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[criminologykee]

daunt books, london

[criminologykee]

Preparing for 2023...

2022 is coming to a close, and it’s around this time that I start thinking about my intentions for the year going forward; my goals, or things I want to see, experience, and achieve. A new year can feel like a lot of pressure - pressure to be perfect, to get everything right, to reinvent yourself, and to lead the best life you can, but I think it’s important not to hold such high expectations of the year ahead.

With that said, I want to share some ideas of things you can do before the end of 2022 to ensure you have a smooth journey into the new year, and hopefully start on a positive note. As they say, start as you mean to go on.

All of these things will hopefully be small, simple, and achievable actions to carry out over the next few days. So, let’s get into it…

Digital Cleanse Decluttering is one of my favourite things to do before the end of the year, because I love going into a New Year feeling like I have space for new things and new experiences.   For a digital declutter, you can delete unused apps, delete or reorganise your playlists, declutter your files on your laptop/computer, delete photos you don’t want anymore and organise your photos into folders, unsubscribe from mailing lists, and change any passwords you may need to change! I also like doing unfollow/unfriend sprees on my socials to make sure I’m connecting with the people I really care about, and I’m not still friends with or following people who make me feel bad!

Physical Declutter Like a digital declutter, this will just help you clear up some space for things in the New Year. Whether it’s your closet, your desk, your junk drawers, or even emptying your tote bag of receipts (just me?). Now’s the time to donate/recycle old clothes, clean out old/empty or expired makeup and cosmetic items, and get rid of the random wires you never need but have kept for years.

Clean Once you’ve decluttered, it’s time to clean! Clean your phone and laptop, change your bedsheets, dust your shelves - just get your space as clean as you can to really start fresh for the new year. This is also a great time to organise your belongings after you’ve decluttered. Make sure everything has a home and is as tidy as you can get it - you can always revisit things each month or quarter to free up some more space and keep your environment tidy. 

Get Organised Start adding important dates to your diary, calendar, google calendar, etc. so you don’t forget important dates or double book events! I personally have a physical diary and calendar, and a digital calendar which syncs to my laptop and phone so I can be sure I won’t miss anything. If you need to plan your budget, now’s the time to do that too. 

Goals and/or Intentions As 2022 comes to a close, it’s probably time to start setting some goals and intentions for the new year ahead. New Year Resolutions aren’t really for me, but instead I tend to set a few achievable goals and some good intentions. For example, in 2022, my goal was to do one fun thing a month - whether that was a concert, a comic con, a day trip, a holiday, or even small things like a cinema trip to a film I’ve been desperate to see - and I’m pretty sure I was successful, probably even more so than I had expected to be! Intentions are new to me, I’ve been setting daily intentions when I remember, but my intentions for 2023 are as simple as being kinder to myself, trying my best, and picking up some old hobbies away from my phone!   Write your intentions and goals down somewhere, or get creative and make a moodboard or vision board for the year. You could even write down the steps you need to take or changes you can make to achieve your goals and intentions to help you when you’re feeling demotivated or stuck.

Reflect on 2022 As much as we tend to look forward as one year comes to an end, I think it’s just as important to look back on the year we’ve just experienced and reflect on it. Think about the things you achieved, how you changed for better or maybe even for worse, things you needed more of, things you want less of, etc. All of these things will help you know exactly what you want to get out of 2023!

That’s pretty much everything I’m doing over the next few days! I’d love to know if there’s anything you’re doing to prepare yourself for the year ahead. 

Wishing you all the best for 2023! 

See you there Kee

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[criminologykee]

Student Self-Care: OU Wellbeing App Edition

Self-care is important, we all know that, but how often do we implement things into our everyday routines to ensure we are keeping up with self-care and improving our wellbeing? Well, with the OU Wellbeing App, it’s about to get easier.

I found out about the app via the “Being an OU Student” course on the OU website as I was preparing for my studies. I was quick to download the app and get started, and it was surprisingly pleasant.   I’ve struggled with my mental health in some capacity since middle school, or maybe even longer. It got pretty bad in high school, even worse in college, and it’s had its ups and downs since. I’ve been to counselling at school, been to CBT sessions, taken antidepressants, and sometimes I’ve done nothing. These things can be hit or miss too, counselling was fine but I didn’t get on with CBT, and my antidepressants weren’t a great help either, and sometimes other self-care and wellbeing methods just feel silly or pointless. However, when I opened up the OU Wellbeing App for the first time and went through the interactive introduction with ‘Charley’, the wellbeing robot, I was actually… eager to use it?!

After you’ve signed up to the App using your OU email and selecting the relevant information, you complete a short quiz to gauge your current wellbeing level – mine, unsurprisingly, was below average at 17.9 (with the average being 20). Then, I met Charley, the wellbeing robot who is basically your pocket wellbeing coach via the app.   Charley gives you a little induction to the app, asks you some questions (in a text message & reply format), and guides you through some “Tiny Habits”. Tiny Habits are essentially things you can do once a day which take no more than 30 seconds, and should improve your wellbeing – for example, a 30 second breathing exercise, a ‘daily intention’, or a 30 second physical activity. Charley also introduces you to the journal, and provides you with your first daily prompt. Together, you then decide on the time you would like to do these things each day – I opted for setting my Daily Intention in the morning, followed by a 30 second Intentional Breathing exercise, then 30 seconds of physical activity. In the evening, I can do a journal prompt, and settle down with another 30 second breathing exercise.   It seems small, but I actually believe these Tiny Habits will improve my wellbeing, which would be great for me.

The ‘Explore’ page of the app offers Podcasts and Tools for improving your wellbeing, as well as guides/tools/podcasts on mindfulness, productivity, stress & anxiety, managing emotions, confidence, and more. If you’re really struggling, there’s an SOS button too which enables you to talk to a real person about how you’re feeling.

All of this is displayed on a Habit Tracker, Journal Page, and Explore Page, which makes moving through the app both engaging and simple.

I’ll probably have further thoughts and updates on this as I use the App more, but my initial impression is that it’s great, and it’s a self-care tool I hope will find a place in my daily routine!

I’m really looking forward to starting my studies with the OU in February 2023, so if you’re interested in following my journey, you can do so by subscribing to my blog, or following me on my Studygram CriminologyKee   For everything else, you can find me at CupOfKee

Thank you for reading!

See you next time, Kee