Category: Wellness

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Health & Home Recreation & Leisure Wellness

15 Ways to Celebrate Yourself That Cost No Money

15 Ways to Celebrate Yourself That Cost No Money

Taking care of yourself and celebrating yourself is crucial to optimizing your mental and physical health. Some people don’t practice self-care because they think it has to be expensive.

Try these 15 ways of taking care of yourself that are absolutely free.

1. Write down your achievements

At the end of each week, write down everything you accomplished. These can be personal achievements or professional ones. This a perfect way to celebrate yourself and all that you have accomplished!

2. Organize your home

Cleaning out an old closet or room in your house can make you feel like you unburdened yourself. Take a few hours to organize and clean.

3. Get outside and celebrate

Being outside can make you feel like a new person. Spend a few hours reading, hiking, or just being in the sun.

4. Make a playlist

Create a playlist of songs that make you feel good and motivated. Listen to it every time you get something done.

5. Make a fancy meal for yourself

Use food you already have in your house to treat yourself to a fancy meal. If you don’t like to cook, make yourself a fancy coffee drink.

6. Journal about yourself

Write down things you have done lately that you are proud of. Look to the future and list some things you want to accomplish within the next few weeks or months.

7. Celebrate your brain

Celebrate your intelligence by learning a new skill. This can be done by downloading a language learning app or by listening to podcasts or Ted talks to get inspired.

8. Learn a new hobby

Many hobbies can be done at home and online for free. Try to think of something simple you have always wanted to do. Maybe it’s yoga and you can watch and practice free yoga videos.

9. Celebrate someone else

What better way to celebrate yourself than by celebrating a friend or family member? Send flowers to someone you know who just achieved something. Invite them over for a movie or walk to spend time talking with them.

10. Read a book

Taking time to finish that book you’ve had sitting around can make you feel like you did something productive. Ask to borrow a book from a friend if you want to, this way you’re not spending money.

11. Get up for the sunrise

Rising early can make you feel accomplished and productive. Spending some time outdoors at the beginning of the day also makes the rest of your day peaceful.

12. Make a routine

People who follow routines often get more done. This will give you more time to celebrate yourself.

13. Do an at-home spa day

Use cosmetic items you already have around the house and make a spa day for yourself.  You could take a warm bath or do a face mask. This is a perfect self-care day.

14. Get away from the phone

You don’t have to be on someone’s radar all the time. Set the phone down and think about yourself. You deserve to celebrate you!

15. Take a nap

Celebrate your day or morning by resting and spending some time alone.

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Financial Health & Home Savings Wellness

5 Things To Do For Your Future Without Spending

5 Things You Can Do For Your Future Self That Don’t Cost A Dime

So many people have a good idea of where they want to be in the future. We envision ourselves working until a certain age in a career that we love, often living in a particular area in our dream home, while not worrying about money, and being able to live a life that we enjoy.

While this is something that many people can admit that they do, often advice on how to get there can seem sparse. But luckily there is some good information out there, and we’ve compiled 5 of the best things you can do today to put yourself on a better path for the future, for free.

1.   Start the habits that you want to see your future self practicing.

This goes for just about anything, from quitting smoking, exercise more consistently, painting, reading more, spending money more sensibly, literally anything. If you take small steps to incorporate this new activity or habit into your life, it will be easier to carry that small step into additional actions. If you are wanting to start a new hobby or learn a new skill, try to set aside 30 minutes a day to work on that activity. It will pay dividends.

2.   Keep your credit in the back of your mind.

It is used to score you for so many things, it just makes sense to keep your credit in as good of shape as you can. This means monitoring your credit and credit score, paying down old debt if you have any, and improving your credit where possible.

3.   Automate your saving and investing.

With apps like Stash, Acorns, Robinhood, and even Cashapp, you can automate saving and investing your money. Make sure you aren’t letting all your money sit and die of inflation in a savings account, though. Keep a liquid emergency fund, and invest the rest in stocks, bonds, and crypto to generate passive and retirement income with almost zero effort over time.

4.   Learn the difference in various retirement accounts before you need one.

The best time to start investing is whenever you can start. Employer-offered funds like a 401(k) are perfect starting points, particularly with many companies offering matching up to a certain point. Not only is it smart to invest early and often, but you can invest from pre-tax money to reduce your tax liability, and an employer match is basically free money.

