It’s coming up to that time of the year when we feel pressurized into making some New Year’s resolutions. It becomes so overwhelming just thinking about what you “should” pick. Plus add to that the pressure to succeed or feeling like you are failing yet again when you don’t. By the way most people don’t succeed at New Year’s resolutions.

Take the pressure off and instead of making a ton of resolutions you know you’ll give up on, just make one. One small change in your already busy stressed life will have a better chance of success than trying too many all at once. I’m going to suggest one example but you may decide on something else.

Watch What And Who You Are Listening To.

Mute your Social Media notifications and the news notifications during the day. Once you turn off those notifications on your devices you have succeeded. Instead have set times, and for how long, you will engage with these things during the day. This can be harder than we think, as our mind and hands will wander over to our phone to just check on things.

If you want to reduce your stress levels then one way is to reduce the amount of interruptions and distractions we get from social media during the day. These notifications can not only disrupt our time with our families, friends, and work we need to do. But they supply us with information over load and keep us addicted to our devices.

Social media apps and the news alerts also increase our anxiety levels particularly as they are predominately negative. Muting your devices and turning off the TV or radio in the background, doesn’t mean you never get to hear and see what is going on. It just means you get to take back control over the when and how much of your time you will give to social media and to watching or listening to news items.

So What Can You Use Instead?

If you find that you have a void to fill and needs something than I suggest you look for something more positive to fill the gap. Try and find something positive to listen to such as: positive podcasts, audio books, relaxation app, or create your own uplifting or relaxing playlists to listen to as you work or relax.

Reach Out For Support.

Remember you are allowed to ask for support. No one is an island. In fact I would strongly advice you make sure you create a positive support system before you start to make any changes in your life. One part of that positive support system is working a therapist. Please reach out to a local therapist if you need to.

My Workbooks

I offer a variety of tips and discuss a range of topics in my workbooks The Building Blocks Of Self-Care, Moving Towards Self-forgiveness, The Little Book Of Reflection And Gratitude and Building Acceptance Into Your Life. You can purchase them on Amazon or here.