Doomscroll or Self-Care? A January Survival Guide

January is a funny little liar.

It shows up loud, clean, and full of promises. New habits. New routines. New apps insisting they can fix your life if you just give them access to your calendar, your sleep data, and your soul.

The gym is still packed.
Dry January is being interpreted creatively.
And every screen you touch is whispering, “Have you tried AI for this?”

Meanwhile, real life is happening somewhere between a half-read book, a half-charged phone, and a meal that took longer than three minutes to make. That’s where I tend to land. Not optimized. Just… present enough to notice.

January has this pressure to perform wellness. To prove you’re improving. To quantify rest. To gamify calm. To track things that probably shouldn’t be tracked. And sure, some of it works. Some of it’s helpful. But a lot of it feels like foreplay with no payoff... all buildup, no release.

So here’s a radical thought:
Maybe this month doesn’t need fixing.

Maybe it just needs doing.

Eating something warm and slightly indulgent without apologizing for it.
Reading something real, on paper, with pages that smell faintly like dust and ideas.
Making something — food, words, art, a mess — just to prove you still can.

Not everything needs a hard reboot

. Not every moment needs improvement. Some days are just about choosing self-care over doomscrolling and calling that a win.

If January feels long, weird, and unfinished, congratulations. You’re right on schedule.

Eat something.
Read something.
Make something.

The rest will work itself out. Or it won’t. Either way, you’ll be fed, a little smarter, and still standing. And honestly, that’s a pretty decent place to be.