Healthy Recharging: Replacing an Online Shopping Habit with Something That Actually Works
- amanda brow
- Nov 7, 2020
- 4 min read

I think I speak for us all when I say this year has been pretty stressy-messy. A pandemic, a nation-wide wave of lay-offs, exposition of embedded racism and a movement to combat it, a highly divisive political climate and violence in many capacities? It’s exhausting, and it’s enough to make people really tired today.
Through all of this, I’ve learned that a lot of the activities I thought were “re-charging” for me? Actually aren’t. I developed bad habits of shopping, stress-eating, over-functioning at times and under-functioning at others, and drinking to mute my feelings or try to “unwind”. The epiphany? None of these “self-care” habits really take care of me. I’ve been on the hunt for ways to recharge (in a healthy way!) and I’m here to show you what I found out.
Brain Breaks
After an eight-hour shift of fixing people’s problems, and then an hour or two at night of fixing my problems, my brain is typically fizzing and smoking. 7pm bedtime, anyone?? Instead, I’ve learned to afford myself what I call “brain breaks”.
Video games. Yes, you read that right. Earlier this year when the Animal Crossings craze began again, I took myself to Gamestop and bought the cheap version of the trendy console: a used Nintendo DS.
It. Has. Been. A. Lifesaver.
Spending twenty minutes fishing and shaking trees and talking to Tom Nook about house expansions and not devoting a single ounce of brain juice to anything else is absolutely wonderful.
Similarly, reading fiction (see my top five favorites lately here) is a great escape. I just picked up Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng at the recommendation of a friend and finished a Jodi Picoult called The Storyteller for the second time. Even if you’re not a big reader, five minutes before bed to unwind helps to distract from the day and get your brain ready to sleep.
Other brain-breaks I’ve come to love are mindless, upbeat TV (New Girl and The Good Place are champions in my heart), puzzles, and coloring pages. Never underestimate the value of a good mindless activity.
Doing Things for Others
Hi, it’s your resident Enneagram 2, here to tell you that doing things for other people makes you feel good!! It’s a win-win in my book: distracting yourself from your little bubble for a minute, empathizing with others to keep that skill sharp, building up a relationship, and making yourself feel good all at the same time!
My absolute favorite thing to do for others, especially in pumpkin-spice season, is BAAAAAAAKING! Scones, muffins, cupcakes, loaves and breads and cookies, oh my. People love to eat, my friends, and the coolest thing about baking is that it benefits multiple people at a time, not just one. Plus, it’s fun to be known as the one bringing the treats in the office.
Another great way to do things for others came up in my “just-for-fun” class this semester. The assignment was to write a page about someone in your life you’re grateful for. For an entire page, I got to write about the way someone else affected me positively and the traits they possess that make my life easier and more enjoyable. The effect on my mindset regarding this person- and subsequently, my behavior- was absolutely striking. I found myself being happier in their presence and more aware of the way they treat others and the positive things they did for me.
After I realized this, I journaled about a ton of other people in my life in the same way just for fun, and it’s impacted those relationships in a really cool way.
Getting Creative
Everybody’s creative, and I’ll say it again for the people in the back: even if you’re not a painter, musician, or a traditional “artist”, you are creative in some way. It’s at the core of human beings to find solutions to problems, to make art, and to enjoy things they’ve made (if this is an interesting idea for you, you should read Never Let Me Go by Kazou Ishiguro). Getting creative in any way, especially if you don’t think about yourself as a creative person, can be so important to recharge and rejuvenate your energy. Make a new meal! Move the furniture around in your living room! Take all your picture frames down and paint them a splash of color. Anything that gets you working and thinking in a different way.
My newest creative project is renovating furniture for our new clinic. I’ve been hunting on Facebook marketplace and Craigslist for clunky or older-looking furniture that I can repaint or replace parts of or somehow fix up into something I'd like to look at every day. It’s exciting to get my mind off of normal, everyday things and turn my eyes to looking at older, maybe broken-looking things and imagining how I could make it more beautiful.
Alone Time or Social Time
Sometimes it's hard to tell what you need. Am I cranky because I want to be left alone, or am I cranky because I miss my people? Typically, extroverts recharge by being around people and introverts recharge by spending time alone, but of course, everyone's a little bit of both, so what you need can depend on your mood.
When I do need some social time, I always think of happy hour. Some of my favorite and most warm memories are of conversations over a Corona around a fire or over a table full of finger food at a restaurant with our family and friends. During COVID, that happy hour tradition has been adapted to sharing drinks or even making new drinks together over Facetime or Zoom. Find a new recipe for a fun mixed drink on Pinterest and shoot it to a friend. It's a fun new way to bond and get conversation going.
As much as I love hanging out with people, I LOVE my alone time. Admittedly, a lot of my alone time in the past has been spent at Target (lol). While I’ve been trying to edge away from a shopping habit, though, my new favorite alone time activity has been walking. I live in a GORGEOUS place with unique houses and deep tree areas and of course, beach, so getting outside and listening to a podcast or an uplifting playlist has been a wonderful escape, too.
No matter how you choose to do it, you have to replenish the energy you spend and find a way to motivate yourself every day. Try one of these or listen to yourself and step out on your own to find a healthy alternative to what might be a yucky habit. Let me know what I should try next!!

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