Image by: By FLik
By Charlie DeWitts
Laziness is always a habit we fall into easily. After a few stressful days, you might want to stay on the couch more and more. Netflix and other online options can persuade us to just relax, just for a bit. BAM! Now it’s two hours past your usual bedtime and you already know you’re going to have a problem staying awake tomorrow. Oh, and did you forget that meeting you have next week at six? Disorganization and sloth go hand-in-hand, and eventually things will begin to slip by you.
It doesn’t have to always be like that, however. I’m not talking about changing your entire lifestyle, just some small tweaks that will be guaranteed to make you a happier person. A bold claim, I know. If you stay tuned though, you’ll see it’s not as hard as you think to pull yourself out of this slump and work towards something you really want to do.
#1) Start Your Day Off Right
Barring any unusually-scheduled jobs that involve graveyard shift, the most ideal time to start your day is obvious: the morning. You don’t have to rise with the sun, but you’re better off giving yourself an hour or two before you have to get ready and go to work to get ready for the tribulations ahead. Give yourself time for breakfast, and maybe a workout. If you already work out later in the day, do some small exercises just help you wake up.
Things like jump roping, jogging or other activities will give great benefits to your day on every level, even if you only do it for ten minutes. You want to have this extra time before you scramble to work, because after that eight hours of your life is stolen, you’ll be too tired to do anything. So take this extra time to take care of you.
#2) Scheduling is Necessary
No, you don’t need to plan out every facet of your day. Just some of the important parts. It’s always helpful to have a rough idea and time of when you plan on eating meals, especially if you’re trying to eat more healthy. Having designated times where you eat makes it a lot easier to avoid straying for that mid-afternoon snack. This is why it’s always recommended to cook your own food, since you have to plan out how you’re going to get that delicious dinner.
Even though you have a calender in your phone, it’s still not a bad idea to buy one for your house or office for appointment purposes. If anything, writing it at least once and occasionally looking in the general direction of your physical calender will make you not need to set an alarm for that important meeting. Forgetting about things until only a few hours or days prior to the event will still add just as much stress as remembering it last minute. Especially if you have to prepare something.
It’s most important to schedule things so you can give yourself that precious you time. We all need some alone time once and awhile, or maybe a chance to catch up on our latest show. This will also give give you a small goal to look forward to, if you like relaxing as much as I do.
#3) Be Just a Little Productive
If you want a new job,you should build a habit around working on your resumé at least an hour every night or two. Once it’s completed, that hour or two can now be dedicated to sending your dreams to jobs elsewhere. If you want to lose a little weight or keep a cleaner castle, make it a goal to complete. It’s hard to keep ourselves from putting things off until tomorrow, but if you can just do a little bit each day, you’ll find it’s more rewarding than just doing nothing at all.
And that’s really the trick to this whole positive habit-forming idea. If there is something you’ve been wanting to do, do it. You have to build it into your routine. It’ll be a little shaky at first, you may even slip up, but it’s OK. Making yourself a better person isn’t accomplished in a half hour like on TV, it’s done over a lifetime. So why not start tomorrow?
How do you improve your life? We all have little tricks, I usually reward myself with a little downtime for reading or maybe a video game. How about you?