Lately, I’ve been feeling the need for some intentional recharging. In the midst of lots of to-dos and action items, I’m trying to listen to myself and rest when I need to.
If I’m feeling low-energy, overwhelmed, or when I want to give myself a bit of a break, here are some of my go-to techniques:
- Wash and change my bed sheets. There is nothing better than going to bed in fresh sheets that have that clean detergent smell.
- Embrace Mondays. Mondays are the perfect fresh start, but I often look to them with a kind of dread. When I embrace Monday, I re-frame it as the beginning of a new week. A clean slate.
- Clean or declutter. I completely believe that tidying your physical environment can offer mental clarity and relief.
- Eat citrus. Don’t ask me why, but eating an orange or squeezing some lemon or lime into my water always perks me up.
- Go for a walk. Fresh air and a little movement can work wonders.
- Get a haircut. Is there anything better than a fresh chop to feel like you’ve had a re-set?
- Drink a glass of water. When I’m feeling especially tired or sluggish, sometimes the culprit is dehydration. Drinking a glass of water is the cure.
- Take a nap. This is my favorite weekend activity for starting fresh, especially if I wake up for the day on the wrong side of the bed.
- Take a bath or shower. Although this isn’t always possible to do, it works especially well at the end of the day when I want to transition out of work-mode into more personal time.
- Play hooky. Taking a mental health day is one of the best ways to start fresh. Schedule a massage, a Netflix binge, or a power day to cross a bunch of items off your list.
- Meditate. Need a quick refresh? Meditation can happen in as little as 1–5 minutes with immediate results. Amazing.
- Move. Admittedly, this one is a little more dramatic than the previous options, but moving to a new location, city, or state is a definite way to start fresh.
- Apologize. Sometimes we want to start fresh with another person after a conflict. I know no better way to kick-off this process than a genuine apology.
- Update your online presence. Adding a new head shot, new bio information, and tidying up out-of-date spaces can help you feel digitally fresh.
- Run errands. Similar to the de-cluttering idea above, completing errands like returning books to the library, mailing packages, dropping off clothes for donation and other to-do tasks outside of the house can feel like a weight lifted off my shoulders.
If you’re starting to feel overwhelmed or in need of a break, I hope some of these ideas might be useful for you.
To think on:
- What are your favorite ways to start fresh?
- Which of these ideas might you do this week?