5.   Test yourself monthly by cutting out one paid “extra” each month.

This can be almost anything that you pay for as an extra. One of the many streaming services, eating at a particular fast-food restaurant, a subscription box, and so on would be a perfect example. You cancel or cut one out for a month, and see if you can live without it. Many times we forget that we have grown attached to many “needs” that are actually well-disguised “wants”. Skipping a month here and there can save big bucks and build big discipline.

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Beauty Health & Home Wellness

Skincare Questions That Dermatologists Answer

Skincare Dermatologists

People ask skincare questions by the dozen and not surprisingly, considering how confusing the routines can be. Most people cannot be sure what skincare type is good for their skin type, what products help with what issues and so many other queries.

In this article, we will look at the questions people ask most commonly about skincare and which ones dermatologists have answered.

1. Is there a correct order for skincare routine?

The best way to use skincare products is in the order of thickness. For example, if you are a beginner in skincare, then you must start with a simple routine. Begin with a cleanser, moisturizer and sunscreen as you start your day. Then in the night, complete your skincare regime with a cleanser and moisturizer.

If you have a dry skin, then you may include a hydrating serum or face oil. For acne, you can opt for topical acne medication or even retinoid.

2. In skincare, what does AHA mean?

By AHA, we mean the alpha hydroxyl acids. These acids chemically exfoliate and we can derive them from plant sources, like grapes, milk and sugarcane. Many products read these lactic, mandelic or glycolic and each is a reference to the AHA family.

These acids are quite beneficial for your skin because they remove the dead cells and break through the glue-like substance holding the dead skin cells to make way for new ones.

3. What are the best products?

There really is no way to call a product the best, considering how every skin type is different. What may work wonderfully for a particular skin type may not work the same for another. Your oily skin may not respond to a hydrating serum as well as dry skin would.

The only way to find the products that work best for your skin is through trial and error. Start with basic and gentle products and slowly discover what your skin needs.

4. How to cure acne?

This is perhaps the most Googled of all skincare questions because acne is a widespread skin condition. Truthfully, there are dozens of different treatments and products for acne. The best approach is to visit a dermatologist first and come up with a solid plan for your acne treatment.

Also ensure you routine includes washing your face every morning and night and using chemical exfoliants like salicylic acid or glycolic acid  for exfoliation. You must exfoliate regularly with those to whisk all the excess oil away and prevent breakouts.

5. What is the best night time skincare routine?

The best skincare routine includes a good cleanser, a serum and moisturizer and a face treatment once or twice a week. This routine every night will suffice in keeping your skin in optimal condition.

In the end, it is important you talk to professionals about your skincare. Don’t count on the people around you and non-professionals for skincare advice. Whether you want to try a new product or are wondering how to get rid of a pimple on your face, let a dermatologist help you.

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Health & Home Wellness

Intuitive Eating – Here’s How to Start

intuitive eating

Intuitive eating is all about a non-diet approach towards your food. It focuses on building health-boosting behaviors rather than focusing on the scale.

It considers building a better body image and having a stronger connection with your food. Intuitive eating helps you make guided choices and acknowledge your internal cues. These include how you feel around food, fullness, and satiation after the meals and your cravings.

To help you transition smoothly to intuitive eating as a beginner, here is our short guide:

1.    It is not dieting

Intuiting eating is far from dieting, and you need to get rid of all those dieting jargon that promise quick weight loss. If you cannot rid your system of the belief in the dieting culture for weight loss, you will not discover intuitive eating freely.

2.    Hunger Acknowledgement

When you first feel the hunger pangs, do not ignore your body’s needs. It deserves to have sufficient carbohydrates and energy, and you must feed it adequately. When you underfeed or tend to starve your body, you reach a primal hunger state and end up overeating on impulsive food choices. Stop this!

3.    Social Media Detoxing

Stop allowing social media to glorify the thin and skinny physique of you. Thinness does not mean good health, but the idealized images have made this a perception.

You are better off without any source that promotes body dissatisfaction and a reed-thin figure.

4.    Don’t Apply Moralistic Value on Food

Part of living in a diet culture is how we tend to give it moralistic value. We associate all food items with guiltlessness and thinness or good and evil. When you categorize food as bad, you start depriving yourself of it and trigger biological cravings.

