So, you’ve been on a couple of blood-pumping, heartfelt, romantic dates with a charmingly captivating guy. After a few good weeks, everything seems to exert a happy, luminous glow. You hear from him every day and you can’t help but swoon at those oh-so-cheesy kissy face emojis.

Then, out of nowhere, comes the dead period. Slowly but surely, the emojis stop coming, as do the texts. Eventually, you stop hearing from your man altogether. Now you—confused and some what hurt—focus on the bad side of this sudden behavior. You start to think, “What did I do to ruin it?” and “What do I do now?”

People tend to invest a lot in the first stages of dating and when this dreaded dead period comes, the fear of rejection kicks in. Then comes the awful move that you may mistakenly make: the text.

“Hey, haven’t heard from you in a while, wondering where you’ve been.”

You still don’t hear from him after this, so you decide to take your energy and text him a couple more times. Here’s some advice: Leave it and focus that wasted energy on some fun, yet simple, things in this life, such as flirting, shopping, working out etc.

Create a Tinder and obtain some ego-boosting matches

Tinder has received a high popularity rate among today’s youth. While the app showcases a dating feel, most people concur that Tinder is used as more of a hookup venue. You may not want that scene, but you can use it for a major ego boost. Nothing gets that repressed confidence going than getting some cute matches and flirty messages. Local Tucsonan and UA alumnus Siddartha Sundaranand expressed this ideology fully.

“I don’t necessarily go on Tinder with the intention of hooking up with any of these people,” Sundaranand said. “It’s just nice to match with attractive people who also find you hot. I go on there whenever I’m feeling out of it. Call it pretentious, but I call it fun.”

Go to your favorite restaurant and hit on the waiter

This one may seem a bit risky, as there might be a chance of rejection, but you’ll feel much better about the fact that you tried. If you’re too afraid of making an in-person move, write your number on the receipt so you can deck out of the door before you see his facial expression. It’s also fun to note guys love when women have confidence in what they do. Just ask local Tucsonan and UA alumnus Alexander Umanzor-Perla.

“There’s nothing sexier than a woman who shows what she wants,” said Umanzor-Perla, “Let’s say that my bro tells me he wants to introduce me to a girl friend of his. If she’s all shy and insecure, but obviously is interested in me, I’d be more inclined not to like her, as she does not showcase any self confidence in how she presents herself.”

Go to the gym without your phone

This may force you to resort to your old iPod days filled with high school playlists that are still satisfying and embarrassing, but it is definitely well worth it. Creating space from your phone allows you to live in the moment fully and it takes away the temptation of constantly checking to see if he finally texted you back.

Clean your room … It needs to be done

When life starts to feel a little cluttered, it’s important to take the time to clean out your space. You are constantly growing as an individual and your room should reflect this.

Explore downtown’s shops, apartments and restaurants

Get lost in the Tucson culture for a day as you explore downtown’s restaurants, shops, bars, music and art events. There is so much to see and do, making downtown is the perfect distraction.

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