It’s said that it takes 21 days to form a new habit, but in the case of Jordin Sparks, it took 21 to break one. The actress and singer tells PEOPLE that she allowed herself only the short time frame to move on from ex-boyfriend Jason Derulo.
“I gave myself 21 days,” she told PEOPLE, before explaining her other methods for dealing with heartache. The American Idol alum split from singer Derulo in September after dating for three years.
“I did a video blog, so every day I filmed myself just talking about what I was feeling,” Sparks said. “And it was really cool, because when I went back and watched a couple of them, from where I started to … where I stopped, was such a huge change.”
Sparks, 25, who confirmed her new relationship with rapper Sage the Gemini to PEOPLE last week, said getting past feelings of hopelessness was crucial to her moving on.
“You just think you’re never gonna get up off of the floor, you think you’re never gonna get out of the funk that you’re in and you do, the sun rises the next day, and you get up, and you just keep going,” she said. “That really helped me.”
The singer also advised other women going through rough breakups to find a song that they can sing at the “top of your lungs.” Sparks’ choice? Big Sean’s “I Don’t F— with You.”
Sparks also talked about her Instagram usage in the clip, which inspired her new single, “Double Tap.” Despite the song, which is named after the method of liking a pic on the photo sharing app, Sparks insisted she is “not the best” at Instagram.
“I use like one filter, that’s it,” she said with a laugh. “Put Valencia on that thing and I’m good to go.”