The grind ain’t easy. Work-life balance is a thing of the past. No matter how many companies say they, “value”, it, if you’re not on call 24/7 – 365, you live with the fear that someone will snatch your spot in a instant. Job security? Not anymore. There are deadlines to be met, meetings to be had and people contacting you at all hours of the day. It’s as if you never actually get to leave work, so when are you suppose to decompress?
Stress kills, and dying is not an option.
Here are a few very important things that belong in your daily routine if you want to de-stress your life:
- Wake up earlier.
This seems like a terrible way to start, but waking up even 20 minutes earlier will help you breathe before you start your day. Stop grabbing your breakfast on the go and eating uncomfortably on the train or in the car. Sit down, make yourself a cup of coffee and eat breakfast at a table. Plus, eating at home will also help you save more money than you think.
So watch a little tv, sit near a window and take in the early morning sun. These may seem like little things but you won’t feel like your rushing through your day and life if you take a little extra time in the morning. No more tucking and rolling into the shower, enjoy your mornings.
- Go to bed earlier.
This doesn’t mean lay in bed a 9p.m. and scroll every social media site in the world while reading all 28,000 emails in your inbox until 3 a.m. It means go to bed. Nothing that happens from 8 p.m. until the morning is going to be so detrimental that your entire life will be altered. If something like that does occur, someone will call you. Turn off the world and get some actual rest. If you get into this habit, you can scroll the world in the morning while eating you breakfast and drinking your coffee at your table. See how that works?
- Go outside.
If it’s beautiful out, take your lunch to a park. Take a phone call outside instead of in your office. Breathing in fresh air, whether hot, perfect or cold, will help you reset your mind and clear your thoughts for a minute. Offices are filled with recycled air and stuffy cubicles. Adventure into the world and take a deep breath, it’ll feel great.
- Laugh often.
Crazy right? People can go an entire day without laughing. Watch a 2 minute puppy video, tell a stupid joke that you know someone will laugh at just because it’s so stupid. Remember something that was in the, “good Ole days.” Just laugh. We’ve all heard the expression, “don’t take life so serious, no one gets out alive.” Well it’s true. Laughing keeps you healthy and happy. Go on, giggle a little.
- Know that it’s okay to say ‘NO’ sometimes.
FOMO is not real! It’s something that people have let consume themselves with for the purpose of posting on Social Media and Snap Chat. If you’re tired, stay home. If you don’t have the money, don’t stress yourself out by feeling embarrassed you can’t go out to lunch today or you can’t got to brunch on Sunday. There will be other Sunday’s and plenty of other events going on in your life you will be able to enjoy. Stay home on the weekend. Have some friends over with a bottle of wine and cook dinner. Once you realize FOMO isn’t real, your stress levels will decrease immensely.
- Turn off your phone.
THAT’S RIGHT. I said it! Turn off your phone. Not silent, not vibrate. OFF. You need to disconnect so that you don’t get burnt out. Sure there are some jobs that require you to always be on call and that’s understandable, but you don’t need to be talking to someone 24/7. Pick up a book, watch T.V., go for a run without music and listen to the world. It’s refreshing and liberating. If your friends give you an attitude for not answering right away, they have an issue not you. Don’t be a prisoner to your cell phone, we lived before them and we can live without them.
- Do something you enjoy!
If you like to color at 28 years old, color. Read, cook, do a craft, go to the gym, whatever it is, have something that you can look forward to doing everyday. If you live everyday trapped in a cycle, you’ll never be happy. Don’t let life escape you just because you’re trying to make a living.
Maybe not all at once, but slowly start working these ideas into your everyday. You’ll be feeling a little lighter in no time! Sometimes it’s the most simple things that make a world of a difference.
