Grade eleven has been pretty stressful for me thus far. I’ve been stressed about meeting deadlines, not falling behind and staying ahead ( since going to a self-directed high-school has caused me to not be on track with my school work ), and getting the high grades I want to achieve. At the start of every school year, I set myself some goals to help improve my mental health for the year, and one of these goals was to start appreciating my own company.
Covid isolation challenged my social life tremendously. I saw my mental health decline with the lack of social interaction I was experiencing. For the 2021-2022 school year, I wanted to start appreciating my own company and my time alone.
There are many benefits to appreciating your own company, some of which include:
- Encouraging creativity
- Becoming more productive
- Getting to know yourself
- Increased empathy with others
With this in mind, I began to treat myself in the manner in which I desired others to regard me. I slowly started exploring and discovering things about myself that I enjoyed. I used my mental breaks to enjoy my own company. Although the stress of school piled ( and still piles on me ), I found that taking numerous mental breaks helped me to not drown myself in stress. Taking breaks from working and doing things that I enjoyed ( going on walks, running myself a warm bath, going to a dance class ) supported me in my quest to start appreciating my time alone.
For me, here are some of the ways I started appreciating my own company:
- Realizing that showing appreciation for myself was crucial to appreciating my own company – Discovering parts about myself that I found interesting ultimately aided me in being at peace with spending my own time alone. I started appreciating parts about myself, whether it was how I was dressing that day, or acknowledging the work that I did for the day, self-love/appreciating my time alone supported me in appreciating my own company.
- Starting to do things you enjoyed by yourself – One of the things I enjoy doing is exploring. I enjoy just exploring with no destination. I’d usually go on a walk, whether that was in a park ( like Fish Creek ) or going downtown. I also enjoyed cooking, playing dress-up in my room, listening to music, writing, et cetera.
- Avoiding distractions – Whenever I was doing something for my own sake, I would try and remove some distractions, an example would be my phone. Depending on what I was doing to enjoy my time alone, I would just put my phone down and focus, or listen to music/watch a show. It was very dependent on what I was focusing on.
- Reflecting on my day – At the start of the school year, I kept a journal and I tried to write in it every day. Obviously, I didn’t keep up my promise to write every day, however, I just started writing down some things about my day that I enjoyed on post-its. I recognized what I enjoyed and what went wrong that day and how I could improve/fix my days moving forward. Another tool that helped me reflect on my day was the chrome extension “coffeelings”, which is a daily check-in tool that I used to reflect on my day.
Obviously, these are not all of the things I focused on when appreciating my own company, however, I felt like these were some tips that I felt were worth sharing, as these were the crucial points I used to assist me in appreciating my own company. Different people use different ways to appreciate/start to appreciate their time alone. It’s a learning process, almost like a trial and error to see what you enjoy and what you do not enjoy.
It’s crucial to note, though, that enjoying your own time alone is not the same as embracing loneliness. I was convinced that I was during the entirety of 2020 and it caused my mental health to decline significantly during this time. To appreciate your own company, you want to be at peace with realizing that sometimes you need to take time for yourself and not allow the thought of being alone to stop you from enjoying and living your own life. If you ever need anyone to talk to, reach out for support from friends or family. Calgary also offers numerous services that can assist you if you need any help. You do not need to feel lonely when appreciating your time alone. Ask for support from your peers when it is needed.
It can feel very awkward and strange if you aren’t used to doing things on your own account, however; it could be the beginning for you to become the best version of yourself. I feel eternally grateful to be able to appreciate my time alone, and I find that it is a crucial skill to have. Taking advantage of your time and enjoying parts about yourself ultimately can support you in becoming the better version of yourself.
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