Month: September 2022

Having a Midlife Crisis? Here Are 5 Changes You Can Make to Overcome It

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Disclaimer: I am pleased to have Davis return as a guest blogger. You might remember him from his first guest post appearance in April 2022. Davis runs a blog called https://businessisfun.net that I highly recommend you check out and follow him if you haven’t done so already. Since Davis wrote this guest post, I cannot take credit for it. While you are here, I would love to hear your thoughts about this article. Let’s get started, shall we?

Image via https://www.pexels.com/

5 Ways to Overcome a Midlife Crisis

Midlife is the term used to refer to the transition phase between adulthood and old age. For many individuals managing this phase of life can prove to be challenging given the sheer number of changes it can bring. Moving towards 40 years of age means individuals start nearing the end of their careers, which can cause uncertainty regarding what to do next. Additionally, with age, certain health problems are bound to arise, and even if they’re minor, individuals need to focus on their health more than ever before. The struggle to manage these changes is often referred to as a midlife crisis. In this article, we’ll explore the best ways adults can tackle these changes healthily and improve their quality of life.

1. Commit to an Exercise Regime

According to research by AARP, the following are common health conditions faced by adults during their mid-life: high blood pressure, diabetes, osteoporosis, and anxiety. While each of these conditions affects the body differently, they have one thing in common. Regular exercise can significantly reduce the onset of these diseases and help individuals manage any existing symptoms.

Exercising 30 minutes a day, whether cardio or weight-based exercises, will help you improve cardiovascular health, maintain a healthy weight, keep blood pressure in check and promote happier moods. Additionally, it will reduce the chances of developing further age-related conditions and keep you active for longer.

Regular exercise is bound to make you feel tired each day, which is a good thing as it will lead to a healthy sleep schedule. On average, adults require at least 6-8 hours of sleep each night. A good night’s sleep will improve your ability to manage stress, increase energy levels and keep your mind sharp throughout the day.

2. Start Practicing a Hobby

If the stress of handling numerous life changes is constantly at the forefront of your mind, consider starting a hobby that helps break the chain of thought and puts your mind at ease. Best hobby ideas to consider include:

  • Learning how to play an instrument
  • Starting a mental health journal
  • Reading books
  • Starting a vegetable garden in your backyard
  • Volunteering at a local NGO, animal shelter, or any other organization of your choice
  • Learning how to cook

The number one benefit of having a hobby is that you’ll dedicate time and effort toward something which brings you a sense of fulfillment and happiness. Even after a long day, a hobby will help take your mind off things and develop a positive mindset. Incorporating a hobby as part of your daily routine will keep stress at bay, allowing you to come to terms with changes without being overwhelmed.

3. Pursue an Online Degree

If you aspire to have a more fulfilling job than your current one, adding an educational credential to your resume will open doors to numerous better professional opportunities. For instance, if you want to boost your salary potential during the last years of your career in human resources, earn your human resources degree. This degree will help you develop the necessary skills and expertise needed to land a better job.

Regardless of the program, compared to traditional degrees, an online course provides the benefits of a flexible schedule and affordable tuition fees. As a result, you can continue working while studying and get the best of both worlds. Additionally, you can start applying for new roles towards the end of the course and make a smooth transition post-graduation.

4. Launch a Business

As reported by SSA.GOV, the legal retirement age in the US is 67 years. But, you can continue working way past this age by choosing to start a business. As an entrepreneur, you’ll have full control over how much you work, your compensation, and the clients you work with. This is a great option for individuals who do not want age to restrict their career aspirations. While many may feel mid-life is too late for making the switch to entrepreneurship, in reality, the experience you’ve gathered through decades of work will serve as a great foundation to run a business. However, running a business will bring a few risks, such as:

  • Your income will be directly dependent on business performance. Hence, conduct thorough research regarding what products/services are in demand and the customer demographic you want to target.
  • As a business owner, you will be liable for business-related liabilities. But, you can significantly reduce your risk by establishing a Limited Liability Company (LLC). There are various online formation services you can work with to form your LLC without any hassle.

Additionally, with advancements in technology, it has never been easier to run a home-based business. Whether it be marketing, accounting, project management, or other business operations, various free applications can be used. For projects where you require expertise, consider hiring freelancers from reputed websites such as Upwork and Fiverr who work on a per-project basis and charge affordable rates.

5. Reconnect with Old Friends

For adults who feel that they’re stuck in a rut, reconnecting with old friends can be a welcoming experience. For most of us, the time spent in school or college is what we cherish the most. But, as time passes, we lose touch with friends with whom we share numerous happy memories.

