I'm sorry you're feeling this way, but thank you for sharing it so honestly. If we didn’t have these ruts, we probably wouldn’t appreciate the seasons when we’re not stuck in them. Thanks for the reminder that even tiny steps matter. May Allah see you through 🤎
reading this was really insightful, and also felt like you read my mind, i've been having similar thoughts and been meaning to write a piece along a similar vein!! feeling even more inspired to work on that post now haha. one of the things i do when im in a rut is doing a braindump - everything swirling around in my mind from emotions i need to process, to do lists, decisions i need to make - seeing everything written (or typed down) feels like the first step in tackling everything. i'm gonna write more about how i personally deal with a mental rut in a post soon in sha Allah :)
Yay I'm so excited to read your post!! It helps to have a community to encourage each other to make it out of the rut! I love the braindumping idea, it really helps to clear my head too, I definitely want to do it more!
Oh Leena, I am so sorry to learn you are suffering from depression. First of all, I hope you've been getting the mental health help that you need. But it seems like you are on the cusp of making positive changes, so that's good. Journaling is my go-to, when I wasn't able to write for 2-3 months earlier this year, I continued to journal. Beginning to run again after Ramadan has also been helpful. As for starting the day right, one of my post-Ramadan goals was to not check my phone first thing in the morning. Read adhar, pray salat-al-dhuha, read some Qur'an, read some tafsir, prepare my first meal of the day... whatever. May Allah (swt) grant you tawfiq in learning Arabic. Are you taking an online class or trying to teach yourself from a book?
Alhamdulillah I'm depressed anymore but some depression symptoms do pop up during low periods. I did therapy last year which equipped with great tools to navigate mental health challenges if they come up, Alhamdulillah!
I love that you stuck to journaling and started running again. I'm trying to get back into my fitness grind as well, Insha'Allah! I also want read adhkar and pray salat-ul-duha Insha'Allah.
Thank you for your dua! I have a membership with Bayyinah TV and they have arabic learning and tafsir there, so I want to make use of the arabic lessons they have.
Alhamdulillah, I'm glad to hear that therapy has helped. Symptoms will never go away, but now you have the tools to help when they do show up. How's the weight lifting going? I've started to do it myself since I'm getting older and now even my doctors are scaring me about bone loss LOL. Oh nice, may Allah (swt) grant you success on your Arabic journey!
Leena, I love this piece. It came at the right time for me - this past month has flown by - work busy, personal life BUSY and I've neglected some habits because of that. now I've got to Friday alhamdulilah, I need to figure out a plan to reset this weekend. I'm going to start with cleaning my room lol then read some fiction before I need to return them to the library!
feeling seen rn 🥲 I think it's difficult to get rid of bad habits when you make it so difficult for yourself to get good ones. i always struggle with expecting too much from myself, so I NEVER start small WHICH IS A PROBLEM!!!
I totally get it, failure is hard, especially when we know we're capable of more. It definitely takes practice to get more comfortable. I think experiencing failure in low stake activities makes it easier to try and risk failing for higher stake activities.
Also I think there are so many positive habits we do have that we just don't recognize like brushing our teeth or maybe cleaning our room or the 5 daily prayers and those are habits we can use for stacking as well. Believing we're capable of building better habits also helps! But I get it, it is hard when we're through a low period. May Allah make it easy for us!!
This was all too relatable— it’s definitely tempting to let myself rot in bed and the doomscrolling can only be described as chains weighing one down even heavier when the motivation to get up isn’t even there in the first place 😭 But your tip on making your bed first thing to kickstart your day is tried and true!! Apart from just looking pretty and creating a more positive physical space, it’s also less tempting to ruin your hard work to make it look pretty lol.
I also like making to-do lists of very simple routinely tasks and crossing each thing off with a pen so it gives me the illusion of being productive when I’m really just going through my usual tasks— the bold strike-throughs are weirdly motivating 😂
Ahahaha facts, getting cute bedding increased my productivity 100 folds!! Like making my bed and feeling like I'm in an aesthetic slow-girl morning routine video. Admiring my room after like it's in an architectural digest magazine. Too good!!
Honestly, I've heard that too much that adding routinely activities to to-do list makes it easier to tackle tasks. I need to start doing that, thanks for sharing!!
