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The Nuggets: 3 Ways To Enjoy Solitude During The Festive Season

By Modupeoluwa Adekanye

22 December 2020   |   11:09 am

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For some, the solitude this year has been excruciating, breeding loneliness and carrying a serious impact on our mental health. Others have found alone time empowering, enjoying themselves, discovering other talents, and learning to enjoy the time alone. Below are some ways you can enjoy your solitude during this period: Be proactive about it You…

The Nuggets: 3 Ways To Enjoy Solitude During The Festive Season

For some, the solitude this year has been excruciating, breeding loneliness and carrying a serious impact on our mental health.

Others have found alone time empowering, enjoying themselves, discovering other talents, and learning to enjoy the time alone.

Below are some ways you can enjoy your solitude during this period:

Be proactive about it
You can’t expect to suddenly enjoy alone time, you have to be proactive about it. A key part of this is scheduling solo activities in the same way you would a meet-up. Carve out time to watch your favourite show with your favourite snack, try out a new hobby and learn to play games, have a date with yourself. Forward planning may be particularly helpful if you’re planning to spend Christmas alone, or with just a partner or one friend, when you’d normally be in part of a big busy gathering.

Don’t rely on your phone
According to HuffPost, Dhanda says spending a lot of time alone while she was in and out of the hospital as a child prepared her for shielding during the pandemic. She didn’t have a phone to keep her occupied and advises finding other ways to entertain yourself, rather than losing hours to unfulfilling scrolling. It’s great to know the things that you enjoy, but be open-minded as well to try your hand at different things. Whether that means baking all day long, gardening, reading, there’s so much out there.

Recognise loneliness
Loneliness is not the same as being alone, and just because you’ve started to embrace alone time, it doesn’t mean you’ll never be lonely again. It’s about being mindful of it, looking out for the signs, and taking action about it so that you won’t feel that way, as much as you can. Taking action to tackle your loneliness might mean telling a trusted loved one how you’re feeling, connecting with others online. You can always find ways to meet up with one or two friends once in a while.

Being alone can lead to discovering yourself and learning more about yourself. Embrace alone-time more.