting notifications from them.

Block scams, spammers, and people who you don't like.

Limit your social media usage. Remember to make time for your friends in person and to experience nature through your own eyes instead of through a screen.

Consider a social media detox where you don't use any social media for a week. This can help you figure out if you have an unhealthy relationship with social media. If you find that you cannot get through your daily life without looking or interacting with social media, consider trying therapy or a support group that helps you manage and reduce your addiction.

I hope this helps!

[forgetfulminks]

what to do when everything’s a mess

Wash your hair. Don’t worry about all those articles online about the best haircare products of 2019 and whatnot, get in, wash it like you usually do, get out. Leave it to air dry, it’s less work for you.

Brush your teeth. Even if you brushed them this morning and are probably going to brush it tonight, do it anyway. Especially if it’s exam time, all that tea or coffee you’re most likely downing (props to you if you only study with water) probably makes them feel kind of gross.

I know most of these lists tell you to run a bath, but let’s face it, for those of you who even have a bath in the first place, the thought of filling that tub and sitting there in complete silence for a couple hours seems like a trek. And ironically exhausting. So instead, just brush your hair, take a nap (set a nice soothing alarm) and once you’ve gotten out of bed, wash your face or at least splash cold water on your face.

CLEAN clean clean clean CLEAN. Easier said than done, but at least start by clearing one messy component of your area; it could be your floor, your desk or your bed. You don’t need to clean and re-organise your entire room marie condo-style for you to actually have a reason to take the time to clean in the first place. A little goes a long way, and you don’t ALWAYS need to do the hard yards ya know.

I would say read a book, but sometimes your brain is melting or buzzing so it can’t really focus on anything lengthy. So instead, find someone reciting a poem online, and just listen to it. I recommend Jeremy Irons and his voicing of tons of T.S Eliot poetry, or Allen Ginsberg reciting his own poetry (Howl is a classic).

If you’re one of those people who drowns their sorrows by listening to music, don’t listen to music!! Don’t reinforce your pain!! So to that I say, listen to a podcast. If the classic podcast genre of true crime is a little too stressful and you’ve already cried twice today, listen to interviews with actors, screenwriters and directors. It can be really refreshing to listen to people you already enjoy the content of talk about their work. I recommend Awards Chatter and Happy Sad Confused.

Stop staring at screens! Just physically sit outside for a bit, you don’t need to go for a jog or do a general workout, just…sit. People-watch, try and memorise the exact scene in front of you, from the mis-en-scene to all the colours and sounds and the way the sunlight feels on your eyelashes. Write it down if you want to, you could even denote a single notebook to your little outdoor descriptions. Or just write on a napkin. To each their own.

Have you eaten today? And I mean something hearty, something that isn’t primarily made out of air and salt. Something that falls under the umbrella of snack does not count; meal is more like it. If not, eat. Preparing food might feel exhausting, but so’s going a relatively long amount of time without something nutritionally substantial.

If you’re feeling emotionally heavily, get out a notebook or even just a scrap of paper, a pen and cry until your eyes are as blurry as can be. With tears down your cheeks, scribble out how you’re feeling. Don’t bother with how neat or messy it is, whether the sentences even stay on the lines, it’s not about being aesthetic. In fact, it’s about being as messy as possible. Let all of it out, and let is act as a physical manifestation of what’s going on in your head. Don’t fight it or deny it, relieve yourself by both constructing and understanding yourself. 

[forgetfulminks]

I know that seeing beauty routines (skin routines, hair routines, shower routines, etc.) as self care is a marketing tactic, but it can help you feel more beautiful, more confident, and better in your own skin. Before I continue, actual self care is always free! Actual self care is taking a moment to breathe when you notice that you're stressed; it's eating a snack when you realise you're hungry; it's cleaning your room when you realise it's making it hard to focus. (If you want more examples of free self care, check out this post). This makes self care a lot more accessible and shows that anyone from any background can practice self care. But, if you have the money and you want to try it out, there are some benefits to practising beauty self care, and I want to talk about the way it benefitted my life!

