15 Ways To Ensure The Real You Is As Happy As The Online Version Of You

1. Stop constantly trying (and failing) to ‘quit’ social media. Just learn how to take it with a grain of salt. Understand that as fun and addicting as it can be, it’s also largely full of crap. Yes, it’s super entertaining, but it’s also one large filter that makes everybody’s lives look prettier. Just have fun with it and remember not to take it as reality.

2. Do some things simply for you. Things you’ll never post online and that you’ll always be able to keep to yourself. Start writing that novel (even if it feels like the shittiest thing that’s ever been written), do something kind for a stranger, take a workout class, go sit in a park. And tell no one. It feels great.

3. Remember that before social media, people didn’t have lists and lists and lists of friends. They could probably count all of their important relationships on one, maybe two, hands.

4. So don’t worry so much about how many friends you have. When things get rough, all you’re going to care about is the quality of the friendships you have, not the quantity. Only a certain kind of friend is going to come over at midnight on a Sunday when you’re sobbing about a breakup. That’s the person you need, not those ten other casual friendships.

5. Focus on improving something small about yourself every single day. Work towards getting up earlier, or becoming more organized, or staying in better contact with your loved ones. Even if the daily progress feels almost minuscule, it makes a huge difference in a mere 30 days.

6. Put your phone away when it’s making you depressed. You’ll suck at this at first, but the more you do it, the better you’ll get at putting it down and giving your brain a break.

7. Don’t watch Snapchat stories when you’re spending time with other people.

8. Watch other people recording their Snapchat stories when you’re out in public. It can usually give you a really good perspective on how things often seem way more glamorous than they actually are.

9. If time allows for it, always take the beautiful route when you’re walking somewhere, even if it takes longer.

10. When you’re in any sort of environment that inspires you to take a photo, force yourself to just exist in it for five minutes before you do anything else.

11. Read. Read whatever it is that relaxes you and expands your mind and takes you outside of yourself for a minute.

12. Tell people how much you love them and appreciate them in person as often as you tell them online.

13. Spend your time outside of work doing things that refresh you and excite you, instead of doing the things that exhaust you but that look good online.

14. Get rid of the things that are physically weighing you down. You may not realize it, but a closet filled with items you haven’t worn in three years is heavier on your mind than you may have guessed.

15. Don’t feel guilty about using social media. Sometimes we all need a good time-waster when we forgot to bring our book to our doctor’s appointment or when the subway is unbearably crowded. Just remember to look at it as a form of entertainment rather than a how-to guide on how you’re supposed to be living your life.