5 Ways To Deal With Negative Self Talk

These days it feels like one of the most important people in our lives is truly ourselves. With all the social distancing that's been going on lately it can feel difficult at times to recognize just how important the way we talk to ourselves on the inside can affect the rest of our day but in all honesty it truly does affect it. Last night, I didn't want to be around anyone. I wasn't having that great of a day as I liked and spent the whole day moving from one home to the next. If you've ever moved before, you would know just how mentally and physically exhausting that can be. I knew it was time to call it a day because when night came I found myself saying a lot of negative words to myself that don't align with how I view myself personally as an overall productive and hard working individual. To combat these negative moments I have listed some ideas below that have helped me get over these difficult times.

1. Get Sleep:

This may seem like a no brainer but when you've had a rough day and missed out on a good amount of your plans for the day sometimes its best to have a nice little mental restart to get yourself back into your daily workflow. Don't feel guilty at all to shut off your alarm clock. You deserve as much rest that you can get in order to be mentally capable to take on your challenges the following day. If you think about it, if sleep makes us stay healthy and looking younger wouldn't you want more of it? Exactly. Take advantage of those sleep hours and get as much as possible without guilt.

2. Podcasts = Motivation

During these times of social distancing, it can feel easy to get lost in those negative self thoughts such as feeling not productive or lazy. It's important to always do your best to have a form of positive self talk happening in the background and I found podcasts to accomplish this very well. The words of positivity and motivation get me going to produce some of my greatest work especially as an artist. I find podcasts as a great source of learning especially since it's summer and most schools are out. Kids can also find value in podcasts too!

3. Habit Trackers

As usual, what gets recorded gets progress. Similar to games, we need ways to quantify the value we are creating for ourselves and also for the world so tracking your habits using apps such as Notion, Todoist, or my personal favorite Habitica, are great ways to remind yourself to make progress on your goals every day. These will further solidify your positive self talk by having numbers to back them up which will disqualify any possibility of negative self talk from coming to the surface.

4. Journal

I can't stress this one enough. If you're not journaling, you aren't completely taking account of your mindset and thoughts. I found some of my biggest breakthroughs through journaling my thoughts. Creating a gratitude journal will also solidify your positivity. I use the app Day One to log my entries in an organized manner. Create affirmations in your journal to once again solidify your positive self talk every day.

5. Follow Through With Your Schedule

This is probably the most difficult step but it's one of the main reasons why people feel unfulfilled or stagnant. It has been especially apparent in my life of feeling depressed due to not following through on plan I had made in advance to get work done. Cramming all your work and tasks for the end of the day is even worse so avoid procrastinating your plans as much as possible. Of course, if any of this interferes with "Step 1: Sleep" then that is fine because sleep above all, I would say is my personal mistake that I consistently make on a daily basis. I always tell myself I'll get more sleep and even make plans for it on my calendar but end up sleeping late anyways. Schedule your day before bed but please ensure you are still getting an adequate amount of sleep.

I hope you find something helpful here.