My Daily Victory Routine

My Daily Victory Routine

23 July 2026

source

Stable, comfortable... this is how my days have been lately. For someone who's been diagnosed with anxiety disorder and bipolar for the past 4 years, fought against it, listened to it, and came to terms with it, this is a huge win especially when all things considered—my low moods, agitation, worries, and trouble sleeping. I've seen better days for sure but until recently, my mind had been anywhere and everywhere but at peace. 

I learned that to keep track at how I'm getting better is to notice and appreciate the daily victories I accomplish, no matter how big or small, regardless if they're something others could do in a switch or take more mental load to do. I celebrate it all and I try to stay consistent with it for as long as I can on a weekly and monthly basis. Of course, I'll be real, it didn't start out smoothly when I tried to give this a shot the first few times. 

I was unceasingly insecure with myself versus how my peers were doing. Gosh, I was so insecure at watching friends having bigger lavish weddings (despite me being completely happy for my own intimate wedding with close friends and family), celebrating their first or second child, seeing off their kids in kindergarten (we're at that age now, gosh we're such adults now! I still can't wrap my mind around it), harvesting a mini garden in their apartment balconies, hiking up mountains and appreciating the breathtaking view at the top, travelling around the world, job promotions... endless monumental moments worth to be happy about. 

All these milestones versus my struggle to even get up in the early mornings, something I used to stumble to keep up, felt so despairingly worlds apart. I couldn't even envy them, because I wasn't sure I was in the right headspace or had the faculties to even do the same great things. It used to bother me a lot back then, so much so, that I felt it was pointless to put effort into anything because things wouldn't work out like they always did. I had/have regrets, perhaps if I had better focus, I could accomplish these successes. But there wasn't any point to wishful thinking when I didn't want to change myself first.

So I started small, I started from scratch. From there, I pushed one foot forward, contemplate how I felt about it, and then put another step ahead. These are some of the small wins I observe that got to where I am now:

Sleeping & waking up early

source

Like I said in my latest update article, I used to sleep really late in the night during my mid-twenties. I'm talking like 3-4 a.m., wake up with dark circles and still not enough sleep to get through the day. For some reason, my circadian system has reverted to default settings over time (thanks to medication, regular eating times, etc.) and I'm sleeping max at 12 a.m. or earlier these days. I can barely keep my eyes peeled open to scroll through TikTok now, glossing over book hauls and TBR videos. With earlier sleep, I’m up and running in the mornings (figuratively speaking). My head instantly buzzes with plans for the day. Getting that headstart feels incredibly refreshing, like I have total control over how things will go. 

Tip: Ever since I sleep with a big comfy cooling blanket, my sleep has improved by a thousand times. I don't wake up to cold sweat in the AC or a stuffy duvet. They're also very ideal for quick naps during hot afternoons.

 

Drinking a cup of coffee

source

I used to deny myself from drinking coffee like it was the plague, only because I tasted bad ones in my younger days (black coffee just isn't it). But I've come to realise I AM that type of morning person who needs a little "boost" to really start her day on the right track. I just feel like a cup of coffee sets my mood on a brighter note and that I have something slightly bittersweet and pleasant to sip as I tick off small tasks or read new Substack articles to fuel my inspiration to write my own. I can go on without coffee on certain days but it's an added bonus to have my reliable, iced mocha in hand anyways.

Reading articles from other writers & authors

source

I AM SO GLAD I FOUND OUT ABOUT SUBSTACK this year. It's like the social media and blogging platform for people who like to read and write, talk about writing, share essays, recommend books, and romanticise just writing itself. I love it. I discover brilliant writers who are everyday people or real authors who have published actual books, and them sharing about their life, the beauty of its mundane pace and activities, sometimes shocking and bold articles about certain topics, feminism. All the good stuff I wish I knew of earlier. I get to improve on my own rusty writing too especially on days when I'm running low on inspiration fuel to run. Aside from reading books, this is also a good place to read.

My favourite piece is this when I'm in a writing rut:

You're not out of ideas, your brain just needs a smoke break by Writing Club

Easy, magical strategies for when you "don't know what to write"

Read on Substack

Reading 100 pages a day

source

On average, a person can read between 40 to 60 pages of a novel in an hour. Technically, I can do that except... I have the worst attention span known to mankind. So my daily reading goal is to hit 100 pages per day so that I have space to get side-tracked and still come back to complete the objective. I've set to complete reading 20 books this year and if I keep up with the current pace that I'm on, I'm ahead of my goal.

Window-shopping at bookstores

source

Okay so this specific part of my routine is more of a bi-weekly thing. I used to visit my favourite shop every week but since I have zero self-control on the books I buy, I've limited to just the weekends or when I'm dying to stretch my legs on a random idle workday. My favourite section is definitely the classics—I love, LOVE when the protagonist is a woman and the story is coming from her perspective. 

These are, in my opinion, the best bookstores to take your time and browse:

• Kinokuniya Bookstore KLCC and Damansara Heights
• MPH Bookstore TRX
• The Sunway Library by BookXcess
• Tsutaya Books

That’s my day in a nutshell, but I want to hear from you—what’s your favourite daily ritual? Leave a comment below and share your routine!

I'm good at losing things

I'm good at losing things

14 July 2026

 

Photo by Said E on Pexels.com

I'm so done with myself that I'm willing to sit down in the corner and contemplate on what I have done. Or let happen.