Do you know what the biological cravings result in? Binge eating, and then you go on a diet after that, and the vicious cycle continues. It is best to stop using moralistic terms for describing your food. Instead, try to eat everything in moderate proportions.

5.    Satisfaction factor

It would be best if you prioritized finding satisfaction from your food. When you’re eating, acknowledge the gift of existence and the bounty of nature before you. Be grateful for what you are eating and the abundance of food you enjoy. This will result in a high level of satisfaction and content after each means.

This will also help you discover just the right portion of food that brings this satiation level for you and the environment and setting you love to take your meals in.

6.    Make the Exercises You Love

In intuitive eating, you also need to change the way you work out. Instead of pushing your body for rigorous routines that the trainers insist upon, move the way your body loves. It doesn’t matter if the exercise is high-intensity or low-intensity; work out the way your body loves and finds comfortable.

Final Thoughts

Intuitive eating is all about forgetting the rigid, wrongly glorified dieting principles and forbidding foods to maintain a zero size. It is about eating freely and with gratefulness, in a way that benefits your wellbeing.

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Health & Home Wellness

Health Hacks – 10 Hacks That Prioritize Your Health

health hacks

Are you too busy to maintain a proper healthcare routine? No problem! We have ten health hacks to help prioritize your wellbeing, even when you’re too busy to do it yourself.

1.    Order Smartly

Alright, so you’re too busy to manage meal preps yourself. If ordering food is your only option, then the best thing to do is call smartly. Instead of opting for fried chicken and loaded fries on the menu, you should order an entirely veggie-based meal. You’ll get your nutrition portion while keeping the calories away.

2.    Carry Water Always

This much can fit in even in the busiest of schedules. Hydration is crucial for optimal health, and all you need to do is carry your water bottle everywhere. Choose as large a bottle as possible to carry so you don’t have to refill often. Install an app on your phone to remind you to drink water so you can stay hydrated.

3.    Find Healthier Food Services

 Instead of opting for restaurants, it would be great to contract food service for the month. You will find plenty who cater to special diets and prepare wholly nutritious meals. This way, even when you can’t cook or meal prep yourself, you know you’re only getting healthy meals.

4.    HIIT

If you can’t make time for a leisurely workout, then opt for high-intensity interval training workouts. This requires only fifteen minutes a day but burns calories aggressively while building muscles.

5.    Nutritious Snacks

You can’t have meals on the go invariably with a busy life, but you can indeed have nutritious snacks. Pack up nuts, granolas, and whatever healthy snacks you can grab and carry around conveniently.

6.    Don’t Stress Eat

If you’re busy and hungry, you must still remember not to stress eat. Practice some breathing exercises and make them a habit so that you relax significantly before you begin chewing. No matter how demanding your routine is, stress eating never makes for optimal digestion.

7.    Use Technology

There’s an app for everything these days, so why not use one to manage your health too? Use an app that reminds you to have a glass of water, reminds you of its bedtime, reminds you to work out, etc. This might be the motivation you need in a day to give your health some attention.

8.    Set a Boundary

No matter how ambitious you are, or how much of a kick you get from being a successful professional, you have to set a boundary. If nothing else, do it for the sake of your health. Do not let work overpower you to the extent where you neglect your nutritional and sleep requirements etc.

At the end of the day, you have life only if you have good health. Remember to prioritize your body’s needs before investing all your efforts, energy, time, and focus into work.

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Health & Home Home Improvement Wellness

Spring Clean Your Life: How to Do it in Just 30 Days

spring clean your life

More critical than cleaning your home this spring is to clean your life: de-clutter, let go, and replenish the good that you’ve lost over time. A detoxed, cleaner, lighter, and healthier heart and soul is highly beneficial for a better life.

Here is how you can do it all in just thirty days:

First Week

Begin the first week by prioritizing good health. Swap out unhealthy food items from your diet for whole foods and organic ingredients. Next, assess your financial status and eliminate all unnecessary and unfruitful expenses.

If you haven’t started working out, build a routine immediately and choose exercises you enjoy comfortably. Then, reorganize and clear your pantry.

Second Week

Check your emotional status and let go of emotional baggage that is weighing you down. Clean and transform your shower, try to stop complaining, and look at things more optimistically. Keep your finances on track, too, while reducing all unnecessary spending.

