When I first moved to Philly, I was so excited to spend time with friends, go out on the weekends and planning to have a very busy social calendar throughout the summer. There are some weekends that I hop from one plan to another and go to bed Sunday night exhausted, but grateful that I got to fit so much into one short weekend. Then there are some rough weeks at work and I just want to spend Friday night alone on the couch eating chips and salsa. I love to spend as much time with friends as possible, but I have learned that I need to also learn how to spend time alone. Since I live in an apartment by myself, there is a lot of time alone with Netflix sitting on the couch during the week. On weekends that I don’t want to over schedule with plans, I need to find things to do with just myself. This summer, I don’t have a significant other to spend time with to do things with, but that should not prevent me from taking myself out or doing things alone. Since this year I am all about saying yes to everything, I needed to learn how to do things by myself and feel comfortable first. 

Eat By Yourself

This for me was a bit scary at first to do on my own, but after I did it once it got easier to do the next time. I still bring a book with me just to have something to do while I eat, but most of the time I really do enjoy the silence. Depending on the weather, I will get food to go and eat outside on a park bench enjoying the sunshine.

Be a Tourist

This was one of the first things I did when I moved back to Philly because I knew the area a little bit and wanted to become more familiar with it. I would go on long walks around the city and get a better idea where everything was. My plan for August is to go to Museums even if I cannot find anyone to go with me. I try to go on a long walk at least once a week around the city as I get more familiar with the city.

Spend time in the kitchen learning how to cook for one

I cannot tell you how many times a week I just eat chips and salsa for dinner and rarely turn on my oven. Luckily, I have a Trader Joe’s on my way home from work and they have great, easy to make dinners that only take a few minutes to make. This winter though, I want to get back to actually really cooking dinner at night again because I feel bad for not remembering the last time I turned on my oven!

Go for a Walk

After a few months without my Fitbit, I am finally back to counting steps again! My goal of 10,000 is easy to achieve with my walk to and from work, but I want to get a few more steps in throughout the day. It is something I can easily do on my own and with a good playlist, I like to extend my walk home from work by another 20 minutes just to enjoy the golden hour in the evening.

Create a Garden

One of the hardest parts about moving to a city is missing the garden in my backyard. It was always overflowing with flowers and it was one of my favorite parts of the backyard. I am hoping to put together some greenery on my balcony to bring some life to the apartment. My parents also bought me a plant for my apartment and I am hoping I don’t kill it! Since I can’t keep plants alive that long, I picked up some fake floral arrangements at Homegoods for the apartment and I love the way they look, but I love the zero effort maintenance more!

Farmers Market

Grab a tote bag and a cup of coffee as you go to the farmers market. With fresh produce in my kitchen, it always gives me an extra incentive to actually cook before it all goes bad. Or if you don’t have a farmers market nearby, head down to the local Whole Foods and do a quick grocery shop or get ingredients to make a salad. The whole point is to start your day moving and finding an excuse to get up and go not wasting your day indoors.

Read a Book at a Coffee Shop

This is something I plan to do a lot in the winter months when it is too cold to do anything outdoors. One of my favorite things to do is to explore new coffee shops and now it gives me the perfect excuse to hide away from the cold with a good book.

Layout in the Sun

Luckily, my building has a pool and a courtyard and I need to schedule time each weekend to lay out and get some sun. You don’t realize how much you miss the sun until you are stuck in an office all day without it! All I want to do on Saturday mornings is read a magazine out by the pool.

Organize your Closet

The next time you say you are bored, put a show on Netflix to binge and go through your closet. This is something I still do each month and I am constantly keeping my closet and dressers organized.  More importantly, if I don’t love a piece of clothing, I remove it from my closet. It makes getting dressed so much easier in the morning too when I know everything is wearable and it all can look good.

Clean your Apartment

My apartment has been so messy lately and a big reason for that is because I just don’t have the time to straighten it up. Sometimes my alone time is dedicated to throwing some laundry in, straightening up the living room and wiping down my kitchen. This week, I am going back to spending a half hour to clean my apartment before bed. I try to make it a rule that I don’t just sit on the couch when I have the TV on, but make myself do something else productive at the same time.

See a movie or go to an event by yourself

I started to feel like I was missing out on things because I didn’t have someone to go with and then I realized that I don’t need someone else to go. This is all a part of my self-love journey and feeling more comfortable with doing things alone. The same reason that other people cannot be responsible for your happiness applies to not seeing a movie you want to see because you have no one to go with.

Workout

I try to work out at least once a day even if it is just for 20 minutes. It gives me something to do and the extra boost of energy keeps me moving the rest of the day. If you are someone who doesn’t like to be alone, I highly encourage just going to the gym. At work, if someone asked me what I did the previous night I can always say that I went to the gym because it sounds so much better than I sat at home with my cat!

Spa Day

Sometimes we need to get out of the apartment and all of our friends are busy. I know for me that I don’t like to sit still for long, so I like to go out and get my nails done or maybe go for a massage somewhere. We prefer to get pampered alone, so it gives me something to do by myself that doesn’t require other people.