January isn’t called the Monday of the year for nothing. With the holiday festivities over, it’s time to pack up the party and get back to business again.
However, let’s face it. New Year’s resolutions aren’t particularly pleasant. Lose weight, hit the gym more often, finish one book a week, etc. They sound pretty noble, but they’re not exactly sustainable for most of us. Hence, a lot of them tend to fall by the wayside before the first month is out.
Fortunately, there are easier ways to try and lead better lives. The following are just a few simple suggestions for doing things a little differently – and a little better – this year.
Read on and check them out!
Exercise on a Monday night.
It’s not like you’d have anything else going on, right?
Reduce impulse buying.
Wait 72 hours before making a purchase. Once the initial excitement subsides and you still want to buy it, go ahead.
When going grocery shopping, take the queue behind the fullest trolley.
It’s secretly the quickest one. Lining up behind a few people with a few groceries can take longer than you think because of the greeting, paying, and packing.
Try the Pomodoro technique at work.
Feeling unmotivated and sluggish? Apply the Pomodoro technique: work for 25 minutes and then take a five-minute break. Repeat as needed.
You can even get one of those cute lil’ tomato timers for added fun. (Fun fact: “Pomodoro” is Italian for “tomato.”)
Kick off Saturday morning with classical music.
It’ll get your weekend off to a calm start.
Limit the time you spend on certain apps.
Spending too much time on Facebook or Instagram? Why not set time limits for your apps? Just go to your phone’s settings and set a limit for each one.
Go for a walk without your phone.
Speaking of staying off your phone, leave it behind when you go for a ten-minute walk or so. It’ll be good for your headspace.
(Just make sure you tell people at home and at work that you’ll be unreachable for a while.)
Stand outside barefoot for a few minutes – even when it’s cold.
You’ll feel more connected to nature, and it can be quite refreshing after a day spent indoors.
Learn basic clothing repair.
Once you’ve learned how to sew on a button or patch up minor tears, loose buttons or tiny holes will merely be minor inconveniences. You’ll save money on your clothes too.
Cook something you’ve never tried before.
It doesn’t even have to be something exotic or complicated. The key is to try something new, and perhaps even to add another recipe to your repertoire.
For instance, here are ten easy recipes you can make with stuff that’s probably in your pantry already.
Breathe deeply.
In through the nose, out through the mouth. Make sure you exhale longer than you inhale. Repeat as needed.
Stop looking at your phone during dinner.
Better yet, don’t bring it to the dinner table. Keep it somewhere nearby if you’re expecting a call, but otherwise, don’t mind it. Try to be more present and mindful at mealtimes. It’ll make each day feel less mechanical somehow.
Buy an alarm clock.
Why? So you won’t need to bring your phone into the bedroom.
Ideally, the bedroom should only be used for sleep and for one other thing I can’t mention on a family-friendly blog. This makes for better sleep hygiene, and better energy in the mornings.
It just might make your relationship better too.
Clear out your inbox.
Unsubscribe from as many email listings as possible. (Not ours, though!) It’ll make your inbox look a lot less cluttered.
Take more cold showers.
Try taking one for 30 seconds to two minutes before you switch to hot water. It’ll do wonders for your mental and physical health.
Don’t wait for a special occasion to wear your favourite clothes.
Enjoy them now. With the Omicron variant sniffing around, you’re likely to stay in more these days anyway.
Besides, it helps to dress up even as you work from home
Don’t slouch.
Try not to cross your legs so much too, and invest in a comfortable work chair.
Better posture = better health = better confidence.
Take more naps.
It doesn’t matter if it’s a 15- minute nap or a 30-minute one. Naps can boost your energy and help give your mind clarity during the day.
Plus, who doesn’t enjoy them?
Be generous with your compliments.
Especially with your team. It’ll do you all a world of good.
Keep a book handy.
So the next time you’re tempted to doom scroll, you can reach for it instead.
Make a playlist with the songs you loved as a teenager.
They’ll make you feel alive again, and isn’t that what we need now that each day feels a little too similar to the next?
Take time to rediscover your why.
Before you get back to the grind, take a day or two to think about why you do what you do. Is it to achieve a specific goal? To prove something to yourself? What do you plan to do once you accomplish that? How would you like the rest of your life to look like?
It helps to begin with the end in mind, and a little clarity is especially ideal when starting a new year.
And while you’re at it, why not try freeing up more of your time, effort, and headspace this year?
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Serena has been working remotely and writing content for the better part of the last decade. To date, she's written for Pepper.ph and Mabuhay Magazine, among others, and has churned out more than a thousand articles on everything from The Basics of Stock Market Investing to How to Make Milk Tea-Flavored Taho at home.
