stephyowl55

[stephyowl55]

Random pieces of advice

The world is less scary and chaotic if you lie down on the floor

Noticing different kinds of light (stars, candles, sunshine or city lights) can bring back the feeling of wonder and hope

If you can’t shower, washing your hands and face will help you feel better and cleaner

If you can’t clean anything else, changing and/or washing your bedsheets can do wonders

Fresh air and being outside in general can help with depersonalisation

Spending time around animals can help you recognise what’s important and calm anxious thought cycles

Techniques for emotional regulation in children can really help adults too

Putting random asortment of food on a plate without creating an actual dish still counts as a meal

Drink something warm

Delete that app

Treat yourself as if you were a kid. Buy yourself a toy, play around, learn about cool new things

Fast paced life isn’t morally better and it’s not good for everyone

There is no good reason to keep yourself hungry

Singing to your full lung capacity can be a great way to let out built up emotion

Tension in the face can cause headaches. Try to massage your face regularly

Nothing is as important as your health

You are a whole person on your own, you don’t need someone else to be there to deserve love and attention. Your life can be full as long as you are present

You should cry things out whenever you feel like it

Slow walks are still movement and they do count

It’s never as bad as you imagine it

Try changing your toothpaste flavor if you hate brushing your teeth

Anything can be a stim toy - one of my favourites is a heavy dragon necklace that has a complicated surfice. It’s fun to touch and hold and it’s not even “actual” stim toy

Procrastinating and feeling bad about it is true waste of time. Learn to truly rest. It takes the same amount of time but it is useful

Sometimes you have to force yourself to do the things that make you feel better

Don’t trust the thoughts you have after not sleeping for a while

Friendships don’t have to be forever to mean something

[stephyowl55]

9/18- Monday

Last week was INSANE. Glad not to be babysitting 24/7 anymore, but I actually rly miss the kids! Hopefully I'll be less of a mess this week though. I literally felt like a disaster all of last week, nothing felt together. Yesterday I had a reset day and took an everything shower and cleaned my room and bathroom and got my closet ready for fall. I think I need some more business casual pants because the ones I have aren't hitting; I nearly had a meltdown trying to pick out my outfit this morning. Maybe this weekend I'll try to thrift some and if I can't find any to thrift I'll go shopping. Maybe I'll buy a plant, too. I've earned a bit of a shopping day. Trying not to be a consumerist nightmare but sometimes it helps.

#academia #adhd #actually autistic #sunday reset

[stephyowl55]

Study session essentials

I’ve probably made a post like this before but I’m getting better at studying and so here are my tips on how to have a more effective study sessions. Keep in mind that I am neurodivergent and I can usually do 2 hours of work in 3,5 hours on a good day. I still procrastinate and struggle a lot, but these things help significantly:

Ambience of my current obsession - I love game background noise and ambient music. They keep me focused and entertained without distracting me in anyway. Recently I’ve been having a witcher 3 ambience or “walking in red dead redemption 2″ videos in my headphones

Open-back headphones - I have tinnitus and so noise canceling headphones are not an option. And for a while I didn’t want to wear any headphones until someone got me big open-back ones that don’t seal me away from surrounding noise and absolutely perfect

Putting my phone in a different room - Just put it away. The forest app or putting it out of reach/sight can be good options if you need your phone around but otherwise putting it far is the best option.

Specific study space - For me personally I have to sit at my desk. Studying on my bed or sofa is never as effective as I need

Clean space - Cluttered space means cluttered mind and worse I feel more easily depressed

A toy for my hands - I need to hold something, feel something, look at something. It helps avoid scrolling and it keeps me entertained while my brain does the hard work. It also helps with stimming if I get overwhelmed. I keep around rocks, palm sized plushies, small wooden hearts and animal figurines.

Paper for thoughts - I always have a piece of paper nearby that I scribble thougths, notes and tasks on. This way when I get an idea I just write it down and deal with it during my break. When I remember something I have to do or want to do, think an anxious thought or just need to scribble it goes on the paper.

Candle - I’m a bit afraid of fire and having a candle burning helps me stay in the room because I don’t like leaving it there burning. I like to pick weaker, clean smells like cotton or vanilla. Watching it burn can be very calming too.

Water/juice/iced tea - I always start with a full glass so I don’t have to get up and get water too often

Cup of tea - Besides having a glass of water I always have a warm cup of green or black tea

Snacks - I usually keep an apple or a banana around so I have to leave the room as little as possible. Hunger is usually a good excuse to leave and this is a great way to eliminate it.

Gum - Chewing is very calming for me which usually means I overeat just so I can chew. Sugar-free gum solves this well. I usually need only one since I don’t quite care about the taste as much as the act of chewing. Be careful not to have too many!

Hot water bottle - When I’m stressed and tired my face tenses up a lot and having something warm to put on my face helps a lot. It makes my muscles relax and I often avoid a headache this way.

Medication - I keep my asthma and anxiety meds around. Sometimes studying can really stress me out and it’s good to have those on hand

I hope you find these helpful and have a great day!

[stephyowl55]

9/10/23

looking forward to this week! tomorrow i start working in an elementary school. this whole week i'm a live-in babysitter which is wacky. how am i an adult? this week won't be a typical week, but i want to prioritize taking care of myself anyway. and next week i want to do a big old reset.

#actually autistic #mental health #mental illness #grad school #teaching

[stephyowl55]

June 2023

Canon T70 - Cinestill 800T

[stephyowl55]

Lockdown Moons, England 2020 | Taken from my bedroom window