SOVA Blog

by greekgirl

35 Things That Help You Relax: Summer Edition

June 6, 2022 in Be Positive

With the summer season in full spring, that can bring a lot of time on your hands! You may be off for summer break from school or even have more downtime from your job. I personally love the summer, not just because I have more downtime to pursue personal projects or summer-fun activities, but more so because I have a LOT more time to relax.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is drew-coffman-DzIt-fTYv4E-unsplash-300x200.jpgTaking time to truly relax and discover new “relaxation” pass-times is vital to truly relax, rest, and be more at peace. Not only is this great for your overall mental health, but this is also going to help you prevent burnout in the long run by identifying ways that assist you to relax. The list includes potentially some new ways to relax, along with some different durations of relaxing pass-times depending on what fits into your schedule.

 

35 Ways to Relax & Reset:

  1. Bath / Bubble Bath
  2. Walks
  3. Naps
  4. Reading
  5. Watch A Movie
  6. Puzzle
  7. Paint
  8. Color Book
  9. Meal Prep
  10. Cook a Recipe
  11. Yoga / Pilates
  12. Take a Fitness Class
  13. Meditate
  14. Sit on a porch & ponder
  15. Journal
  16. Visit a nature park / state park
  17. Bike Ride
  18. Make a list: of what you’re grateful for
  19. Stretching / Morning Stretches
  20. Get a massage
  21. Tan outside
  22. Declutter – light organization of space for a short duration (this helps to tackle a big mess more manageable)
  23. Listen to music
  24. Go for a drive
  25. Crossword puzzle
  26. Aromatherapy / Diffuser
  27. Gardening (yes this gives a lot of joy)
  28. Talk to a friend / Zoom Call
  29. Daydream
  30. Make a craft
  31. Listen to an audio book or podcast
  32. Do a face mask
  33. Browse your favorite store – without an intention
  34. Put a warm towel on your face while you rest
  35. Start a passion project you enjoy / would be second nature to you
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I’d love to see you try and pick a few items from this list to use as your default relaxation time activities. This is going to be great to include in your day-to-day schedule and alternate between activities. Most of these you may already do but consider turning it into a new change in behavior to take time for yourself to relax daily.

Are there any relaxing pass-times missing from the list you enjoy? How do you currently like to relax!

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by greekgirl

Summer Book List

May 6, 2022 in Be Positive, Educate Yourself, LINKS

I absolutely love to read and feel like it is the greatest way to take a mental health break and get lost in a book. Books are a great way to relax your mind, consider new concepts and tactics, and even self-help.

The following is a list of books I’d suggest reading, and some I have read, or am planning to read this summer. Let me know what books you would recommend, or have planned for this summer as well!

I personally, love to read books that educate me or are ways to let me grow as an individual. You may have a passion for another type of book, prefer a different genre, or perhaps even like audiobooks or podcasts better! That is all okay – I just wanted to promote some great reads for you to investigate, and show you different ways I like to recharge and reset my mind when I’m having hard times with my mental health.

 

What is on your reading list this summer? What do you like to do to unwind and recharge? Drop your recommendations in the comments below!

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by greekgirl

Taking Breaks When They Are Needed

April 19, 2022 in Educate Yourself

I want to share the importance of taking breaks and accepting when you need a break. We often overwork ourselves. And to be honest, that is totally okay! I always feel like I’m in a state of overworking myself, tired, anxious, and in the horrible stages of burnout. That is all before I started taking breaks and building them into my day-to-day routine. Breaks are a good way to switch your brain on and off from different tasks and practice self-care.

For example, let’s say you are slammed with homework, projects, studying, school clubs, side gigs, and a part-time or full-time job (that is a LOT). It can be difficult to squeeze everything into 1 day at a time, eat well, get enough sleep, socialize, and everything else on your long list of to-dos. Trust me, I’ve been there. I think the point I’m trying to make is that things won’t improve that much unless you prioritize yourself and take breaks (even a good 5-10 minutes between tasks).

