Christmas season: nobody has a fucking clue what’s going on. What colour is broccoli? Can you eat Shreddies with Gin? Is it true that 6am exists? Anything resembling a routine usually goes out of the window from roughly the 20th December until sometime in January. I threw out my usual bedtime, my diet, exercise, all of it. I did however manage to binge the Witcher and complete Red Dead Redemption 2. I even managed to find the Saint-Denis vampire AND unlock the UFO Easter egg. Those are pretty much my crowning achievements of the festive season. I do wish I was one of those people disciplined enough to maintain a routine throughout Christmas, but I whisper to myself “life is all about balance” before I nail too many bottles of beer and douse everything in cheese. I also had a bit of a downturn in the old mental health precisely because I let one too many routines go- the really important stuff like taking a breather for a minute or saying no to alcohol in favour of a walk or dare I say a trip to the gym. To me those are just two non-negotiables when it comes to my wellbeing. I like to sit and take stock of how I’m doing and I like endorphins. When I don’t do these things I start to get cranky, I get anxious and I stop being my normal self. I’ve started doing a couple of things to get myself back on track ready for the new year and because I’m a mental health blogger I’m about to give you a list. You fucking love lists and you know it.

A quick disclaimer before I start. I’m writing this list just as much for myself as I am for you. I am having a conversation with myself about what I need to do. It’s like I’m live-streaming the process of getting my shit together.

The definitive list of things to do to rescue your mind in the wake of new year madness

Step one: Get off your lazy arse

Go for a walk to the shop to buy more snacks (or beer), go for a run, go to the gym, do some squats in your living room and make your dog wonder what the buggery you’re doing. Just get up and do something, even if it’s a quick half an hour in-between two hangovers. I managed from the period of 20/12/2019 to yesterday a grand total of two gym sessions, two walks and a few games of aggravated pool. Not much at all, however I did drag myself to the iron paradise today for a grand total of 40 minutes. I achieved about as much as ice cube in a sauna would but it’s still been good to build that routine slowly. This leads me into my second point and this is where I stop mucking around

Step two: Start slowly

I’ll let you in on a bit of a secret: Star Wars actually forms a part of my worldview. Hear me out before you wet yourself! The Force always brings balance in the end, as if balance is the natural state of things. I think this applies to us. We need the right balance to keep us peaceful; go too far one way and you risk becoming stagnant. Go too far to the other and you risk burnout. Too many times I have tried jumping straight back into the ideal lifestyle I’ve had mapped out for myself and it’s proven too much. I’ve gone to the extreme straight away, not only did this make me burnout very quickly but I also began to compare myself to people who had perhaps enjoyed a more “successful” festive season than I. New year is the worst for this, when people share their success from the previous year and you sit contemplating after your first bottle of wine why your life is a sequence of blunder to blunder. Start slowly. One gym session a week, or two, whatever is realistic to you. Cut down the drinking in manageable bits. Take some time away from social media and reflect. Whatever you need to do to find your balance, you need to do it. This is the easiest time of year to compare yourself to others, but if you try to throw yourself in the deep end with a belly-full of mince pie, you’ll drown. Start off easy, and build strong foundations for the year.

Step three: Take a bit of time for yourself

This one caught me out big-time. I love spending time to myself doing things that enrich my life. Evidently part of that is spouting Star Wars philosophy! I love sitting around playing video games, listening to music, reflecting, daydreaming, you name it. Christmas can be stressful time for many of us I imagine because you’re having to whizz round seeing friends and family. You leave one and go to the next it seems, all the while you do start to feel a bit tired of it by the end don’t you? I suppose that’s part and parcel of Christmas, and truth be told it is wonderful seeing your loved-ones again and re-connecting. I live down in London nowadays and being able to reconnect with the people I love back up North is a treasured time. Just, your own headspace should be treasured too. It’s absolutely fine to end some conversations, cancel plans, cook some fresh food and just take some time for yourself. I meditated for the first time in about three weeks the other day and I could just tell I really needed the headspace and the downtime. I say this to myself just as much to anyone reading: check in with yourself and see how you’re doing.

Step four: Be kind to yourself

I had a moment this new year where I felt like I had moved backwards. A lot of this again came from comparing myself to other people, but I really felt like I’d somehow taken a step backwards. When I moved down here I started off in a housing situation which was far from ideal. I’d spent a lot of money to start a life down here and I felt that all I had to show for it was stress and a bit more belly than this time last year. I was more active last year, a bit thinner and more athletic. However, last year I wasn’t the teacher to 30 wonderful children. Last year I was in Oldham not starting my dream career. Thanks to the experiences I have had recently I know how resilient I am, what I can do to bring peace to my life and perhaps most importantly, I know what I need to do during tough times to ensure I remain healthy. I didn’t always achieve those things last year, but we mustn’t try to climb too many rungs on the ladder at once. Reflect on what you HAVE achieved, because there will be something. Reflect on what you’ve done, be proud of yourself for those things and then get planning what to do for 2020. Everyone achieves different things in different times and there isn’t a race to be anywhere in particular. Set your goals, respect your need for balance and be kind to yourself.

Those are some things I’m going to take with me into this new year. I hope you all have a year full of love, growth and success!

Nick.