Enjoying Your own Company

This summer has proven to be a challenge for me and my mental health seeing that I had to move to a new town for an internship. Not only is the job itself daunting, but I do not know anyone in the area and have been living on my own for weeks. It is tough working 40 hour weeks and not being able to have plans with friends on the weekends, but this summer so far has made me such a stronger person.

I have learned the rewarding skill of being content spending time with yourself. It is very difficult, especially with the presence of social media, to be okay with being alone. However, I have been able to learn a lot about myself in the process. I have been able to more clearly identify what triggers my anxious thoughts and how to avoid them by keeping myself busy. I have realized how much exercise helps with mental health. I have felt a sense of self-accomplishment for doing well on my own.

Spending a lot of time with yourself also will make you a better friend, partner, and family member. It helps you to appreciate those relationships that you have so much more, and it makes the times that you do get to spend with others that much more special. I have a relationship starting to build with someone from home and the distance has proven to be a struggle; however, this time away is going to make the time spent together that much better. It also has allowed for me to get to know myself and them better emotionally.

Some of the struggles, however, that I had with spending time alone is boredom. This is when my anxious thoughts begin to surface; the more idle time I have, the more time I have to overthink everything that is going on in my life. My best technique that I have been using to combat this is to keep myself productive. That way, I feel a sense of accomplishment and do not have the time to overthink. These productive tasks do not have to be labor intensive at all; for instance, I have started to read, go to the gym, cook, and go shopping to try to stay busy. I create a schedule for myself so that I am not left with my thoughts all day.

What ways do you turn spending time with yourself into a positive experience? How do you use alone time to become the best version of yourself? What have been some challenges that you have faced when spending a lot of alone time, and how have you combatted those?