How to let go of your day
We live a life where we’re only given 24 hours in a day. In those hours we either have work or school for at least 8 hours of it. According to Clarke (2022), an individual's level of busyness may be heavily connected to their self-worth. We tend to overbook our day to have that satisfaction of saying “I've done this,” or “I’ve completed that”. We let our minds dictate that being accomplished means we reach a number of tasks to do within a day.
The act and process of letting something go is different for each individual. Sometimes it's easy to keep yourself busy with another task so it allows you time to process it later. Other times, it feels like a scenario repeatedly playing on and on in your head, trying to find the loopholes and what ifs that could have happened. The process of letting go entails accepting what is happening right now and not worrying about the next day (Ratliff, 2016).
Letting go is also more difficult when you feel as if you could have done something better. Whether a day turned out better than we thought or if it had a rocky ending, you’ve survived another 24 hours in your life. That’s something to celebrate!
Here are a few tips on how to let go of your day through both internal and external methods:
Do something that you love to do - whether you have a certain hobby such as baking or writing a song, maybe even just going on a walk to have a change of scenery. Do something for yourself just because you enjoy it. You never know it might help you to slow down and focus your attention to something else, rather than what could have been bothering you.
Talk to a friend or write down your thoughts - it’s not always easy to open yourself up to others, especially when you feel like “everyone has their own daily grind problems”. What I find helpful to do is to write out how I felt when something bothered me throughout the day. It helps me to process it on my own first and then proceed to talk to a friend once I’ve had the time and space on my own. On the other hand, talking to a friend right away might also help because it allows you to be open and to share with someone you feel safe with. Every now and then it's good to just speak about how you feel (but make sure that they are also in the head space to listen to you) and they might even help you process things along the way.
Set time to wind down - we’re all guilty of trying our best to stay productive even if we already feel tired. Try to set time to wind down, to allow your body to breathe. You could do this by getting into comfy clothes, have some hot tea or iced tea and just relax, maybe even put your favorite show on or read a book.
Show gratitude to yourself - the day you’ve had might’ve been tough or it might have gone great. Remember you can cheer yourself on just the way you cheer other people on. Tell yourself, "I like the way I started my presentation today.” or “I am grateful for the morning bus today because I was able to have a seat.” By reminding ourselves of things we are grateful for, we set the tone of our day that no matter what happened, you are here, alive, breathing and doing what you can!
Take time to breathe and just be - lay down on your bed, go to a park and take a seat on the bench or even just take mindful breaths on your commute home. There’s this technique called the 54321 method used to calm anxiety and it’s a technique that I find myself going back to when I need to ground myself or to just breathe.
What are 5 things you can see
What are 4 things you can touch
What are 3 things you can hear
What are 2 things you can smell
What is 1 thing you can taste
Letting go of your day will vary, sometimes it might be easier to process what went on during the day and other times it may take a little more effort to remind ourselves that we will be okay. These 5 methods that I’ve shared are just a few things that can help you to process things. At the end of the day, you are important and you do what is best for you.
—
References:
Ratliff, J. (2016). To Anyone Who Struggles With “Letting Go” https://medium.com/personal-growth/to-anyone-who-struggles-with-letting-go-ed5bf12fb1e6
Suarez-Angelino, L. (2023). The 54321 Method: Benefits & How to Use It https://www.choosingtherapy.com/54321-method/
Clarke, J. (2022). How Constantly Being Busy Affects Your Well-Being https://www.verywellmind.com/how-the-glorification-of-busyness-impacts-our-well-being-4175360