Good morning and happy Wednesday everyone! I truly hope this post finds everyone in a great place, or at least in a better place than they were yesterday. After all, today is a brand new day. Nothing from yesterday matters, unless you choose to let it. For this week’s post I wanted to share some of the habits I adopted in quarantine that I am actually glad I kept and still use every single day.
Moisturizing twice a day. Okay, I know what you’re thinking, “There’s no fucking way I have time for that.” And I get it, I thought the same thing too before I actually started doing it. Who has the time to get butt ass naked and rub lotion all over themselves not just once but TWICE a day? You mean aside from someone that’s in the house bored as hell you mean? Well…me. Because I make it a priority of mine. And that’s because I found a way to make it not so time consuming. I utilize the times I’m already naked (getting dressed in the morning and at night post-shower) to put lotion on so that I’m not going out of my way to strip just for this lotion to meet my crevices. But hey, you may opt to make it more of a ritual, which is fine too. All I know is that my cheeks have never been smoother in my life and you’ll notice that too.
Washing my face/sticking to a strict skincare routine: one question I get asked about all the time is how I have such clear skin, and it’s because I stick to a strict skincare routine and I don’t stray from it. It’s not complicated, all that matters is that I stay consistent and I have no problems. As I said the plan is very simple: wash my face the minute I get up, moisturize. Then wash my face before bed. No matter how late it is, how tired I am, or how much I might not feel like it, I make sure I have a clean face before going to bed. This has done WONDERS for my skin. I started this long before quarantine but it works and I’ve kept it consistent and it’s worked so hopefully it will work for you too.
Keeping a consistent sleep schedule: okay so maybe I fell off this when I started working evenings…but plan on getting back to this asap 🙂
Making sure I drank enough water. THIS MAN. I cannot preach this enough. All I did was make sure I drank A MINIMUM of one gallon of water a day, and my sleep, attitude, energy and overall feeling was SO much better. I know it can seem like a lot, but the hardest part (with anything new you want to make a habit) is starting. It helps to start early in the day and measure out the ounces in a shaker or blender cup, or any beverage cup that allows for measuring the water on the side. If you get anything out of this blog post let it be this: DRINK A GALLON OF WATER A DAY. MINIMUM. START DRINKING. This is 1,000 percent the most important healthy habit that everyone needs to adopt. Once you start hydrating properly you won’t believe how much better you feel, how much your sleep will improve, your skin and hair health will also be greatly improved by this, just go see for yourself!!!
Listening to podcasts. I don’t know why I haven’t been doing this my whole life but podcasts are amazing! I started listening to Joe Rogan, Call Her Daddy, Joel Osteen, various business, entrepreneurship and life podcasts. Starting the day with some informative, faith-based information or hilarious comedy from real-life people can play a big hand in setting the proper tone for the day: one of smiling, laughter, insight and even hope. Being in quarantined was horrible because many of us started to lose that sense of connection and belonging with other people. Podcasts are a great way to establish that sense of connection with the outside world and what is going on. Thousands of other people are listening to these podcasts and it’s a great way to establish a kind of community while being socially distant.
Finding random things to educate myself on. Bored? Go learn something! This is the first time in history where we have access to unlimited amounts of information at our fingertips thanks to the internet, and at ridiculously fast speeds. Utilize the tools that are right in front of you, I know there are so many things people say they would like to do if they had more time. Well, in quarantine, there is nothing BUT time, so start researching! Start learning how to play the guitar, master the different ways to crochet a blanket or dive into the world of stocks. The sky is the limit!
Journaling. Pen to paper, not blogging. just writing for me, no one else, what I’m feeling and checking in with myself at the beginning of every day to set my mind right, get rid of things that may be cluttering my mind that I just need to get out, anything. Setting aside five to 10 minutes for myself each day to center my focus and be with my thoughts really helped process the events that were going on with covid/the world/etc and see how I was really doing inside. You won’t know how you’re really doing if you don’t give your mind the chance to express itself and say what it needs to. Our minds have a way of suppressing feelings, thoughts, emotions to protect our minds, but if we don’t explore deeper and allow our subconscious minds to let out that inner fear, anxiety, etc., it might get trapped in our minds and just stew until it forms a greater problem that stems from those feelings.
Reading scripture. I have said this before and I will say it again, it does not matter what you believe in, just focus on it. I mean it, take time to really dedicate just a few minutes every day to growing closer to your faith. In addition to everything else on this list, it played a huge role in setting my mind right for the day and it helped me maintain an overall great attitude when being under lockdown.
Going days on end without makeup. When I say days, I mean it was literally weeks before I even was like wait, “I can’t remember the last time I put mascara on!” If anyone is having trouble with acne or doesn’t like the way their skin looks, it’s probably because they’re wearing makeup so much that their skin does not have time to rest. This really helped give my skin a chance to breathe and it was never clearer than when I was not wearing any makeup.
Not using excessive heat/products on my hair. This one goes without saying, stop damaging your hair if you don’t need to. Yes, it’s nice to dress up even just for yourself sometimes, but you are beautiful without it those curls or pin-straight hair. Take some time off from frying your hair like a chicken wing in my boyfriend’s air fryer and you won’t just come out of this covid madness with healthier skin but also much healthier hair! Who knows, you may even start to like your natural hair more once it’s a lot healthier.
Not washing my hair every day. When I say not wash my hair every day…I remember there was one week where I literally went 4 days without washing it (I know, CRINGE) but my hair was not greasy in the slightest…even on the fourth day! Our bodies went through an extreme change and adaptation phase from being so active and busy in the gym and daily life activities to literally sitting around and doing absolutely nothing at home. Our bodies are no longer excreting the same amount of oils and are starting to preserve those oils. I have heard over and over again it’s not healthy to wash your hair every day but it’s really hard when you’re active in sports or are really active in the gym. But not washing my hair when I didn’t need to during quarantine improved my hair health significantly. I highly suggest doing this.
Letting my mind wander. If you’re anything like me, you’re probably getting up everyday and immediately has this list of things that need to be done. No matter how menial the tasks, this list just seems to never end. One thing I noticed being locked up inside is that there would be points throughout the day while I’m are doing those things when my mind strays from those tasks and starts wandering, like when I’m at the grocery store to get milk and I see Baby Yoda anything. Surely it’s not related to what I’m there for but it catches my eye and I start thinking about it and the cool merch I should consider buying. I know I am not alone when I say this, we’ve all done it. But it isn’t long before my mind goes, “hey you, get back to the task at hand.” I shut off that creative flow of thoughts and never let it continue. One thing I’ve been working on is just letting my mind wander and think what it wants to, seeing where it goes, what ideas come up, what things I discover about myself and what I’m most curious or interested about. Rather than just trying to always stay focused on different things, I let my mind wander a bit and not disrupt the creative flow of thought. You should really try this, you might be surprised what comes out of it.
Thank you so much for reading this week’s thoughts from your favorite blonde! I really hope you enjoyed it and I hope some of these habits help you in creating a healthier, happier you as well! Don’t forget to subscribe before you go to get notified of my upcoming posts 😘
Talk to you soon!
XOXO
Kaycie
