By Amy Hirtenstein, 2nd Yr, Philosophy & Theology
Okay so the rise of the ‘that woman’ pattern has taken over social media and has remodeled my cellphone right into a Pinterest wormhole that nobody can escape from.
For these of you who don’t know what I’m speaking about, ‘that woman’ is a pattern on social media that has skyrocketed aesthetically pleasing productiveness into the foreground of common apps akin to Tik Tok and Instagram.
‘That woman’ wakes up at 6 am (on the newest), places on her matching lululemon exercise match, drinks a wholesome juice alongside a glass of lemon water, meditates, goes to the gymnasium, and eats numerous inexperienced greens all earlier than finishing every week’s price of to-do lists earlier than 9am.
I, like many different younger individuals on social media, in the end watched this pattern and believed that the best way I used to be dwelling my life was inadequate. I felt like I used to be missing a ‘degree 10’ model of myself that appears and feels unimaginable, is insanely productive and doesn’t wish to cry 90% of the time.
So, I gave the ‘that woman’ routine a superb go. I set my alarm for 6am and adhered to a strict morning routine. This morning routine consisted of:
- A morning meditation
- A giant glass of lemon water
- 20 minutes of train
- Journaling
- 10 pages of studying
I want I may sit right here and inform you I didn’t really feel higher afterwards and that I felt depressing, however for the primary week, I felt the most effective I had in years. However- right here is the primary subject with poisonous positivity and the ‘that woman’ trend- it in the end isn’t sustainable and the narrative used to sort out self-improvement is extremely poisonous.
Life received in the best way of my morning routine!
I received a part-time job at a bar and that consisted of late nights and exhausted mornings. I used to be sleeping in till 10 am and actually struggling to proceed feeling like a productive particular person.
However then I took a second and thought of it. I used to be working 8 hours a day. I used to be dedicated to leaving my home daily and doing one thing that’s productive for me. I simply didn’t acknowledge my productiveness for what it was as a result of it didn’t are available in a fairly package deal of dawn hikes and inexperienced juices.
So, I ditched the 6am wakeup however saved among the routines that I knew made me really feel good, such because the 20 minutes of train a day and my 10 pages of studying.
When a pattern emerges via the lens of social media- it’s typically related to aesthetics. However self-improvement is inherently ugly- morning exercises are sometimes accompanied by sweat, early wakeups may be crusty eyes and a puffy face and morning juices can typically have pulp. Self-improvement can embrace forgetting to set your alarm, and taking a time without work if you want it. It could actually embrace 2 weeks of doing nothing to enhance, earlier than deciding to start out yet again.
College will not be simple and does observe a predictable nine-to-five. The nights out may be any night time of the week and never each night time is accompanied by an affordable bed-time. College lectures can overwhelm you- cleaning juices can really feel costly and if you’re drunk- the tacky chip van man can present a brief consolation.
Once you really feel the necessity to conform to a super degree of positivity and productivity- it doesn’t permit for errors, failures or genuinely feeling depressing (all of which is totally regular at college.)
My recommendation for setting a super routine for college is to be extremely variety to your self. Decide 1-3 habits you wish to incorporate into your life- whether or not that’s a chill Wednesday in, an everyday train routine or meditation. Then permit your self to utterly neglect about it each infrequently, and don’t affiliate these habits with self-doubt or self-hatred. BE KIND. College is about being younger and whether or not you get up at 6am or 6pm, it doesn’t make you higher or worse than anybody else.
Life is filled with messy moments, failures and meltdowns and that’s okay! It’s so rather more than an identical exercise set and beautiful salads. Attempt to deal with maximizing your personal happiness, it doesn’t matter what that appears like.
Photograph by Sarah Gualtieri on Unsplash