In between different work tasks, I take a water break typically away from my phone or computer. Sometimes, I read a chapter of a book in between big to-do list task items, and on occasion, I may go for a walk outside around my neighborhood. Essentially, you can choose a break that fits your needs to give you a mental health boost. This is a great way to refocus as well and feel strong and empowered instead of burnt out when you wrap up your day. If you genuinely can’t fit in mini-breaks in your day, then I highly recommend taking a mental health day (for example, take the Saturday to yourself). This is a great way to prioritize yourself and any errands you have versus feeling burnt out by a long list of to-dos and tasks consuming your day.

Hopefully this is a reminder to take time to yourself and prioritize yourself a bit higher than you normally would 🙂

Do you take breaks? How can you prioritize this vital self-care habit? What else helps you combat the busy world?

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by greekgirl

Be Your Own Valentine this Year

February 21, 2022 in Be Positive

For the first time in a long time, I’m in a really good and healthy relationship with my current partner. As I am approaching Valentine’s Day, I think it’s important to not feel upset or self-pity at not dating or being in a relationship. Honestly, even just celebrating the day for self-love, or the good ole Galentine’s Day, would be ideal.

Valentine’s Day is about the general idea of sharing and spreading love. That includes spreading the love to your partner, co-workers, friends, parents, siblings, pets…but most importantly do not forget yourself. Consider the ways you can make yourself feel loved and special this year.

If you are someone who is always feeling burned out from work or school, you should consider enjoying the day going to the spa, taking a nice relaxing bath, or maybe even just taking the day to do whatever you wish you had time to do normally. As your own Valentine, you could cook yourself a delicious meal, take a fun exercise class, buy yourself an item you worked hard for, or really anything your heart desires.

Now, on to the best advice I only recently learned. Despite having a handful of holidays and special occasions we experience every year, every day we should be taking the time to love ourselves, say thank you for what our bodies and mind do for us, be gracious, be proud of ourselves, and most importantly celebrate our own wins.

Hopefully, this is your reminder that it’s great to use Valentine’s Day as an excuse to relax and show self-love. Although, every day should be your own mini Valentine’s Day where you express gratitude and self-care to yourself.

Do you think Valentine’s Day overshadows self-love and creates a fear of missing out or other negative emotions for those not in relationships? How can you practice self-love everyday?

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by greekgirl

Adjusting to Full-Time Life

January 12, 2022 in Be Positive, Educate Yourself

I am officially one week into working full-time after graduating college (I’m writing this blog post as of 1/8/2022), and ultimately I am feeling great and felt like I should share with others some things I learned and noticed. Graduating from college can be a really scary and sad time since you are uncertain how your after-college life will change, your friends may be moving, you’re suddenly working nonstop on a job you may ultimately love or hate, and so many new changes and experiences.

For me, I’ve been working over 50 hours a week since I started college between multiple part-time jobs, and side gigs – but now that I am graduated officially I am thankfully having no difficult time adjusting to the 9-5 life at the main job I have, and the same side gigs. There are a few things that literally within a week in of adjusting to a standard 9-5 that I absolutely love about being full-time – and honestly how I feel may change a few weeks in, but let’s hope the information I share helps you out if you are a soon-to-be graduate, or even maybe a younger student with years ahead of yourself.

Try to be strategic about work

I am so thankful that looking back on my college experience, I started an internship over 2 years ago (at the same company that I’m now full-time at!) where I worked 3 days a week, and that the next transition was a promotion to be 4 days a week, and then ultimately upon graduation being offered a full-time job to be 5 days a week. The reason I look back on this and I’m very thankful is because the working transition was honestly nothing for me to switch to full-time. A lot of my peers and friends explained how going from a college atmosphere of not working, and then bam you’re automatically expected to be 5 days a week (it’s a lot, and can be very stressful and draining). If you have even 6 months before officially going full-time, I 100% recommend seeing if you can increase your days or even hours slightly so it makes a smoother transition for you.

You have a lot of free-time

By not having classes, I literally have saved so much time for myself to pursue pastimes and hobbies I used to never have time for while in college. I love to read, paint, cook, and go to the gym, and for once in my life, I am actually able to do all these things every single day after work ends at 5 pm. Painting and reading make me feel so relaxed, and the gym helps me refocus or feel empowered for different parts of the week. You will learn how to use your new free time to better find yourself.