At this point, it would be good to survey your bank statements and cancel the recurring charges you don’t use regularly. Focusing on your financial security is as essential as prioritizing your health.

Quit social media channels that don’t make you feel good anymore or cause jealousy, frustration, and ungratefulness. Reorganize your closet, donate old clothes and also build a good bedtime routine.

Third Week

The point of spring cleaning your life is to let go of all the negativity that ruins the quality of your life. Bitter and negative emotions are prime examples, and in the third week, you must make an action plan for letting go of stress, anger, and loneliness from within.

Just as you’re letting all the emotional junk flush out of your system, simultaneously keep clearing the junk from your drawers as well. Start focusing on healthy home food and invest more effort into meal preps for the week ahead.

When you’re eating well and feeling healthy emotionally, too, life seems to feel a lot better. In case your mind is unable to let go of its burdens, try penning your emotions down onto paper. The therapy might help.

Fourth Week

Now is the time to give your relationships an overhaul. It’s time to categorize your people into relationships you want to continue and enjoy and break out of toxic burdensome and feel like an emotional trap. If it takes reducing your circle to keep only the good ones in life, then go ahead and do it.

Also, take your exercising regime a level higher this week. Go for sweaty cardio and steam showers after, deep clean your rooms, fill free time with stimulating hobbies and improve your skincare routine. By now, you have undoubtedly saved enough to invest in non-toxic and beneficial skincare products.

Start converting some areas of your home into tech-free spaces, filling them with indoor plants and greenery instead. Spread a purifying vibe across your home this week.

Final Thoughts

With our clear and precise guide, you can spring clean your life quite effectively in just thirty days. From feeling accessible emotionally to living in a clutter-free, green home, you’ll love every aspect of your non-toxic and reorganized life.

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Health & Home Wellness

Maximize Your Workouts With These 7 Secrets

maximize your workouts

When we invest precious time from our hectic lives into a workout regimen, we expect the most out of it. But is time enough of an investment to maximize your workouts? We think not.

You need a few more essential elements to get the best out of your sessions. Here are a few secrets from a personal trainer.

1. Outline Your Goal

When you’ve decided to adopt an exercise regime, you need to build a final goal to motivate you through the journey. Otherwise, you will work out aimlessly in the absence of a health or wellness goal. You will also lack drive.

A goal will motivate you to test your limits and not break your workout commitment on even the busiest days and most arduous exercises.

2. Assess Your Medical History

Before you form a fitness plan, it is best to understand your body’s needs. Assessing your health history will help you identify your goals and your limits. After all, a fitness program’s ultimate goal is to fine-tune your body and get you in optimal health.

3. Warm-up

Never underestimate the effect of a dynamic warm-up. It prepares your body for performing its best during the exercise sessions while reducing your risk of injuries. Warming up is essential to maximize your workouts because it ensures sufficient oxygen for the muscles and increased flexibility to prevent injuries.

4. Go for Variety

Instead of sticking to a rigid workout routine, it is better to develop a flow of exercises for the week. When you add variety, you find your workouts more fun and reduce putting continuous strain on your muscles at a certain angle.

A combination of strength training, high-intensity cardio, and barre classes for your muscles is the best regime.

5. Purposeful Eating

Once you get rolling at the gym, remember your fitness efforts must continue everywhere beyond the gym too. Whenever you’re preparing your meals, most significantly, though, ensure that each food contains a significant nutritional value.

Whatever you consume must serve a substantial nutritional purpose for the body, converting into fuel for your workouts.

6. Form Focus

It is crucial to focus on your form if you wish to maximize your workouts. The extra energy from the proper form helps you give the extra push while ensuring that your movement is beneficial. With improper form, you are more prone to injuries because you tend to target more unintended muscles.

With good form, you jump higher, run faster, push harder and be more agile.

Final Thoughts

To maximize your workouts, you need to perfect many other elements than just devoting time to the gym. From conscious, purposeful eating to coordinating your muscle and mind connection, it takes more than one ingredient to achieve your fitness goals.

