Alex Aster is the managing editor of The Newsette, and, as a part of our new “Ask Alex” series, she tackles some of our readers’ most pressing questions, in an effort to bring a new perspective to the table. Today, Alex answers a question about self-care.

Q: Dear Alex, I’m twenty-five, living in a big California city. I have a great—demanding—job. And no matter how much I know that I should take time for myself, I always end up in a destructive spiral during non-work hours, spending forever on Insta (leaving my eyes and head hurting), or watching shows I don’t even really like. I want to do things in my free time that leave me feeling mentally refreshed and energized, but don’t really know where to start. What would you suggest?
A: Self-care is a trendy term—and also an important one. Even though it’s alluring to view free time as wide-open, chameleon-like minutes you can fill doing whatever you want, it’s helpful to think of these moments as needing a bit of structure too, to make them more meaningful. So, how do you spend your free time enjoyably, but also efficiently? By partaking in habits that feed your soul. Yeah, I said feed your soul. That might sound really strange–I don’t really use the word soul too often–but one habit that has transformed my mornings and evenings is the following: every time I’m doing something for more than ten minutes, I ask myself, is this feeding my soul? Aka, is this activity benefiting my being in some meaningful way? Is this book I’m reading going to put me in a positive headspace? Great. Is this scary movie going to make me afraid of any dark corner in my apartment? If yes, I’m definitely not watching it. I find I regret time spent when I’m only thinking in the short term (as in, right now I want to watch this super long string of Instagram stories). These decisions can lead to regret later on, like when your head hurts and you realize you spent an hour basically doing nothing.
So, spend your time doing something that feeds your soul, whatever that may be. Read, do a face mask, call your family, take a walk, book a workout class. Good luck!