10 Positive Little Things You Can Do Right Now.

Bring a little contentment and coziness to your day-to-day life when everything sucks.

Right now things might be really hard for you. Or they might be just a bit blah. Or completely suck in every way.

Or you could be Carrying On, just like you usually do. Maybe you’re taking advantage of lockdown to Get Stuff Done that you never have the time to do. You might be in full nesting mode, making your home your haven. But you’re feeling a sense of unease, fearfulness or claustrophobia.

Right now, most of the input into our minds is pretty negative. And we can’t do most of the stuff we always used to do, that pulled us out of the doldrums and made us happy. The news, social media, friends… are full of bad news, conflict, terrible things happening here and overseas.

You might be simply trying to survive this, knowing it will end, sometime. And you know what?

What ever you’re doing right now is ok. If you’re in your jammies at 5pm, that’s ok. If you’re responsible for the wellbeing of others in your home, you are amazing, even if you don’t feel like you are. Roll with it. Don’t be mean to yourself. That’s the last thing you need right now.

These difficult times are a good reminder of what is truly important to us. We’re all doing our best right now, managing without some of the most important things in our lives.

But there will be something good that you do that makes you feel better. There might be a couple of things that make you feel better. Small things, that help you cope. That lift you up, or wrap you in warm feelings of contentment.

Even a tiny shift towards positivity can make a huge difference to your wellbeing. And often it IS the tiny things that make us happier, for longer. Especially if we can make them part of our day-to-day lives. How we spend our time is one thing we have control over.

If You Hate Routine But Need Order In Your Life, Try This.

These are a few positive things that I, my clients and friends do (these aren’t the 10 Little Things, they come next):

(My mother is a British woman, through and through. She lives by the belief that a Good Walk can fix a lot. And rain? Pish posh! That’s what umbrellas are for!)

• Walk outside every day, without fail.
• Call family or a friend, every day.
• Organise one cupboard or drawer every week.
• Set the alarm for your normal wake up time and get up.
• Set the alarm for your normal time and hit snooze, and luxuriate in NOT getting up for another half hour, or more.
• Start a new exercise goal.
• Create a daily at-home schedule.
• Read aloud to the kids.
• Snuggle up under blankets on the couch and watch an old movie that makes you feel good.
• Read every book on your book shelf or eBooks from the library and on Kindle that you’ve always meant to read.
• Clean random stuff like the dishwasher filter, the top of the ceiling fans, the back of the fridge.

But what if you can’t bring yourself to do any of these? If your heart and soul are weighed down with sad or frightened thoughts or your mood is dark, it’s time to infiltrate the darkness with Little Positive Things.

~ If you need support, it’s time to reach out to the wonderful people at the end of the phone on these amazing Helplines

10 Positive Little Things You Can Do Right Now

Stop watching so much news.

I know, a bit shocking right? I’m not saying you must stop keeping up with what’s happening in our world. I’m saying limit it to once a day. Right now, if you need to know something you can look it up.

Curate your social media & emails.

Flick those negative nellies out of your feeds. Unsubscribe from the shock-horror sites. Take note of the things that bring you down. Banish them. You can always bring them back later, if you choose.

Choose to read & watch positive stuff.

Look for things that make you feel positive. Make a list of things that make you feel good. Follow vlogs, blogs and social media channels that bring you joy. Find motivating, uplifting or funny books to read. Fill your eyes and mind with beautiful things.

Listen to music.

Even if you don’t normally listen to music all day, find something, anything. I’m suggesting NOT listening to anything that makes you feel sad. Whatever makes you smile or fills you with a sense of wellbeing, make that the sound track to your day. Change it up. Variety is good.

Make your bed, every day.

You deserve it. Pretend you’re in a hotel. Think about how you feel when you walk into your room after a long day and your bed is tidy and waiting for you to slip between the smooth sheets. Make yourself a nest to retreat to. Do that for your future self, your evening-self.

Take care of your body, every day.

You deserve it. When you get up, do the best possible thing for yourself. It might be having a hot shower, putting a bit of makeup on or just brushing your hair. It might be changing out of your sleeping clothes into your normal at-home clothes.

Set yourself a small project, every day.

Something you can manage, a small thing, or a bigger thing with small parts. Like weeding and folding your t-shirts, or decluttering a kitchen drawer. Pull out old, much loved family recipes and make them. Make it something where you will see the results of your efforts.

Make a list of happy, cozy things.

You may have had a tough childhood, a rough life, had to struggle. But there will be a few things that you remember, that make you feel good. It might be reading a real book, making soup, the smell of a particular flower or colouring books. Make a list: Flavours, smells, sounds, places, cozy domestic tasks, things you love, things that make you feel good to do. Choose the ones you can do easiest, right now.

Make it easy to do kind things for yourself.

It is a kindness to take care of yourself. Fill your water bottle before you do anything else, prep some veggies, add healthy things to your shopping list. Reserve the bathroom and have a long, hot soak in the tub. Negotiate what ever you need to make a self-care schedule with the people who share your house, in advance.

Make a daily gratitude habit.

Breathe in the scent of your first morning coffee or tea, repeat an affirmation or Afformation, write a gratitude journal. Open a window and listen for birdsong, look for flowers on your walk, take photos of them with your phone and share them with your friends. You get the idea.

Are These 5 Habits Causing Your Clutter?

Choose one thing.

Just one. Especially if you’re rolling your eyes and thinking that it’s just not possible to do ANY of this! Just pick one small, easy thing that makes you feel a little bit better. And do it today. Maybe it’s simply opening all your curtains and blinds each day to let in as much light as possible. Maybe it’s making an arrangement of favourite things on a shelf, or plumping your cushions.

Do it again tomorrow, or add a different thing. Make a list of small easy things that make you feel good, even if you don’t think you can do any of them.

Keep adding to your list. That may be your One Thing, and it might help a lot. Just working on this list can make you feel better.

Liz, The Tidy Lady

Declutter & Life Coach | Tidyness Expert