Melbourne author Annie Medwin on how to survive a break-up in just 7 days

Annie Medwin says there’s no time to waste once your relationship is over — with the right thinking you can be over it in a week.

Catherine Lambert

3 min read

July 23, 2022 - 5:25PM

News Corp Australia Network

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Is there a way to avoid the break-up burn, huddled on the couch, gulping down ice cream and scrolling through the love album in our phone gallery?

Author Annie Medwin believes it’s not only possible to avoid much of that process but to also be back in form after just seven days.

“I believe in time limits and like to move quickly, to get on with doing things,” Medwin says.

“There’s no time to waste but, that said, there are certain things that need to happen after a break-up and the worst period is the first week. That’s the time where you feel the loneliest and all the memories are coming back but it’s also when there are certain things to do which will help.”

It has nothing to do with the relationship’s length, intensity or your age. Medwin says it’s about understanding who you are and what you want.

“It’s really very simple – if you had what you wanted, it would be working and you’d be together,’’ she says.

“I’m pretty blunt but it really all comes down to knowing why the break-up happened, whether you were the right version of yourself in the relationship and what you really want from life.”

Author Annie Medwin.

The Melbourne-based author and owner of a digital marketing agency says the idea for her first book, How to Survive a Break-Up in 7 Days, came when she had just quit her job of 10 years.

She was keen to establish her next career steps, eventually deciding to start her own business.

Reflecting on her “crazy” relationship history and ability to process the fallout, she decided to share her own experiences in a book.

“I like to move quickly and so many self-help books take so long to get to the point, but I wanted to explain it as precisely and sharply as I could,” she says.

She mines her two main relationships as perfect case studies. Her first was from the age of 18-23 when she was engaged to a man who met a lot of people’s expectations, but not hers and she called it off six months before the wedding. He was also determined to be a bikie which helped her decision.

Book cover for How to Survive a Breakup in 7 Days.

The second was an intense, passionate relationship when she was 25 but it became toxic and disrespectful.

“I’m now 150 per cent relieved I broke up with them both and learnt I had no idea how to define my feelings. I wasn’t sure who I was as a person at that time,” she says.

“Once you define your own values, and like and know who you are, it’s so much easier.”

Relationship and life coach and fellow author Jaemin Frazer says a break-up must hurt but will hurt less if you ask two questions:
1. Why did this happen?

2. What does it mean about me?

“What will ruin your life is if you answer those questions with judgment, believing the break-up reflects your inadequacy or proves you’re not worth loving so it keeps you stuck in a cycle of sadness,” Frazer says.

“If you can see that it’s painful but not an inherent reflection of your level of worth and doesn’t mean anything about you, then you’re free to show up to life wholeheartedly.”