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Health & Home Wellness

At-Home Wellness Treatments – 6 I Tried and loved

at-home wellness treatments

From saving you tons of money to keeping you safe from public interaction, our at-home wellness treatments ensure that your lockdown experience feels like you’re on vacation. Here is how you can pamper yourself with spa-like luxury without having to spend tons of dollars on wellness treatments.

1.    Steam Facial

You can get glowing and clear skin with simple tools at home. Steaming is a classic at-home wellness treatment that makes your face look instantly brighter and radiant. All you need is to fill a bowl with hot water and wait till it cools very slightly.

Once you’re sure it will not burn your skin, add a few drops of your favorite essential oil, lean over the bowl and cover yourself with a towel. Make sure the towel drapes from your head to chest level to keep the steam from escaping. Pair this treatment with a moisturizer, toner, or clay mask for the best results.

2.    Mask and Bath time

Another at-home wellness treatment I love is combining my bath-time with a luxurious mask. I try to throw some rosemary or aromatics into my bathwater that help my muscles and my senses uncoil and relax.

Then, I lather on a glow mask while soaking in the scented bathwater. When you step out, you’ll feel like a royal woman, alright!

3.    Body Scrub

Exfoliate your body and uncover radiant, glowing skin by combining olive oil and brown sugar. If you like, you can mix in some honey as well as an orange essential oil. Scrub your entire body with this mixture in circular motions, more in the elbows and other rough areas.

4.    Deep Hair Conditioning

This at-home wellness treatment makes my hair shiny, lustrous, and utterly lovable each time. It’s my go-to natural conditioning treatment with simple ingredients that are always in stock in my pantry.

To give your locks a new life, mash an avocado and apply it directly onto your hair. If you want a more protein0packed mask for your mane, combine the mashed avocado with a beaten egg and leave it on for 15 minutes.

Then proceed to rinse off with cold water and your regular shampoo and conditioner. You’ll never find frizzy hair again.

5.    Candlelight bath

I’m sure candlelight dinners with your partner are magical but have you ever luxuriated in a candlelit bath too? Trust me; you’ll find this an out-of-the-world experience. Light a couple of perfumed candles around your bathtub, add a few drops of essential oil into your warm bath water, and sink in.

You’d never want to get out of this magical space, I promise. As for wellness? Tell me if all your aches, pains, and anxieties don’t melt away with this magic you create in your bathroom.

6.    Eye Treatment

Your eyes deserve as much pampering and attention as your face and the rest of your body. Give your irritated, dry, or puffy eyes some relief with a soothing and refreshing at-home wellness treatment. The traditional cucumber slices and chamomile tea bags cool the eye area while potatoes also soothe puffiness.

As with all other wellness treatments, I recommend putting on some slow, relaxing music and light some scented candles. Then lie back and cover your eyes with chamomile tea bags, potato, or cucumber slices and unwind completely.

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Health & Home Wellness

Secret RF Microneedling vs. Laser Scar Removal

microneedling vs. laser scar removal

Microneedling vs. laser scar removal are two of the most effective skin spa treatments catering to different issues such as stretch marks, wrinkles, lines, and more. Laser scar removal has been in the mix for a while, but is the Secret RF Microneedling more effective and worth it? Well, to find out, you must read this article and learn which treatment will help address your specific skin issue better. Both microneedling and laser scar removal have different types of treatments, which is why it might get confusing for you to choose the right one.

Microneedling vs. Laser Scar Removal

Both these treatments have some major similarities, but both give different results depending on the issue you face. One of the main similarities of both these treatments is that they use “dot therapy.” Dot therapy helps treat specific affected areas as this allows all the surrounding tissue to support and keep up with the healing process. When undergoing any of these treatments, you will see a wound on the skin that naturally triggers the healing process.

If you plan on using any of these treatments, you will need to get it at least three or more times for effective results. Then, you will see major skin upgrades. Both microneedling and fractional laser treatments treat acne scars, stretch marks, lines, and wrinkles. As you can see, there are many similarities between both these treatment types, but when it comes to laser stretch mark removal, only one of these is the best option.

Laser Stretch Mark Removal

Stretch marks are a very common occurrence in women and some men as well. They are a result of sudden weight gains, pregnancy, use of corticosteroid creams, and puberty. Sometimes, stretch marks become so prominent that they turn red and ruin your skin appearance. If you don’t like the appearance of stretch marks, you can get a laser treatment to fade them.

