Self-care is super important to maintaining a healthy, balanced life and essential for keeping anxiety in perspective by managing your worries and stresses. Luckily for us, it’s insanely easy to practice self-care throughout the day if you know the right methods. It’s not all about face masks or just goin’ for it with that craving you’ve been having all week. You can even use your iPhone to add a little boost of motivation and provide you with some extra help to get you ~in the zone~.
Gratitude alarms are the perfect addition to your daily self-care routine, and it’s so simple. Using an alarm or reminder on your phone or computer, take a few moments out of every day at the same time to state the thing (or things) you’re grateful for. The more specific you get, the better.
The idea itself is the definition of quick and easy: all you have to do is set your alarm each day, and then once it goes off, state what you really feel you’ve got going for you in your life. Just pause your Netflix show for about 30 seconds to a minute, and then get back to doing your thing.
All too often, we forget to take the time to reflect on how truly good we have it. But a gratitude alarm helps incorporate a little more appreciation into your daily life without the time commitment of journaling or letter writing – which can end up being a deterrent to practicing this kind of self-care for some. Plus, practicing gratitude on a daily basis has been found to help you sleep better (which we know has endless benefits of its own), cope with depression, and it can even help you cope with chronic pain, according to the Psychological Health Center of Excellence.
As for the science behind why gratitude is so effective, it’s because when you practice gratitude, you are focusing on positive emotions such as appreciation, strength, empowerment, and of course, gratefulness. By setting the alarm and taking the time practice gratitude at least once a day, you are actively blocking out negative emotions and destructive thoughts.
But also encourages you to transform your mind to be more geared towards positive thinking in general, by encouraging you to think about the good things you have throughout the night and next day. As a result, you’ll become more patient when dealing with potentially stressful or irritable situations in both your personal and professional life. For example, the gratitude alarms can help you when it comes to managing the dating scene. For single people, your positive energy and confidence will draw people to you. If you’re seeing someone already, taking time to be appreciative of all they contribute to your life will help you not take that person for granted which, as we know, is pretty much toxic in a budding relationship.
Gratitude alarms also help you with mindfulness, which is why it’s super popular nowadays. The term is thrown around a lot, but a bunch of people don’t actually know what it means, so let’s break it down: being mindful essentially means to be consciously aware of your surroundings, and it can be achieved by focusing your mind on the present moment and not letting it drift into the world of “what-ifs” of the future or the past. Being mindful also allows you to accept and be comfortable in your own skin, acknowledge your emotions, and it can even help you work through anxiety.
By focusing in on the “now” and reflecting on how you feel at the present time, the gratitude alarm is an easy, quick, and no-fuss way to help you achieve the state of mindfulness. There’s also a variety of ways to do your gratitude alarm: You can download a gratitude alarm app, which will send you random reminders throughout the day to remember and express your gratitude. You can also just do it the old-fashioned way.
Some people like to just say verbally one thing they’re grateful for at this time, others like to list them out on a sheet of paper. But the point of all forms of self-care is to do it how it feels right for you. If certain aspects of it aren’t jiving, don’t do it. It’s that easy. But here’s a tip: Keep it in the “Notes” section of your phone so you can keep track of them by date and look at them whenever you need a pick-me-up.
The alarm forces you to take charge of your thought process, and in turn, how you approach different obstacles you face throughout your days. In other words, by allowing yourself to live in the present and think more optimistically, you will feel empowered, gain confidence, and even work harder to achieve your goals or solve challenges.
Get your alarm set, and keep the gratitude coming each day!