Mix things up - Try the opposite. Have the vegetarian
dish if you always go for the meat. Walk away from a stupid conflict instead of
making it worse. Let one thing go if you often cling to things. Make a habit of
mixing things up to grow your life in small or bigger ways. And to make it easier
and simpler to step out of your comfort zone in general when you really need
to.
Get up 20 minutes earlier - This will help you to
reduce stress in the morning and during the rest of the day.
Be 10 minutes early for meetings and appointments - This
will help you to make your time of travel a time of rest and relaxation instead
of stressful. And you will not be late.
Single-task - You be more focused, less stressed and get
to done more quickly. So do one thing at a time and do it with your full attention.
Ask yourself: am I keeping things extremely simple? If
not, figure out how you can do that in the situation you are in.
Ask yourself: will this matter 5 years from now? Or even
5 weeks from now? Do this to avoid making mountains out of molehills.
Buy things with the money you have earned and saved -
Avoid getting into debt.
Learn a few recipes and cook - You’ll save money and
probably eat healthier.
When you cook, cook more than you’ll eat - This
will help you to spend less time on cooking and washing dishes. And you’ll have
an extra dinner or two to just reheat when you don’t have time or energy to
cook.
Write things down - Pretty much everyone’s memory is
leaky. So help yourself. Write down what you need to do or shop for today.
Write down what your top 4 priorities in life are and post that note where you
can see it every day.
Remember that life is larger than you may think it is - You
do not know everything and you are not always right. Remembering this
makes it easier for me to learn things, to accept other viewpoints, to create
changes and to stay more open.
Risk making mistakes. Learn from them - Then do again
with that helpful new experience and knowledge in mind.
Do what YOU really, really, really want to do - Do not
get stuck in trying to live someone else’s dream.
Go grocery shopping once a week - You’ll save money and
time if you make the effort to plan for a week and to shop for it all at once.
Go grocery shopping when you not hungry - You’ll buy
more healthy food instead of impulse buying yourself through the store.
Enjoy the simple pleasures - An apple, the latest
episode of your favorite show, fresh and clean bed sheets, a hug and kiss,
holding hands, the sun and blossoming nature after a long and cold winter.
Have a glass of water - Instead of eating when you are
bored or when are having a craving have 1-2 glasses of water. This will help
you to keep to those cravings away until the next meal and to maintain your
health and weight.
Eat slower - Make your lunch time a time of relaxation
rather than a time to just add to the stress of your morning. Try putting down
the fork between bites to slow down the eating.
Be kind - Be kind to other people and especially to
yourself.
Write shorter emails - 1-5 sentences is often enough.
Write emails only once a day - Batch and process them
all at once all the way to an empty inbox.
Learn about ways to keep stress down and try them out - Examples
would be mindfulness, setting human standards for you and saying no. A few such
habits can help you to drastically cut down on the stress in your life.
Give everything its home - Then you know where to put
the item when you have used it. You’ll know where to find it when you need it
again. And you’ll reduce the clutter in your home or work space.
Slow down and enjoy and pay attention what is actually happening
today - Instead of just rushing through the day and always on to the
next thing.
Spend more time with people who make life simpler - And
less time with people who make life unnecessarily complicated.
Exercise several times each week - This will reduce stress, up your
energy levels and in my experience reduces negative thoughts.
Unclutter - Unclutter your life of the things that
aren’t really that useful or meaningful for you anymore. Give that stuff away
to someone who needs it. Or throw it out. A question that can help you to know
if it is time to unclutter something out of your life is: have I used this item
in the last year?
Look for advice from people who have been where you are -
Learn from people who have been in the situation you are in and had the
challenge you are having.
Stop trying to please everyone - There will always be
people who you don’t get along with or that do not like you for some reason.
Break a task down into smaller and actionable pieces - Single-task
that first piece until it is done. Then do the same with the next piece. And so
on.
Stop trying to do things perfectly - Go for good enough
instead and when you are there you are done. Get things all the way to done
this way and then move on to the next thing.
Take a minute and just breathe a couple of times a day -
This will help you to reduce the stress and overwhelm of your day. It will help
you to reconnect with the present moment, to create a habit of living more
mindfully and to focus all your attention on what is happening right now.
Spend just 20% of your time on dwelling on a problem and 80% of
your time focusing on a solution - Instead of the other way around.
Focus on a few priorities in your life - Keep things
simple to be able to put enough effort, attention and energy into those most
important things. Rather than becoming spread too thin, rarely finishing
things and being distracted by all those many other things you want to do
or that feel you need to do too.
Keep a journal - By writing the facts and your
thoughts and feelings down in a journal it becomes easier to work through
a challenge and to find a good solution. You can also use a journal to track
your actual results instead of guesstimating how your life is going. And to better
remember all the things that you did well or that went well if you worry often
or have quite a bit of negative thoughts.
Stop doing what you don’t like doing anymore -Life
changes and so do you. If you you don’t like doing something anymore then
perhaps it is time to stop doing that (even if it may take some time before you
can do so by for example switching jobs).
Use a simple workspace - Minimize distractions,
Spend 30 minutes each Sunday to plan the next week -
Write down your plans for the week, organize your prioritized to-do list and get
ready for the week before you are in the middle of it all. This will help you
to find more clarity, get more of the most important things done next week and
minimize stress.
Cancel subscriptions for TV- channels, newsletters and
magazines you rarely get around to watching or reading anyway.
Ask instead of guessing - Reading minds is hard. So,
instead ask questions and communicate. This will help you to minimize
unnecessary conflicts, misunderstandings, negativity and waste or time and
energy.
Make one change at a time and start small -Focus on one
habit or area at a time. If you want to start running or decluttering, start
with doing just a few minutes of that activity a day or week. Then
gradually increase the amount of time you spend on that activity to make
it easier to adopt the new habit.
Relax - By using the tips in this article you’ll be
able to get things done more quickly and in a simpler way. This will give more
time in a regular week to simply be relax. To just take it easy alone or with
family or a friend, to not do much at all. I highly recommend spending time to
relax, to mindfully enjoy the small pleasures of life and to recharge yourself
so that you can be effective and focused again later on.
