We all tend to overcomplicate what it really means to take care of ourselves. The key isn’t to completely overhaul your life in a day. That is just not sustainable. Our goal should be to make small changes over time.
As you begin to practice these small changes over the days, weeks and months, they really add up and can make a huge difference in your life.
Get Organized
I’m not saying that you have to go declutter your entire house or organize your entire life — that isn’t a small change. Instead, I recommend you spend just five minutes a day simplifying. Go through your purse or your wallet and see if there’s anything in there that you don’t need.
Another day, go through your phone and see if there are any apps in there that you haven’t used in months or a year. Maybe another day you can look at your email inbox to see if there are any folders that you need to add or remove to create a more refined organization system.
The process of organizing your life by decluttering and simplifying and then creating systems that work for you can feel really overwhelming and it’s a big and challenging task. But if you divide day by day into small bite size chunks, it really can transform your life and allow you to live with more purpose and intention.
Set a timer for five minutes each day and see how much you can get done in that amount of time.
Give Your Eyes a Break
These days we spend so much of our lives looking at screens. Whether it is a phone, tablet or computer or TV, the time really adds up and can cause a wide range of side effects. Anything from dry eyes, to headaches, to tension and blurred vision.
Fortunately, there is something really small and easy that we can do to help prevent this. It’s called the “rule of 20” — the basic idea is that after you’ve been staring at a screen for 20 minutes, you should look away and focus on something 20 feet away for 20 seconds. That change of focus can create a “reset” in your brain. Studies have shown that it can help prevent some of those side effects.
Slow Down
There can be a big temptation for a lot of us to always be filling up our schedules with something and to constantly be busy. We spend our days going, going, going and it can be easy for us to lose our sense of enjoyment in life. It’s so important that we learn to check in with ourselves and recognize when we’re feeling stressed, worn out, or simply tired.
When you recognize yourself feeling like this, slow down and find out what your body needs in that moment. You can take deep breaths, unclench your jaw, roll out your wrists, and massage any sore muscles.
The key is to become more aware of when we need to slow down and to identify what’s going to help us. Try checking in with yourself more so can slow down in those small moments throughout the day.
Drink Enough Water
It is just a fact of life that we need enough liquids in our body to keep things functioning smoothly. When we aren’t drinking enough water throughout the day, it could lead to a lack of concentration, low blood pressure, dizziness, constipation and the list goes on…
Experts say that the amount of water you need varies from person to person. One way to do this is to let thirst be your guide. In other words, if you’re thirsty, you should drink more water. Make sure you slow down and check in with yourself throughout the day and figure out if you’re thirsty and if you need to drink some water. It just requires a little intentionality and mindfulness on our part.
Get Outdoors
During the past 12 months, most of us have spent more time indoors than we had ever planned to. Getting outdoors and being in nature is one of the most underrated things that we can do for our mental, physical and emotional health.
When we are outside, especially if we are moving, it helps to boost our mood, it sharpens our thinking and it can help us feel more calm and relaxed. When we’re outdoors, it helps put everything in perspective for us. Our big problems don’t seem quite as big and unmanageable anymore.
Stretch It Out
When we’re stressed, or even just sitting in one position for very long, our bodies tend to tighten up. It’s really important that we take time each day to stretch out our muscles and release any built up tension. It’s a good practice to set a few minutes to do some stretching at the beginning or end of your day.
Stretching has been shown to have a calming effect on the body and the mind. It can help you relax and reduce pain, as well as help prevent any tension headaches from occurring.
You can make big changes in your life with one small step at a time.
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