It’s time to put pants on

It’s been a year. One whole year. A year of dry shampoo, yoga pants and slippers. A year of nowhere to go and nothing to dress for. The nowhere to go or nothing to dress for really started to mess with my mind a couple months ago. I had little motivation or energy to get things done. I started taking walks and doing meditations to get my mind right. Then one day the lightbulb went off and I thought- what if I just started getting dressed?

It seems like the simplest of tasks, but I promise you it has a major impact. I started 2021 with a resolution to force myself to change out of my yoga pants and actually put an outfit on. Some days I didn’t lose the loungewear until after lunch but at some point in the day I still made myself take them off. So I started by putting on jeans. The first few days were very scary, will they even fit? But once I got past the initial dread I really enjoyed putting outfits together again. It doesn’t have to be anything major, I mean we’re still not really going anywhere so you don’t need to go crazy!!

And I wish I had more stats for you, but alls I can say is that when we feel good we are much happier and more productive. I’ve always believed “when we look good, we feel good, and then we go out and do good”. We also get way more done. The days I felt more put together I was more inclined to swing by the bank or run that extra errand. If I liked the way I looked that morning I found myself calling friends to meet for lunch. I checked WAY more off the do to list and felt way better about myself at the end of the day.

The bonus step? I started taking selfies of myself the days that I had real clothes on. I tried to do this 6 days a week. (I mean who’s perfect?!) Knowing that I had to take a pic gave me extra motivation and held me accountable. Then I took these photos and put them in an album on my phone labeled “everyday outfits”. Now the next time I’m in a rut or rush, I’ll just pull up the photos and select one of those outfits to wear.

I threw in some of these very basic everyday outfit selfies for inspiration. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy, and as you can see I still have wet hair in most of them, but it’s truly amazing what a zipper and some structure can do for the soul.