By Kara Godfrey
Forget New Year’s resolutions; try these challenges and really push yourself to be better.
Dry January
By Sam Grisdale
Hands up who’s guilty of playing on their phone whilst having a conversation with someone; or scrolling through social media as soon as they wake up in the morning; or even performed a gymnastics performance to the other side of the room where your phone is charging after a notification ping has just gone off? Guilty as charged your honor. I sentenced myself to five days without social media. The FOMO made me anxious. Genuinely. Here’s what I learned…
1. I Had Time For Breakfast
Yes, breakfast is the most important meal of the day, you and I are both aware of this. BUT, most mornings I just never seemed to have enough time to fit it in before I had to rush out the door.
This week, instead of scrolling aimlessly through Instagram looking at what other people were eating for breakfast, I decided to spend this time making my own breakfast every.single.morning. It made me more alert, less sleepy and A LOT less hangry throughout the day.
2. I Was More Productive
At work, simply knowing my phone was at home on my bedside table seemed to spur me along and get lots of odd jobs done without pausing every hour to check my messages. Model colleague right here.
In home life, the boyf and I try to do 50-50 with the household chores. This week though, I bossed the lot and I felt so positive and productive keeping busy and looking after ourselves and our home.
3. My Brain Wasn’t Fried
Is anyone else familiar with the fuzzy head that coincides with the daily social scroll? I tried to read more to help relax my mind during any downtime which resulted in one of the best weeks of sleep I’ve had in ages. Surprising considering it was the first week back at work after the holidays!
4. I Communicated More
I was actively present in conversations instead of staring at my phone; I was aware of what was going on around me and I genuinely feel my lack of phone usage brought me closer and more connected to my loved ones.
5. I Didn’t Actually Miss Out On Anything Important
As I was talking with the boyf and chatting about the challenge I’d set myself, he was watching a video on Snapchat of a man having a cyst squeezed that he’d had on his back for over 30 years. I think that alone sums this point up.
Ok, ok, ok. All that being said, I’ll be honest and say I didn’t stick to the detox 100%. FIVE DAYS IS A LONG TIME PEOPLE.
However, it has put into perspective just how many times a day I instinctively picked up my phone for ‘the scroll’ without giving it much thought, and that is something that I really want to alter this coming year.
I’ve already downloaded the Moment App which calculates how much time you actively spend on your phone, and also breaks the time down by each apps usage. It’s given me some surprising results already…
The 2017 Motto: Less Scrolling, More Living.
Signing myself up for this challenge was a big achievement in itself. Over the years, I’d never ever ever be seen without make-up. Rumour has it I’d put it on first thing in the morning before anyone (not even family members) could see me without it. True story.
My biggest issue is redness. Without make-up, I look like I’ve just crossed the finish line of a half marathon when in reality I’ve just had a duvet day and been a bit of a slob.
At the gym, it’s great. I can do 25 minutes of HIIT training and slope off looking like I’ve been in there for hours. But in life, not so much. My teens were spent investing in every green concealer and foundation you could find. I even used to put talc on them to try and mask the lobster look.
So to willingly sign away five days of my life make-up free a couple of years later was a pretty big deal. Here’s how I got on…
Day 1
Ironically, I ended up rushing around more than usual in the morning with the effects of a late night taking their toll. This wasn’t helped by a power walk to work in the wind with two bags and a suitcase, plus a run-in with one of those people you really don’t wanna see sans Double Wear. So I rocked up to HQ a little flushed to say the least. I then spent the morning subconsciously explaining the fact I was doing a make-up free challenge to anyone and everyone so they didn’t think I was ill or just woke up late. Aside from getting a shock each time I went to the loo and looked in the mirror, I otherwise forgot about the challenge.
Day 2
Since I’ve pretty much mastered washing my hair and getting ready in twenty minutes on the daily, I didn’t really get much more of a lie in than usual. Thanks to a very windy day, I arrived at work once again flushed AF and nipping out into town on lunch only ended with similar results. I’m not sure whether it was psychological, since I looked like I’d had an all-nighter without eye make-up, but I felt more tired than usual. Maybe I’d had too much sleep with my extra five minutes of ZZs…
Day 3
Despite my morning routine becoming less about highlighting and more about cleansing and toning, I spied a sneaky spot. Shock horror. I guess I was semi-cheating with the challenge in that I volunteered to do it on a week where I had little to no plans after work or at the weekend that involved me being out and about. When the topic cropped up again in a conversation at work, a very kind colleague told me they wouldn’t have even noticed I didn’t have make-up on. Somehow I didn’t quite believe them…
Day 4
So far, anything that drew attention to the challenge in question (and my bare fare) meant I turned redder than red but if I forgot about it, the redness calmed down. As part of the challenge, I took one selfie a day and I didn’t hate any of them – though my flat does have great lighting.
Day 5
As I started this challenge on a Tuesday, my final day of being makeup free fell on a Saturday, which is actually one of the few days I’m more than happy to ditch the beauty blender if I’m heading to the gym or dying of a hangover.
The day started out with good intentions to workout and do my weekly shop but resulted in me doing an online order from the comfort of my bed and watching films instead. However, the temptation to resist (and albeit dry) Saturday night out was too much and since I’d already tempted fate and bumped into someone earlier in the week with my fresh face, I wasn’t prepared to hit up the bar make-up and alcohol free.
So I lasted all of four and a half days.