Develop & Find Hobbies/Pastimes You Enjoy

Maybe you don’t currently have a ton of hobbies and that’s totally fine! Going along with having more time is that you have time to finally do the things you always wanted to do. For me, I’m really excited to volunteer more since I used to do that in high school a lot on the weekends, so now I have the time to do more of that. I’m also looking forward to trying pilates classes which is something I have never done before, so it’s great to have time to actually do things I enjoy or want to try that I wasn’t able to before.

Make New Friends – You Have Time To See Them!

Already this week, I was able to go to a few happy hours with co-workers and with friends from high school. I feel like during college for me, it was definitely a different experience than most other people my age since I always worked a lot and lived at home as a commuter student – so this made things difficult to make friends. I’m really excited I have time now to focus on my New Year Goal to make at least two new friends this year. I started to use the Bumble “Friend” setting to talk to some cool potential friends to grab coffee with, along with talking to my boyfriend about meeting more couples for us to be friends with, or going to our church group to get more friends.

Care For Your Mental Health to Limit Burnout

Please please please, take this recommendation to heart – when you are full-time it can be SO EASY to get burnt out, stressed, frustrated, sad, depressed, you name it. I would know, I work as a consultant and work on challenging projects, tight deadlines, demanding clients, and more. Once you are full-time, unfortunately, most of us will be working for 30-40 years – so there aren’t many breaks during this time. It’s crucial to take care of yourself and find ways to create joy in your life to look forward to outside of work. This part goes back to having extra time to yourself to detox and unwind. Please consider taking a portion of each week or even an hour a day to refocus your mind once you are full-time. This is partly why I read and paint because it helps me relieve any stress I may have.

I’m so happy to be working full-time, and loving my new life I’m discovering and creating with that life event. It’s definitely an exciting time, and I’m looking forward to everything to come in the future!

Do you work full-time? What is your work-life balance like? When you first started working full-time, what was the transition like? For those who are still exploring their options for working after high school or college, what are some concerns you have about working full-time?

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by greekgirl

Loneliness In Your 20s

December 29, 2021 in Educate Yourself

I finally graduated college this December, a semester early, and even got offered by my current employer an offer to transition to full-time. My family is insanely supportive of me, I have a loving boyfriend, and honestly, I’m super happy with where I am in life and everything I worked for. Expect one thing that continues to lack in my life, and that is just the fact that despite the love and success around me, I feel utterly lonely. 

Now, I know what you’re thinking, and despite all the love around me between my family and boyfriend: “how do you feel lonely?” I feel lonely in the sense that I truly do not have any friends. 

I have around five friends from high school that I was INCREDIBLY close with. Although, between college years passing us by, and now I’m entering full-time work and adulting we are drifting further apart. These friends never reach out to me to see each other or make plans – and it’s a constant struggle. 

In college, I commuted to school, and always worked – so between that and a pandemic forcing me virtual this made things pretty much the same – I went all of college without really having any friends. 

I finally came to terms, and it’s a personal goal of mine for the new year of 2022 to make at least three friends, who can develop into close friends of mine. For 2021, I had a goal to foster relationships and actively date – and I was successful! I dated different people, put myself out of my comfort zone, and met the love of my life. 

I just feel like I’m missing this major part of my life, and it boils down to friends to talk to and make memories with. 

I honestly do not have any plan on the best way for me to make friends, but as of now I’d love any advice you have!

Here are a few ideas I have to meet new people:

My work!

I’m going to start going back into the office and every time someone wants to go out for drinks, lunch, or even coordinate an office event I’m going! My office has a common area with couches and kitchens, and I’m making it an effort to sit there as much as possible and strike up a conversation with everyone. 

Local Meetup groups

Thankfully, I’m in a large city and have been told local meet-up groups and networking events are a great way to meet new people with similar interests and make friends. I never had a friend who was 100% aligned with my interests and feels I need friends who at least have something in common with me.

My church, and the adult group I belong to

I met my boyfriend through the church, so I figured I might as well be-friend and talk with more of those people in order to meet more couples or even individuals to be friends with. Especially since the church I belong to coordinates so many events and has many volunteering activities it made sense. 

Now

Please in the comments let me know if this sounds crazy – but I heard they have a version of Bumble but for making friends?  I am all okay with trying this option, but if you did it before and had a bad or good experience please let me know!