When I was in high school, I thought that only beautiful people could do these routines. I hated the way that I looked, so I didn't think I was allowed to do those things. I also thought that those were things that people did in order to become beautiful. I hated my body so much that I thought it was beyond saving, and it wasn't even worth trying to become beautiful because I thought it was impossible. In order to mask and cover up the hatred I had for the way I looked, I told everyone that "I wasn't like other girls," and instead of doing beauty routines every day, I would play games. This gave me an excuse to keep hating myself without people questioning my mental health and the games distracted me from my self hate, making me think that I didn't hate myself at all, this was just who I was. I separated myself from "normal girls" and thought I would never fit in with them. But after I left high school, I finally went to therapy and started to unpack all the repressed hatred I had for myself. After I realised this, I started trying to work on myself and start the process of loving myself. At that time, I physically couldn't love myself, as I was so used to hating myself. So, instead of trying to love myself, I started trying to be gentler with myself, to give myself space, and to give myself the respect and consideration that I give everyone else in my life. Finally, I got to a point where I didn't completely hate myself, but I didn't know how to start loving myself. That's when I started a skin care routine. I have acne, eczema, and sensitive skin, so I did a lot of research to make a routine that targeted all of these things. Once I finally found a routine that worked for me, I started feeling a lot more confident about my appearance! My skin felt great, looked great, and I felt like I was looking after myself. I started to think that my skin is something worth protecting. After that, I started experimenting with different clothes,I started eating healthier, I started a hair routine, I started a shower routine, and I just started thinking that every part of myself is worth caring for. I started actually loving myself! So, while I know that buying all these products just feeds into this marketing tactic where "I need to spend money to love myself" (not true btw), but these routines did help me in my self love journey. It is definitely not a necessary step to love yourself, but if you relate to anything in my story and you have a sufficient amount of money to spend on yourself, consider starting one of these routines! It can make you feel like you are worth protecting and help you learn to love yourself 🤍

[forgetfulminks]

I wanted to add a note for people with eczema, as washing your hands can cause flare ups, and washing your hands when you already have eczema can make it worse. However, we can't avoid washing our hands, so heres some things you can do to reduce the severety:

Use a soap free cleanser/hand wash - you should be able to find one in a drugstore, or there might even be one in the supermarket. You can't use a cream cleanser, as they do not kill germs as effectively. And I would avoid hand sanitiser, as it can dry your hands out even further (and the alcohol in it could cause flare ups)

Pat dry your hands, don't rub them dry - rubbing can irritate your eczema further.

Moisturise your hands afterwards - use a moisturiser with high oil content (a lot of hand creams are like this), or one that is meant for eczema.

If you can, carry your own cleanser and moisturiser for your hands - some soaps that people use can irritate your hands, so it's better to have your own on you.

Note: anything with a fragrance could cause eczema on your hands or irritate it further. This includes soap, body wash, shampoo + conditioner, and any other product you apply with your hands. This may not apply to you, as fragrences aren't always the cause of hand eczema, but it's something to keep in mind.

I hope this helps!

Links:

National Eczema Society

National Eczema Association

Healthline

hand hygiene

hand hygiene is a crucial practice in maintaining health and preventing the spread of infections. we've seen this especially in recent years, thanks to covid.

it involves the practice of hand cleansing, which can include: ☆ applying alcohol-based hand rub (comes in various forms such as gels, foams and liquids) ☆ washing your hands with water and soap (which can be either antimicrobial or non-antimicrobial, or a soap solution)

effective hand washing is a core strategy in the prevention of healthcare-associated infections and the transmission of antimicrobial resistance. not to mention! having dirty hands means that you are more likely to develop acne.

i mean, how hard is it? research shows that if everyone routinely washed their hands, one million deaths could be prevented PER YEAR. the implementation of hand hygiene practices can generate economic savings,, when you get sick more easily, you spend more money on medicine and other items to 'make you better'. why not start at the roots.

here is when you should wash your hands:

..before and after you eat

..before after and during preparing food

..after using the toilet

..after blowing your nose, coughing or sneezing

..after touching the garbage

..after handling pets or pet waste

when you wash your hands, lather the soap (or sanitiser) so that it covers your whole hand--including in between your fingers. you should be doing this for around 20 seconds to effectively remove germs.

further reading: Key facts and figures (who.int) healthline healthline (2)

[forgetfulminks]

nene's ultimate girl guide❤️

hello, loves! there are eighteen sections planned for this series- each with multiple posts. it is what i wish someone made me,, and so i'm giving it to myself (and to you).

the first few sections are like a base, the standard. because how can you evolve to be the best version of yourself, if you can't take care of yourself on a basic level.

everything in this guide is researched and carefully chosen. trigger warnings will be included at the top of relevant posts.

by no means am i going to churn out these posts, they come from the heart. i'm well aware that this guide will take close to a year to finish, but i'm here for that journey.

section one - hygiene habits

oral hygiene

hand hygiene

bathing

[forgetfulminks]