The Best Treatment for Stretch Mark Removal

The best FDA-approved treatment for stretch mark removal is Microneedling, especially the radio frequency kind. Though Microneedling Vs. Laser scar removal is effective; Microneedling gives far more effective results in diminishing stretch marks. There are many advantages of getting a laser procedure using the Microneedling treatment for your stretch mark. These cater to a more significant reduction. The fractional laser treatment is entirely safe and adjusts to all skin types.

The Microneedling treatment includes modified ways to tighten skin tissue better, allowing the stretch marks to diminish faster and effectively. Other than treating stretch marks, the Microneedling treatment also helps in treating acne and is very good for the whole body and neck specifically. Hence, you achieve an all-rounder effect with the help of the Microneedling treatment.

What Is The Benefit Of Using Secret RF?

The Secret RF treatment is a Microneedling treatment that helps eradicates stretch marks, fine lines, wrinkles, scars, and extra skin on the body. The Secret RF treatment successfully manages to target these issues through the use of insulated needles and radiofrequency energy that helps create heat in specific areas.

 This type of treatment helps increase collagen production, improving your overall skin appearance. According to the Cosmetic Surgery National Data Bank Statistics Reports, secret RF treatment has increased by 99.5% over the recent years due to its remarkable success rates. Some of the main things that Secret RF targets and improves include wrinkled skin, acne, scarring, and sun-damaged skin, stretch marks, and fine lines.  Mentioned below are the benefits of using secret RF treatment.

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Children Family Health & Home Wellness

Don’t Live Alone? 10 Ways to Carve Out Me Time

In Need Of Alone Time

Not every one of us is fortunate to own or rent our own space. Sometimes, family obligations and cultural values force us to live in a family system, while environmental factors such as the pandemic and others force us to move in with family or roommates, instead of living alone.

No matter what the reasons may be, it can get entirely frustrating when you just do not get any time for yourself. Devoid of peace and quiet, one cannot survive calmly for long. So how can you carve out alone time for your own sanity when you don’t live alone?

Here is how:

1.    Communicate Your Need for Peace Clearly

Emphasize how you need peace and some alone time. Of course, if you’re dealing with family or friends, you need to set the boundary very gently without hurting feelings. You can make a weekly routine where you spend some time in a solo activity, like writing your journal, etc. Let others know not to interrupt you then.

2.    Boundaries

Set a physical boundary that helps you withdraw to a secluded corner, even if for only a few minutes in a day, to enjoy that much needed alone time. It could be your reading corner, a desk, or even a Prayer place.

3.    Plan a Solo Outdoor Escapade Every Weekend

Whether it is a close-by park or a hiking trail, or even a trip for groceries, make sure you plan one trip every Saturday or Sunday alone.

4.    A Daily Stroll

This is a great idea because it will not only keep you physically fit but also give you much-needed free time. A jog every morning or a leisurely stroll alone in the evenings is a great idea.

5.    Stop By at a Café on Your Way Home from Work

There are days when you are lucky to have a lesser workload. In that case, try not to return home directly but rather stop for a cup of coffee at a café for a breather and soak up all the moments alone.

6.    Early Mornings

The best time to grab some alone time is to wake up before the others. It’s not easy, but it’s worth it. Imagine the silence and tranquility when all else are asleep, and you can just relax without intrusion.

7.    Early Bedtime

Similarly, going to bed early is a great way to spend some me-time too. If nothing else works, an early bedtime routine during the week can give you some time to run through your thoughts alone before drifting off.

8.    Date Nights or Happy Hours

Although it may not be alone time, do not hesitate or feel guilty to plan these. It’s okay to grab some special time without the presence of your family or your roommates. A date with your pals or happy hours with colleagues is a treat you deserve every once in a while.

9.    Practice Solitude

Even when you’re living with a crowd, you can practice alone time. It requires some skill, but soon you’ll be able to withdraw emotionally and mentally from the others. Choose a quiet corner during family dinner times or others and try not to contribute in conversation. Focus on your thoughts while trying to block out the sounds around you.

10. Volunteer for Errands

Does your mom need something from the farmer’s market? Has the family pet run out of its stock of biscuits? Volunteer to run outdoor errands if you can manage them. This could be a great way of being by yourself, away from the people at home.