The No-contact Rule

This is an obvious one, but possibly the hardest to put into practise. No matter what, you must not contact him. Try to stop thinking about wanting to keep in touch with him as a positive thing. Speaking to an ex before you are over them will only hinder your recovery from the break up, it won't help you in any way. This might mean you have to ask them to stop contacting you too. To make this as easy as possible for yourself, it is best to cut all ties with him where possible. Delete his Facebook (block him if necessary), unfollow him on twitter, delete his number.

Any time you feel like giving him a quick text, call or message...DON'T! Remember why you aren't together anymore. Call a friend or family member, or even write in a diary instead. Keeping in touch with him whilst you are still recovering will draw out the healing process, for both of you. You are strong enough to resist the temptation of contacting him, and you'll feel much better for not speaking to him. Eventually the urge to speak to him declines, this is a really important part of getting over someone. It's very difficult to move on when they are still a part of your life, and it's so important to be happy with your own company. You can do this!

Remember the bad as well as the good.

Those rose tinted glasses really get in the way of moving on sometimes. It is too easy to remember all of those lovely times together, which by no means do you want to erase from your memory. However, it is important to remember that there were bad times too. You did break up for a reason; it wasn't as rosy as you keep reminding yourself.

Take him off the pedestal you've put him on, and bring him back down to reality; he isn't the perfect man for you. If he was, you would still be together.

This recurrent reminiscing is allowing you to dwell on the break up, which needs to stop. You're drowning in the past, and need to think ahead; to a positive future, as well as making the most of here and now. Stop thinking about what was and what could have been - there clearly were issues within the relationship that couldn't be fixed. It wasn't meant to be. This isn't a bad thing - it's a blessing! Now that you're single, the perfect man can find you! And even better, you're now liberated of a relationship that wasn't working.

No matter how much you focus on the beautiful memories you have with him, you know there were bad times too. Whenever you find your self dwelling on happier times with him, remember 5 things that you didn't like about him, and think about different qualities that you'd like to find in your next relationship.