Using the power of the internet you can easily find what your old friends are up to and set up a time to meet. As long as you remember their full name, a simple google search will bring up their LinkedIn, Instagram, or Facebook profiles through which you can contact them. In case you only remember a part of their name, add their school/college name in front of it during the google search and you should find their profiles without any hassle.

➤ As reported by SocialSelf, being social provides various benefits to adults, such as:

The best way to overcome the challenges of midlife is to make healthy changes. Each change you make, whether it be following an exercise routine, pursuing an online degree, or starting a business, will have a positive impact on your mental and physical health. Additionally, remember that you are not alone in your struggles and can always reach out to family and friends who will provide you unconditional support in times of need.

If you’ve enjoyed this article and would like to read more posts from this blogger, you can visit their website at https://businessisfun.net. In the event that you are going through a mid-life or quarter-life crisis, you can refer to this blog post for future reference. Finally, if you learned something new from this blog post, feel free to join the conversation by leaving a comment below ↓ Interested in writing a guest post for www.sereneluna.net? If you would like to write a guest post, please email me your idea by filling out this form.

Thanks for stopping by!

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Social Media Anxiety

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First, let’s start with some housekeeping. I am re-sharing my Medium article on the blog (same article but listed under a different title). If you use the following link to read this article, I will earn a small commission. It might be only a few pennies but it’s better than earning nothing at all. This article is behind a paywall on Medium but I want to make it available for everyone to read.

♡ Medium Article: Is Social Media Making You Anxious?

Photo by Rahul Chakraborty on Unsplash

Social Media Anxiety

It is no surprise that technology has become predominant in everyone’s lives in the past 20-something years. People now have smartphones and smart TVs, and they don’t even bat an eyelash. Smartphones especially have been making life a whole lot easier by enabling people to stay in touch with friends, classmates, and family at any time of the day. It can be hard to not check your social media sites or text your friends constantly but we love being connected. With the click of a button, we can find pictures and videos of animals, recipes for some of our favorite foods, or any photo from friends’ latest vacation. We have everything at our fingertips and everything that we could want in the palm of our hands.

(っ◔V◔)っSerious Question: What is Social Media Anxiety?

Social media sites can make people feel anxious when they use them too much. It’s important to think about how checking the sites impacts you and try putting the phone down even if you don’t want to stop using the site for good. We can all relate to the feeling of being sucked into the vortex of social media. It’s hard not to get distracted by all the yummy recipe videos and adorable photos of our family pet, but it doesn’t come without a cost. Look at that mouth-watering slice of pie and think about how your homework isn’t going to do itself. One more scroll is time that could be spent doing something more productive.

♡ Related Article: It’s Time to Stop Procrastinating

Down the Social Media Rabbit Hole

Image Source: https://www.deviantart.com/aya-mei/art/

If it’s not the perfectionist’s rabbit hole, then it’s the social media rabbit hole. You may find it hard to get out of the Facebook and Twitter loop when you spend too much time scrolling through social media. It’s important to take time for ourselves, but these days it seems like it’s almost impossible to do so. With the world at our fingertips and the internet constantly online, it can be difficult to unplug. You are always expecting someone to contact you even if you’re not that social yourself. When your phone is constantly in reach and within sight, it’s hard to avoid distractions from all of this constant connectivity.

Social media can have a negative effect on your life if you mostly use the platform for negative engagements such as arguments or venting frustrations. This manifests as social media anxiety where you worry about updating social media and partake in this compulsive behavior because you feel obligated to check in constantly. And it’s not just the social media platforms themselves that are the cause for concern; some experts say that engaging with these platforms too much can lead to a number of mental health problems, such as depression, depression, and FOMO. 

You might have social media anxiety if you answered “yes” to the following questions. Keep in mind that these behaviors could lead to symptoms of anxiety:

Questions
1. Have you ever compulsively checked your phone, laptop, or tablet?
2. Do you spend hours scrolling through social media feeds?
3. Do your friends and family think you spend too much time online?

What can you do about it?

There are a few ways to stay off your phone when you don’t want to. For instance, if you’re talking with someone in person, keep your phone in your pocket. Other tips include turning off all notifications and using an app like Freedom, which automatically blocks apps that cause addictive behaviors while blocking notifications. This is a way to control your social media scrolling by not splitting attention. Stop reminding yourself that there will be more to look at. If you’re unable to access your social media for a while, it will create anxiety in the short term and make you more productive. It’s worth standing up for your social media rights as they allow people to communicate, with friends or family. Pictures are a great way to show people where you’ve been or what’s happening in your life. You can send me photos of your pet any day!

