Whether you’ve just got out of a relationship, moved out of your parents’ house, or no longer have a roommate, it can be challenging to live alone. Being used to having someone to interact with on a daily basis. Someone you can share dinner with and talk about how good or bad your day was with them.
Now, you are unsure of what you are supposed to do by yourself when you get home each day. This gives you the feeling that something is missing. Loneliness can take over, making you feel sad and sometimes depressed.
Now that you live alone, you don’t have that extra help cleaning up the house or cooking dinner like you did before. Having to do everything on your own now: groceries, paying all of the bills, and even having to take care of yourself when you get sick.
It sucks having to take care of yourself when you are sick too. Instead of being able to stay in bed all day to rest, you have to get up to make yourself food. This may take a while depending on how ill you are feeling.
Being in the house alone day in and day out can put you in a bad mood on the regular if you let it. What are you supposed to do with yourself now?
Here’s how to live alone and be okay with it:
The Plan for Living Alone
– Create a routine and stick to it.
Creating and sticking to a routine helps because it gives you something to look forward to while keeping you occupied each week. It keeps your purpose on your mind and distracts you in a good way from the fact that you do live alone.
Pick certain days to get your chores and errands done, do your hobbies, and a day to wind down and relax.
Sticking to your routine is important. It helps you stay organized and on track to make sure that you get everything completed in a timely manner. This allows you to have some fun on the weekend instead of rushing trying to get all of your errands done at the last minute.
A good thing about living alone is that you don’t have anyone to distract you from getting things done. Create some new goals or revisit your old ones. It will be much easier for you to stay focused and keep progressing.
– Stay in contact with friends and family.
Keep in touch to stay connected with those that are close to you. Be sure to call and text them on a regular basis. Use this time to talk about your well-being and anything new with you since you can’t do so as often with anyone now that you live alone.
Making plans for regular outings so that you are around others helps when you are feeling lonely. Invite a few of your friends to join you for dinner at a restaurant that you guys haven’t tried before. Food and conversation have always been great combinations.
Setting a day aside on the weekend to do something fun with your family, of all ages is good too. The zoo, museum, or amusement parks are all great places for you guys to hang out while everyone has a good time. Can’t go wrong when spending quality time doing activities that everyone can enjoy.
Living alone creates that push from you to reach out to others more than you have before. Maybe life got busy and you couldn’t think of anything or anyone outside of that. Now, you have the time to get back in touch with your loved ones and connect again.
– Get to know yourself again.
Spending most of your time with others can make you lose sight of your relationship with yourself. This is because you pick up the living habits of those that you lived with without even realizing it. No longer making the time for and doing the things that you used to enjoy.
Now that you live alone, you notice that you never really cared to spend 2 hours watching Netflix on a Saturday. You would rather be at the mall walking around while checking out the new shoes that are in season.
Use this time living alone to reflect on your life and make some changes if needed. Reevaluate your goals to get an idea as to what your next steps should be. Get back into those things that you did before living with someone that makes you happy.
– Take up a new hobby.
This is a great distraction when you are feeling lonely and a way to meet new people! There are tons of groups and clubs out there that you can join, no matter what you like doing.
What’s even more convenient, you can find most of these groups online to reach out and speak with some of the members before going in person. For those of you that aren’t good at meeting new people, you can look at these tips.
If you are into fitness you can get a gym membership and take some of the classes that they offer there (Zumba, CrossFit, cycling, etc). These classes are always motivating and fun at the same time. Get your sweat on and connect with others while you do it.
If you love board games, host frequent game nights each week. Provide the games and everyone that comes can bring the snacks! Game nights are always a great time for excitement, laughs, and getting closer to your friends and family.
– Take yourself out.
This may sound strange, but self-dates are the best! It’s a great way for you to enjoy something by yourself and be okay with that. There will be other people out alone as well, so you are not the only one.
Taking yourself out on a date helps you connect with your inner self. Make sure that you dress up as if you are going out with someone else, embracing your beauty and feeling good about yourself.
A great self-date could be checking out a comedy show or a concert. Treating yourself to a pedicure or a massage is a great option as well. It is definitely possible to have a good time with yourself, try it!
When you live alone, it can make you feel a little down and out. However, you are not alone after all! You have your friends, family, and yourself whom you will get to know more and more each day.
Also, getting back into your old hobbies and activities that you did before living with someone will help. No more Netflix on Saturdays, you get to go shoe shopping! Focus more on things that you need to get done and goals that were put on the back burner for a while.
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