thought i'd share some of my old distractions
 

I'm trying my best not to start up again., so I thought I'd share some of my old tips to stay distracted.

- paint your nails, even if they're already painted take the paint off and paint them again. maybe the urge will be gone by the time they're dry.
-write a story. angsty, wholesome, romantic, anything so long as it's a story that you can pull yourself into.
-watch a movie or a tv show that you know will suck you in and that you'll fully watch and pay attention to.
-listen to music, either music that validates how you feel, or (even better) listen to music that's the total opposite of what you feel. the amount of Times 9 to 5 by Dolly Parton has yanked me out of a spiral is more than I'd like to admit.
-Watch YouTube, this goes really closely with the movies/TV shows one, but that can be gameplay, commentary, informational, music videos, anything you want. I find information videos about disasters to be especially helpful here (plainly difficult is a good channel for those)
-do any chores you've missed. folding clothes, bringing dishes to the sink, making your bed, anything at all other than sitting down and letting the urge overwhelm you.
-pointless lists. just make a list of anything you want. who gives the best hugs ranked, what do you need to do tomorrow, what colors would you consider dyeing your hair and why, I mean you could go as far as writing a full paragraph for every list point, just do busy work.
Ii hope this can help someone else the way it helps distract me.

Thanks for sharing, Jay. I hope you can use your own tips to look after yourself.

trying my best to look after myself, and so far so good!