Cognitive restructuring
'Cognition' is a word used to denote a thought or belief, and 'restructuring' involves challenging a cognition by looking at the evidence for or against it. The basic idea behind cognitive restructuring is that thoughts themselves are not facts; you need to consider whether the thoughts you are having are true and to consider whether there are any other ways to thinking about a particular situation. At first this can be a real challenge: we often believe what we think and don't question our own thoughts. However, often our thinking is biased, and with perfectionism it can be biased towards thinking too negatively and harshly about yourself.
The importance of doing pleasant things
As a result of perfectionism, people often find that they fall into a habit of not engaging regularly in pleasant activities. This may be because they are spending so much time on trying to achieve goals that they do not factor in time for enjoyable events, or they feel it is a waste of time to do things that are not directly related to self-improvement.
The problem with this is that everyone needs to have pleasant events in their life on a regular basis in order to maintain a sense of physical, mental, and emotional balance. Doing pleasurable things more often is a simple but effective way to boost mood, improve sleep, and prevent burnout.
Below is a lift of pleasant activities for your to discover or re-discover. There is space at the bottom for you to include your own options. These might include things you previously enjoyed but have stopped doing, or something you might have always wanted to try, or even something small that makes you feel good but costs no money.
Pleasant activities I could include in my schedule
Explore a new part of the city or area of your town
Go to a concert or local gig
Buy a gift for someone
Learn a language
Plan a holiday
Go camping
Do yoga
Build a blanket fort
Pick up colourful leaves in Autumn
Bake treats
Spend time outdoors
Play with a pet
Have a 'spa day' at home
Join a social group
Draw or paint
Light a candle
Cook a meal at home
Play a musical instrument
Have a board games night
Read a book
Sing
Bike ride
Fly a kite at the park
Plant vegetables or flowers
Get in contact with an old friend
Have a picnic
Make the bed with fresh sheets
Try arts and crafts
Get a haircut
Listen to an audiobook
Visit a farm or petting zoo
Buy an ice-cream from an ice-cream van
Create a photo album
Go op-shopping
Arrange an indoor workspace
Play video games
Play frisbee
Watch a sunset or sunrise
Now that you've had a chance to think about a range of pleasant things you could do, add some of them to your time management schedule for the next week. One trick is to not dismiss something as too simple or unlikely to help. Sometimes, the smallest changes make the biggest differences.