Digital Media Strategy
Digital Media Strategy
Waking up every day can turn into a chore. It’s 8 am, the alarm goes off, and you’re abruptly awoken to begin another day, a day that may or may not end badly, but will be full of labor nonetheless. You have options every day you wake up and that alarm goes off. In that split second moment, you have a decision to make. Will you turn that alarm off, roll over, and pretend it never went off? Or will you heave yourself from your sheets and start your day?
Waking up in general is rough, but this is moreso about mentality than morning grogginess. From firsthand experience, waking up and getting out of bed in the morning sucks exponentially more when you feel like you’re wasting your days away; as if nothing really matters. You know you should get up, but why bother? And thus, the day wastes away, and you’re left with nothing but the bitterness of missed potential and self-loathing. The fact it’s dark outside doesn’t help with the guilt, either.
How do you break this cycle? There is not one answer, nor is it easy or fast. Just like you have a decision to make when you wake up in the morning, you also have a decision of whether or not you want to help yourself get better. Once you make that decision, you can begin slowly working yourself into a better mindset, and one that allows you to easily make the choice to wake up in the mornings at that.
I’ve struggled for almost a decade with this sense of hopelessness. It can become overbearing, like you’re Atlas trying to lift the world with every step you take. You will not be free of the weight immediately, and progress isn’t linear, but you can try and slowly change your mindset. If schoolwork and other stressors are making it hard for you to manage in your life, you can start by taking a step back. Sometimes, it’s better to accept that things may get turned in late, or you may get a lesser mark rather than working yourself sick under the already crushing mental pressure you’re facing. That type of anxiety weighs on the body, mind, and soul. Take it slow. Write it all down, and go down the list one by one. You’ll find it’s easier and less stressful to handle things in a small portion rather than rushing to push all of it out at once. In my opinion, I’d rather turn things in late so I can work on them with a better mindset than feel the worst I’ve ever felt and work myself to the bone. If you think working under stress doesn’t affect the output of your work, you’d be wrong, by the way.
When you let go of things you can’t control, such as work being late and getting a lesser mark, you allow yourself a chance to breathe again. After letting all of it go, and coming to peace with the work I’ll have to slowly do over the next few weeks, I’ve had a chance to let myself heal a bit. I’m still in recovery, and who knows how long that will take, but I know that right now I’m stable and becoming more effective. I can wake up in the morning again. I can give myself a chance. I can see things I know I don’t notice or care about when I feel my worst.
Have you ever just sat outside and done nothing? Maybe just sat down on a bench and watched people and nature go about their business? I find it therapeutic in a way I find hard to explain. The trees, the grass, and the wind; they create a very special atmosphere for me. When people say that things are more beautiful when you have the peace of mind to enjoy them, they mean it. Never has going outside and doing nothing felt so nice then when I’m in the proper state to really enjoy it.
The trees are beautiful, the grass is beautiful, and the wind is beautiful. The sun, as much as I hate it (a personal grudge), is beautiful, too. So are the clouds in the sky and the squirrels on campus. Life is beautiful- and you’d never hear me say that if I didn’t try. Try to get better, try to see things from a different perspective. I’m trying. I know I’ll succeed, too. The weather is perfect today. I might just go sit outside.