(っ◔◡◔)っKey Takeaway: It’s important to remember that social media is supposed to be fun. If you find that it’s not fun anymore, then it might be time for a break.

(っ◔◡◔)っ ♥ FINAL THOUGHTS ♥

I am mindful of the impact social media can have on mental health, so I make a conscious effort to limit my usage. The upside is that by limiting my use, I am not exposing myself to social media as much. Less time on social media means less anxiety. These days, I am mainly active on Twitter and this blog. I’m not active on Instagram (@serene_hilz), but I do check it occasionally. As for Facebook, my account has been collecting virtual dust for some time.

You can also connect with me on Twitter (@hellokitty8404) and I encourage you to subscribe to my website at http://www.sereneluna.net so that you can receive the latest updates from me.

Thanks for stopping by! ❤

Blogging Fatigue

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You might have noticed that I have been taking a lot more breaks than usual, and that is partly due to my laziness and partly due to recent jaw surgery that I had 2 weeks ago. I’m recovering slowly from the surgery and it makes it difficult for me to find the time to write. I haven’t blogged in a while and was starting to feel pretty guilty about it, but now I’m glad that I uploaded something even if it is a bit of a rant.

(っ◔v◔)っWhat is blogging fatigue?

It was difficult to find a true definition of “blogging fatigue” and a lot of what I found online was just written from a personal perspective. Blogging fatigue (aka burnout) is just like it sounds: when you become so tired or bored of blogging that you no longer feel motivated to do anything about it.

Do I have blogging fatigue? I am not sure that blogging is worth the time I spend on it. While I enjoy writing and have a lot of ideas to share, there are some obstacles that make me hesitant about throwing more money and time into this pipedream.

Running Out of Time

My domain and hosting renewal date is fast approaching and given WordPress’s recent change to its hosting plans, I’m at a bit of a loss. In short, I currently have the Premium Plan, which was part of the legacy plan. I’m not very impressed with the Premium Plan because it’s missing some notable things that I needed such as SEO and Plugins.

In other words, I cannot politely ask you to buy me a coffee with the help of a Kofi Plugin. This is kinda a dealbreaker for me. ☕💔

While I don’t have any interest in the Pro Plan, I do like what it has to offer. My concern is the price. With my blog being a small hobby blog, why should I have to pay an expensive price for many services that I’ll never need or use? It’s a great plan, but not necessary for my blog.

Furthermore, I have a major issue with throwing my hard-earned money at a hobby blog that doesn’t provide me with enough monetary return to make it worthwhile. As of the time of this writing, I have made exactly $0 from this blog, despite blogging for 6 years. Last year was the trial run to see if I could make something of my blog – I saw very little success which is not enough to justify continuing with my current WP plan. These days, I spend more time writing for Medium because of the ability to monetize. I joined Medium a few months ago and I’ve already been able to generate some revenue with just a handful of my articles.

Down the Perfectionist’s Rabbit Hole

I often find myself stressed out when I need to update my blog every month. If you’re someone who is always worrying about not meeting deadlines, it may seem like a bad thing to skip a few months here or there. It is no surprise that I often obsess over the formatting, wording, and images. Thus, blogging turned me into even more of a perfectionist than I already was. I also felt pressure to generate more and more content, fearing that my blog posts weren’t gaining enough traffic. I noticed that it became tougher to gain followers than it was to lose them.

Is it just me, or is the follower count frozen? I haven’t seen much of an increase in follower count this year and I don’t know if this is due to a recent WordPress update.

Image source: https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/one-purple-rubber-duck

Self-Promotion Is Annoying

I find myself feeling frustrated and irritated when it comes to cross-promoting content on social media. I have grown tired of promoting my blog posts, and much like what I have seen so often on Twitter, spamming people with links that don’t seem to lead anywhere. But after a while, I found these behaviors to be less and less appealing to me. Playing the blogging game seems like an enormous time commitment.

Despite the unpleasant things that are often found on social media, I have had many positive interactions too which have helped me with my blogging skills and networking. I’m really thankful to finally receive some help and guidance after spending several hours spinning my wheels and getting frustrated. I have received so many thoughtful comments and now I know whether or not to continue my blog. Thank you to everyone who reached out to me!

I am curious to know if you ever wanted to quit blogging. What made you decide to stay in the end? Please feel free to comment below and I will do my best to reply to everyone. I apologize for my delayed responses recently. It has been an exhausting recovery from jaw surgery, but I’m slowly getting there.

Thanks for stopping by!

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