I don’t understand how I don’t have friends because I am REALLY friendly and extroverted. I’m also considering just reaching out to people from high school or from college classes who live in my area to see if they want to grab coffee, lunch, or drinks. The worst they can say is no, and I’m really great about taking rejection where it doesn’t impact me – so why not?

Volunteering 

I love to volunteer, so I’d love to pick 1-2 places near me where I could meet more people my age to be-friend through volunteering. 

It’s okay to feel lonely in your 20s, and for me, I’m making it a major effort in 2022 to make more friends. I want to put myself out there and have more friendships and people I can trust in order to not feel so isolated, especially due to remote working, school, and the pandemic causing these negative impacts on me. 

Please let me know if you feel a similar way, or if you have ideas on how I can make more friends.

If you’re in your 20s, have you struggled in making new friends? What advice do you have, or what have you tried and succeeded in to make new friends? What are these friendships like, or how are they different, than friendships you’ve had from when you were younger?

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by greekgirl

Realizing When to Take A Break

November 23, 2021 in Be Positive, Educate Yourself

I’m coming up to the home stretch of the year, and for me, that means work is busy this time of year, I’m less than six weeks away from college graduation, along with a booming freelance business that has been very busy with order – on top of a busy social calendar. For me, I’m always the one to continuously overlook myself, and oftentimes I honestly can’t help myself to say “no.” Although, with recent stress levels through the roof, I’m deciding I need to take a much-needed break at the end of the year.

Yes, that is right – I am taking a 2-week break of no school, no work, and no responsibilities; that way I can totally reset, recharge, and get to refocus on myself and my goals for the new year. I’ve made a few blogs on here in the past that focus on goal-setting and creating boundaries, and honestly, I don’t feel like I always listen to my own advice. I think ultimately, I have a lot in my place, and I know the goals I want to set for myself in the coming year, but really want to use those breaks to create a plan of action to actually complete and reach those goals.

Even though college is ending, I really want to figure out my next steps on if I should go back for my master’s degree, and if so when. This would be a great time to tour the remaining local colleges’ programs I’m interested in, along with figuring out when to go back and decipher a timeline.

I also wanted to use this time to develop a business plan, strategy, and process for my side business since I legally want to make it into a real company to run on the side. This break would also be a great time for me to just sit down, think about what I want, and work out the details as well.

The overall point of this blog and kind of my rant is more so I feel like this break is a reward along with refresh to feel ready for the new year. I want to have everything in order, set myself up for success, and feel less stressed due to taking this necessary, and well-deserved break.

That being said, I 100% recommend taking a break if you able to, or try to at least find one day a week for you to totally unwind, relax, and recharge yourself that way you don’t burn out as I did. This is a huge proponent to mental health and how we treat our bodies, so do yourself a favor and definitely consider planning out breaks for yourself when you can.

Do you give yourself a break? How do you know when your body and mind need a break?

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by greekgirl

Understanding When You “Over” Work

October 5, 2021 in Educate Yourself

To be honest, I think that we all to a degree overwork ourselves in the sense that we focus too much on work, school, or something else that may be our livelihood, and then we lose focus or mental clarity, and then worst of them all produce bad quality work. I’m the first to vouch that the pandemic made me turn to work as an escape, and I thought I overworked before the pandemic, but unfortunately the pandemic made it get worse. I counted during the pandemic eight different jobs & side hustles I picked up and was working at the same time, and yes, the money and experience was great…but was it sustainable for my mental and physical health? NO! 

I wanted to write this article to just let you know that it is totally okay to take mental health breaks to figure things out. Although, the biggest eye-opener for me is to really evaluate what tasks you do in your life and ask yourself if the stress is oftentimes worth it. For example, I try to live a very stress-free life and identify triggers of stress, so maybe I should back off or put less time into something if it means it will pile on more stress. 

Every few months, I like to make a list of everything I actively have going on, and really sit down to evaluate it. If the activity gives me joy such as my full-time job – then great. I started going to church, and that has been a great portion of my time, so that stays. Although, maybe I see that the one side gig takes up so much time, but doesn’t produce me any money – then that should go or I need to better monitor my time spent doing it. 

