How To Live Alone: 9 Ways To Live Alone Happily
We are social creatures by design, but life can sometimes plunge us into situations when we have to learn to tolerate living alone. Be it due to quarantine, a project that requires you to work alone for extended periods of time or other unforeseen circumstances, living alone is no walk in the park. But once the anxiety of not having people around you subsides, living alone turns out to be a cathartic and enriching experience.
In this article, we take a look at all the things that you should focus on to know how to be happy in life alone.
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Being Alone Vs Being Lonely: Know The Difference!
In order to learn how to be alone and happy, it is important to learn the difference between being alone and being lonely. Being alone is a physical state, meaning that you are by yourself and not in the physical presence of other people.
On the other hand, being lonely is an emotion, particularly sadness or being beside yourself, a consequence of psychological and emotional solitude at not feeling connected to other people or things.
Being alone does not necessarily mean that you are lonely, nor is it any reason to question your social skills. One can feel lonely even in crowds or be alone without ever feeling inadequate. It all depends on your mind and how you keep it engaged. So, without further ado, let is consider the things that can help you combat that loneliness that comes from extended periods of solitude, and learn how to be alone and happy at the same time.
How To Live Alone Happily
Being alone can be a challenge unto itself, but with the following, you can ensure that you remain engaged and connected with life within and around you, learning all the while how to live a happy life alone.
1. Develop A Relationship With Yourself
Being alone provides us with the chance to nurture a relationship with ourselves. Different people find it difficult to be alone for different reasons. But all of us can get to know ourselves just that little bit better and understand what it means to trust ourselves. Now is as good a time as any to take that extra step to cultivate a healthy relationship with ourselves.
For instance, journaling is one habit that you can look to develop to understand yourself better. Write down about your day, your values, your likes and dislikes, and any particularly strong emotions that you might be feeling. Writing things down as such will help you get a grip on what it is exactly that you are going through and also help you get better at writing and critical thinking.
Similarly, you can learn the art of talking to yourself whenever you are feeling particularly stressed out. During long periods of solitude, hearing our own voice can soothe and calm us down, even if we are only talking to ourselves. You may not have anyone around you, but you always can always rely on yourself for comfort and support.
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2. Clean Your Room
Your room (or your house) is where you will be spending most of your time, so make sure it is neat and tidy. Prepping your environment is one of the more important things you will do to learn how to stay happy alone. If your environment is clean, your mind will also remain free of distractions and you would not have to worry about the mess that is around you.
You can take this one step further by trying to make your room as beautiful and inviting as you can. This will make things call out to you so you can engage with them.
3. Learn Something New
Time alone is the best time to pick up new things. Be it learning to read more books, a new craft. or starting a new personal project, having a distraction-free time and space is ideal for learning anything new. Many people fight to have some alone time to do such things but when the opportunity is presented, tend to slack off.
Do not let yourself fall into this trap and instead bring yourself to open that new book, or take up that new course, earn money online as a student, or start experimenting with new things on your own, for this is the best way to learn how to live alone happily.
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4. Appreciate The Perks Of Being Alone
Being alone comes with its own set of drawbacks. There is no one there to listen to you vent or watch a movie with. But there are perks galore as well. You can learn how to be alone and happy at the same time if you lean into the benefits of solitude.
Take up space - Instead of being confined to one area, spread out. Join beds together to get more space for relaxation, or spend an entire evening in the kitchen cooking a snack to munch on. Assign different corners of your room (or house) to different activities. Once you get comfortable with the new setting, it will encourage creativity and flow.
Sing and dance - This is self-explanatory. Whenever you feel loneliness tugging at your heart, put on your favourite music and sing and dance your heart out as if no one is watching, because, well they are not.
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5. Take A Break From Social Media
Far from keeping you in touch with other people, social media can often increase your feelings of isolation. Watching your feed being populated with people getting together and having ‘fun’ can make you unconsciously compare your life to theirs and feel as if you are missing out. If that is the case, the ideal thing to do is to tune out the noise.
This is necessary if you want to live a happy life alone without compromising on your own mental health. You will be surprised how much extra time you have to achieve all the things you want to in a given day.
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6. Practice Meditation
Meditation is, by far, the best thing that you can learn to do in your alone time. It not only improves your relationship with yourself but also increases grey matter in the brain, the part responsible for emotional regulation and decision-making.
Meditating enables us to tolerate the times when we are feeling lonely and even learn to appreciate extended periods of alone time. The idea of meditating alone can sound daunting at first, but the practice is accessible to everyone. Carve out 15-30 minutes in a day to just sit or lie silently and observe your thoughts. There are a variety of meditation techniques that you can look up to understand exactly how to meditate.
7. Stay Active
Lack of activity can make us lethargic and moody. Not having other people to engage with can force us into inertia that can be hard to get out of. It is important, then, to consciously do a few activities that keep you active throughout the day. This could include working out at home, focused studying, playing an instrument, or similar things that require effort. Having a daily routine and a goal will help you in this regard, and teach you how to live alone happily long-term.
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8. Be In Nature
Connecting with nature can do wonders to one’s moods and ground oneself in reality. Go for walks in parks or gardens, look up at trees and see how they grow tall while being firmly rooted to the ground, or a flock of birds flying in a myriad formation. Feed a stray dog if you see one and find beauty in the little things that quietly go on around us. Being in nature will help you tune into the intuitive knowledge that we all have about how to be happy alone.
9. Maintain Your Relationship With Other People
While you are finding new ways to learn how to stay happy alone, it is important to keep and maintain your relationship with other people at the same time. If you ca not meet them, call your parents at least once every day, and do not forget your friends either. If possible, organise a video meet with them every few days, know what is going on in their lives, and share your thoughts about your own.
In most likelihood, this period of aloofness will pass and you will be back with your friends and loved ones. So stay in touch with them to better know how to live alone happily without feeling disconnected.
Conclusion
Instead of being a lonely experience, spending time alone can be a time of happiness and growth. Practising meditation, learning new things, making time for enjoyment, and being in nature are some of the most recommended ways to learn how to live a happy life alone and understand yourself all the better for it. We hope you have a fun and fulfilling time by yourself and get to grow in the process too.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
5 things to do when you’re alone are meditation, focus studying, learning new things, staying active, and being in nature.
If you don’t have friends, you can spend time learning new things, enrol in courses, take part in groups with common interests, and focus on your passions.
To be happy alone in school, you can join groups and clubs, do extracurricular activities, be your teacher’s assistant, and work on your hobbies.
To be happy alone at home, spread out and do the things that you like, study without distractions, spend time with your hobbies, and meditate.