It's always hard and we know it will take time but eventually you'll get over it and stop wanting to smash a brick into your face just for an excuse to stay in bed.

At some point you'll wean yourself off the Ben & Jerry's, you'll stop with the chick flick marathons and you'll start to say "I'm fine!" again but with meaning and a few octaves lower. Here's how you'll know you're back in top form:

1 You're no longer living in fear of running into him.

Carrie Bradshaw said, "The odds of bumping into the one who broke your heart are incredibly high. The odds of bumping into him when you look like rubbish are even higher."

And rightly so. Once you've severed ties with someone you become this paranoid, over-analytical wreck. You're so terrified of bumping into him that you take ridiculous routes to your destination and drag your friends to rubbish bars and clubs that you usually wouldn't be seen dead in.

You have his weekly timetable engrained in your mind and, even though it's 6pm and he's probably working by now, you still take West Nile Street instead of Buchanan Street just in case he sees you (especially since it's been raining and you don't want to look like a drowned rat the first time he sees you post-break up).

When you start to stop caring about this, you'll know that you're getting over him. You don't care if he sees you in a club while you're wearing eight hour-old shiny foundation because you're too busy being over it. You're having a great time and if he's gonna judge you for looking less than perfect then good riddance because he's obviously a shallow idiot and was never worth your time.

2 You have his number in your phone again.

It's most likely that you went through a stressful phase where you couldn't be trusted to have his name in your phone. You couldn't trust yourself and your friend didn't trust you either. Maybe one of your friends was such a good mate that they confiscated your phone and you broke her handbag trying to get it back so you could phone him while intoxicated (whoops). But there will come again a point when your nights out don't end with you disabling your phone and you'll start to act like a normal, sane human being again. You'll be able to trust yourself with his number just in case you need it one day for something really grown-up like a business enquiry - I mean, you're an independent, single lady and networking is everything.

3 You've stopped listening to 'Jar of Hearts' on repeat.

You know you're totes over it when you stop listening to playlists that only consist of 80s power ballads and depressing karaoke songs. Remember that you're holding out for a hero and, although Jordin Spark 'Battlefield' will always have a special place in your heart, it will no longer bring you to tears at the thought of the time that guy took you out of his top 16 Bebo friends. Love is like a battlefield but you're negotiating that minefield and your heart will go on!