I just have a big goal of not burning out, and I hope you feel the same for yourself. It can feel at young ages that we need to excel at everything and be all-stars at life, but please don’t beat yourself up or work 24/7 if it means you’re sacrificing your free time, mental and physical health, or impacting relationships. Please find a balance, and figure out what combination of time and activities produce you the most balance, happiness, and success.

Do you think you put too much pressure on yourself to work and be busy? Have you ever needed to cut or quit any clubs, classes, or jobs because of their impact on your physical or mental health?

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by greekgirl

Pursuing Passions Even When Your Busy

September 8, 2021 in Educate Yourself

This is something only for the past year since the pandemic started that I really tried to make more of an effort on: to make sure you’re pursuing activities and hobbies you are passionate about even when it feels like you don’t have time, and all in all that is to ensure you do not burn out from overworking and stress.

For example, even after a long workday, I enjoy coming home to cook dinner or try out a new recipe to spark some happiness and creativity into my day. Somedays I enjoy working from home and taking part of my lunch break to weed in my garden as well or pick produce. I think this is ultimately a good way to set aside at least one hour daily to devote towards your own happiness and wellbeing.

Oftentimes, when we get overwhelmed and stressed out, all we need is a small break and “me time” in order to revitalize our mental state, so it’s critical we find and pursue things we are passionate about, in order to better care for ourselves.

Here is a scenario from a friend of mine:

They graduated college and got thrown into working full-time at a new job. They also had a side business where they cut lawns a few days a week for spare money. In their free time, they LOVE to go to car shows, hang out with friends, draw, and even work on cars. They had long days at work, so the sudden shift to working full-time, balancing their new schedule, and fitting in everything became too much – that eventually they stopped drawing and working on cars for fun. This made my friend really stressed out and overwhelmed, and they even considered dropping their lawn business entirely. That is where I came in and recommended them to make a big effort to possibly say “no” to 1-2 engagements a week in order to buy back their time to enjoy their passions..which was cars! They took my advice, and now feel a lot more at ease and enjoy their life since they were able to gain back the passions that sparked and fueled their energy!

Please, I highly recommend making the time or finding the time in your schedule to have the ability to pursue what you are passionate about.

What is something that you are passionate about, activity or hobby-wise, that you look forward to each day or week? How do you make sure to prioritize the things you enjoy doing amongst the things that you have to do?

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by greekgirl

New Seasons Leads To New Schedules

August 17, 2021 in Educate Yourself

With the current month of August, and soon approaching September, means that the new academic semester or school year is starting up, or maybe you work somewhere. For me at least, I’m going to be working full time instead of part-time, and also am entering my final semester of college where I have classes to finish. This is all on top of balancing other life responsibilities, social life, and other extracurriculars. 

I bet a lot of you are in my shoes as well, and honestly it can be a lot and be very overwhelming. This is ultimately due to having to adjust to new schedules and flows that happen in life during different “seasons” is how I always put it. 

For example, for college and K-12 school, your season schedule is chunked into semesters or quarters, and each chunk of those is a different schedule. Typically these include different classes, work schedule changes, when you have free time, different interests change, and so many other factors. 

I try to make a mental plan of the soon approaching season to try and mentally prepare for what my schedule “could be.” That way, once the season starts I can almost test out my plan to see what fits my lifestyle best. For example, I know I have work during certain days and times, classes that can be taken any time – but then understanding work amount and due date schedules, and then filling in my time to make the best schedule for me. 

This is totally trial and error, and typically within the first two weeks of these seasons I test different things out until I catch a flow going during the two week adjustment period. Ideally, the best piece of advice I have is just making sure whatever you do is working for you mentally and physically. For you it may be times you eat, sleep, exercise, meditate, or journal. For myself, I personally know I need to do homework during a certain time of day or else I get unproductive, so I make sure to leave that time available to do it. 

Usually a new season brings sadness and dread since you have to say goodbye to the current schedule and flow you already worked so hard to perfect and adjust to, but now you have a few tips to aid you and ease you into the next season you are entering. 

I wish you the best of luck!

How frequently does your schedule change? How do you adapt to new semesters or schedule changes?

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