For context, I've been on a many year streak of not losing my belongings carelessly as I did when I was a teenager—entire sets of school uniform, shoes, expensive bookmarks, water bottles (I know this happens very often in general), my purse (!), etc. It's gotten so bad that I wondered if there was something wrong with me in the head. Well, maybe I do, what with the bipolar and anxiety disorders thing, what's one more diagnosis to explain some of the things I do that I have mistaken for a quirky personality or other. 

But this ONE, I simply can't brush it off because it involves permanently losing items and when totalling the cost of replacing them... I don't even want to go there. Let's just leave it at that. The point is, I've always had this habit of forever losing things: whether it's from my personal body like in my hands or pockets or scattered in my environment. I either lose them or mix-match them for something else, and by the time I realise that they're missing, it's too late. I'd be too far away from them or they're taken.

Is this ADHD talking or ...?

So, my psychiatrist and I have a hunch that it may be ADHD, but before we can truly confirm this, I need to run through a test with a psychologist, and all this would take time to arrange. Losing very personal valuable items too often is one of the symptoms, among others. 

In the meantime, I just lost my brand-new purple bottle that I JUST bought over the weekend. I swear, it's the cutest 1,300 ml piece of plastic I've ever owned—it has a sipper plastic straw, a place to hang my pretty charms, and pink highlights going all over the bottle. It's different than the other industrial looking bottles I own, okay. That's just what I want to say and I lost it. 

By the counter. 

Basically, within 24-hour of filling the water bottle up and using it roughly twice, I have lost the said item.

Lmao, it looks something like this but smaller, in purple and got space to put cute charms!

As much as I am frustrated with myself, I won't blame it on me too hard. I've done that for too many years and it's obviously not helpful nor healthy. Losing things doesn't mean it's because I have little regard with my belongings, but according to psychology, it's an alarm bell for having an overwhelmed cognitive system.

• Attention Regulation: This is my brain's director which decides what gets my immediate attention. While I was putting my handbag down at the counter to confirm with the staff my identity before retrieving the meds, I placed my bottle beside it with my other hand. I barely registered this happening because I was too nervous to speak and arrange my things at the same time. I don't even remember when I put my bottle down.
• Executive Functions: These include high-level management skills that usually are helpful for planning, organising and completing tasks. However, when they are overwhelmed, getting things organised smoothly can be impossible. Being in a queue for something always freaks me out and maybe that time it got to me bad. I don't like feeling like I'm being rushed (nobody was rushing me though) and I was tired from waiting.

I usually have a system in place for this sort of situation: to calm down, breathe and stop panicking, and stick to the routine of taking things slowly. Perhaps this is that one time when it fails and I just have to own it and move on. As the saying goes:

Getting a handle on losing things is a process of compassionate trial and error.

I'll just get another water bottle. In pink next time.

My Brain Has 47 Tabs Open (And None of Them Contain a Map)

My Brain Has 47 Tabs Open (And None of Them Contain a Map)

Photo by Darya Sannikova on Pexels.com

Once, I invited my sisters for a girls' hangout and we wanted to lunch at this one restaurant we thought would be cool to try, except that there was a catch. Out of the three of us, I've been to this mall a million times and so I should know this place by heart, right?

Wrong. 

I had a rough idea of where this place was, but we ended up walking wearily for ages, even caught ourselves walking in circles once, so we resorted to using Google Maps. Inside of a mall. We somehow did find the place, thank God.

Another time, I wanted to meet my husband during his lunch break at work but I couldn't find my way to his office although he showed me the path tons of times. I remember when he showed me the first few times but the moment the tour was over, and it was up to me to independently manoeuvre myself through the crowd and find what I was looking for, I got lost once again. Several phone beeps later, he picked up, I told him what happened, and he fetched me quickly from wherever I was based on the landmark I could recognise.

I can recount all the times similar incidents happened involving me being lost in supposedly familiar places throughout my life. Instances like getting on the wrong train from the wrong platform, not knowing where the car is at the parking lot, tripping over absolutely nothing while walking, accidentally hurting my fingers or elbow from hitting something mid talking, misplacing objects I just held in my hands, among others. 

I couldn't explain to people who thought me strange because I frustratingly couldn't understand it myself. I just assumed something isn't right with me or heck, maybe it's just part of my personality. Except only when it happened a lot more often than usual and I was seeing patterns, then blurted it out to my psychiatrist did they locked in on that info and pressed me further on what was going on.

Spatial Awareness and ADHD

Okay, big words. But I'll cut them down to smaller chunks.

Spatial awareness is basically your brain's GPS where it helps you to know where you are based on the things around you.

Now add ADHD to that? The GPS would still work... just barely.

People with ADHD have a different way in how their brain processes spatial information especially in the department of understanding space, distance, and where the body is in that space. 

What happens when it isn't working like it should? You get ✨ADHD clumsiness✨

If you're often blaming yourself for being careless or clumsy as I have for half my life, then you shouldn't be. These are not signs of laziness or you not paying attention... our brains simply work differently.

There are plenty of strategies to improve spatial awareness, but I’m still a work in progress. I’ll definitely share the ones that actually work for me once I’ve tested them out! For now, though, I’m focusing on cutting myself some slack when I lose my way. If you’re in the same boat, remember: there’s no shame in needing a little help, even if it’s just navigating to your favorite store. You aren't alone in this, and you definitely don’t have to have it all figured out right now.