I'm sorry you're feeling this way, but thank you for sharing it so honestly. If we didn’t have these ruts, we probably wouldn’t appreciate the seasons when we’re not stuck in them. Thanks for the reminder that even tiny steps matter. May Allah see you through 🤎
Ameen!! Thank you for reading and commenting!
reading this was really insightful, and also felt like you read my mind, i've been having similar thoughts and been meaning to write a piece along a similar vein!! feeling even more inspired to work on that post now haha. one of the things i do when im in a rut is doing a braindump - everything swirling around in my mind from emotions i need to process, to do lists, decisions i need to make - seeing everything written (or typed down) feels like the first step in tackling everything. i'm gonna write more about how i personally deal with a mental rut in a post soon in sha Allah :)
Yay I'm so excited to read your post!! It helps to have a community to encourage each other to make it out of the rut! I love the braindumping idea, it really helps to clear my head too, I definitely want to do it more!
Oh Leena, I am so sorry to learn you are suffering from depression. First of all, I hope you've been getting the mental health help that you need. But it seems like you are on the cusp of making positive changes, so that's good. Journaling is my go-to, when I wasn't able to write for 2-3 months earlier this year, I continued to journal. Beginning to run again after Ramadan has also been helpful. As for starting the day right, one of my post-Ramadan goals was to not check my phone first thing in the morning. Read adhar, pray salat-al-dhuha, read some Qur'an, read some tafsir, prepare my first meal of the day... whatever. May Allah (swt) grant you tawfiq in learning Arabic. Are you taking an online class or trying to teach yourself from a book?
Alhamdulillah I'm depressed anymore but some depression symptoms do pop up during low periods. I did therapy last year which equipped with great tools to navigate mental health challenges if they come up, Alhamdulillah!
I love that you stuck to journaling and started running again. I'm trying to get back into my fitness grind as well, Insha'Allah! I also want read adhkar and pray salat-ul-duha Insha'Allah.
Thank you for your dua! I have a membership with Bayyinah TV and they have arabic learning and tafsir there, so I want to make use of the arabic lessons they have.
Alhamdulillah, I'm glad to hear that therapy has helped. Symptoms will never go away, but now you have the tools to help when they do show up. How's the weight lifting going? I've started to do it myself since I'm getting older and now even my doctors are scaring me about bone loss LOL. Oh nice, may Allah (swt) grant you success on your Arabic journey!
Ya lifting is really good for bones, it's going sparingly to be honest 😭 but I'm gonna try to do it 1-2 times a week, Insha'Allah.
Leena, I love this piece. It came at the right time for me - this past month has flown by - work busy, personal life BUSY and I've neglected some habits because of that. now I've got to Friday alhamdulilah, I need to figure out a plan to reset this weekend. I'm going to start with cleaning my room lol then read some fiction before I need to return them to the library!
Omggg cleaning my room is the best therapy!! I feel like a whole new person fr!! I'm excited for you, Insha'Allah this will be a great weekend reset!
feeling seen rn 🥲 I think it's difficult to get rid of bad habits when you make it so difficult for yourself to get good ones. i always struggle with expecting too much from myself, so I NEVER start small WHICH IS A PROBLEM!!!
I totally get it, failure is hard, especially when we know we're capable of more. It definitely takes practice to get more comfortable. I think experiencing failure in low stake activities makes it easier to try and risk failing for higher stake activities.
Also I think there are so many positive habits we do have that we just don't recognize like brushing our teeth or maybe cleaning our room or the 5 daily prayers and those are habits we can use for stacking as well. Believing we're capable of building better habits also helps! But I get it, it is hard when we're through a low period. May Allah make it easy for us!!
This was all too relatable— it’s definitely tempting to let myself rot in bed and the doomscrolling can only be described as chains weighing one down even heavier when the motivation to get up isn’t even there in the first place 😭 But your tip on making your bed first thing to kickstart your day is tried and true!! Apart from just looking pretty and creating a more positive physical space, it’s also less tempting to ruin your hard work to make it look pretty lol.
I also like making to-do lists of very simple routinely tasks and crossing each thing off with a pen so it gives me the illusion of being productive when I’m really just going through my usual tasks— the bold strike-throughs are weirdly motivating 😂
Ahahaha facts, getting cute bedding increased my productivity 100 folds!! Like making my bed and feeling like I'm in an aesthetic slow-girl morning routine video. Admiring my room after like it's in an architectural digest magazine. Too good!!
Honestly, I've heard that too much that adding routinely activities to to-do list makes it easier to tackle tasks. I need to start doing that, thanks for sharing!!