In this post, I am assuming that there are areas in your life that are weak spots. You will be able to use these changes to help you to improve your life and make it a happier place to be, whether you are looking for spiritual direction or even organizational direction.
Productivity Changes
Use a calendar to diary things that need to be done. An app or a paper calendar will serve the same purpose. The hardest part of this change is learning to make consultation of that diary a twice daily event. The first time that you refer to it is to help you to organize the day that lies ahead. The second time will be to see how you can manipulate the work you have to do in order to achieve it. For example, if a diary event changes, change your calendar. A meeting may be called off. This gives you opportunity to add something from another day and thus save yourself time.
Split large jobs into smaller and more manageable jobs – If a task is daunting, you will avoid it. However, when split into manageable proportions, setting goals to finish each portion of the job becomes second nature. Use your goal app to help you organize your productivity.
Learn to delegate and to trust work colleagues. This lessens your load and helps you to become more productive.
Allot a certain amount of time first thing in the morning as “quiet” time. During this time do not allow any interruptions to stop your train of thought. Switch off your cell phone and do not look at your emails unless that forms part of the job. The morning is your most productive time. Use it for the difficult tasks and the rest of the day becomes much more manageable.
Sort work into priorities of Urgent, Routine, Non Urgent and that which can be delegated. When you start a job, do not let interruptions get in the way of stopping it. For example if dealing with routine emails when someone comes to your desk, ask them to wait for a moment while you finish the email. A break in your chain of thought uses up time.
Relationships
Learn active listening. This helps you to see things from another person’s perspective. All too often, we interrupt people in the middle of what they are trying to say and this is how miscommunication happens. Learn to listen and learn to have friends who are capable of active listening. This will help your relationships considerably.
Learn to be honest. Even if you think that you will get a negative response, learn to be honest about your feelings. You may have to reword things to suit the particular individual you are talking to, but honesty helps you to stop bad thoughts from building into mountains in your mind.
Give with no expectations of return – Learn to give who you are to the people you care about without adding strings. You will learn the difference between feeling used and feeling helpful. By doing this, you are able to feel a great sense of self-satisfaction that helps your wellbeing.
Learn to say “no” – This is where many people slip up. If you have friends or family who use you, don’t be their doormat. Learn to say “no” and believe in your heart that you are entitled to say it, because you are. You are not responsible for other people’s expectations of you.
Learn to interact with others – We have mentioned that you take on a buddy to help you to reach goals, but social contact with others is essential to your wellbeing. Mix with people and join in with social occasions because this helps you to reinforce positivity within your life.
Finances
Work out your goals and start to save for things you want to happen in your life, even if that saving is minimal. Keep your goals set in your app, or in diary format and be very pleased with yourself when you reach a goal.
Learn to get rid of the unnecessary. Often people are bogged down by possessions that don’t actually give them any long term value. Declutter your home and what you make from selling items you don’t want will help you to save toward your dreams.
Learn to use credit cards correctly. This can help you enormously. If you pay off your credit cards at the end of each month, you gain because it means you can buy things when you need them but that you have planned that expenditure and are not likely to get a bad credit rating.
Know what your monthly expenditure is and balance your bank statements. This helps you to plan. It’s easy to get into bad habits by ignoring the paperwork. By doing this, you are able to live within your means.
Enjoy simple pleasures in life. Quite often, we push ourselves to the limits because we expect to spend money on entertainment. By taking a day out in the countryside or camping instead of staying in expensive hotels, we get back to the basics and it is here that strength of character can be formed.
Organization
To a certain extent, we have covered some of this in the Productivity section, but these organizational habits will help you to make life much easier.
Get the app called LifeTick. The reason this app is so good is because you can include others and that means that the buddy we talked about earlier can be included on your goals. This is a great app for adding goals and if you want your life to be happier, the goals are defined by your own core values. This helps you to set up the goals and invite your buddy so that you can keep track on each other’s goals and keep them going.
Use your calendar app on your tablet or make sure that you have a calendar with sufficient space to add all of your appointments and family events. A calendar is necessary for work and for at home and people who use them find that they don’t have to waste brain space in trying to remember everything. The only thing to remember is to set reminders and to consult the calendar on a regular basis.
Take your personal goals a little at a time. Don’t try to do things which are beyond the scope of your enthusiasm. Thus, supposing you want to clean and organize all of your closets – take one at a time as a small goal and feel happy that you have achieved it, moving onto the next. Make your goals a little harder each time without compromising the possibility of finishing them.
Check in with your buddy – If you don’t have a joint app, make sure that you do check in on your buddy because responsibility goes two ways. You will feel the incentive to be organized because you will be helping your friend to become more organized too and example is the best way to do this.
Make sure that you get “me” time. This may be an hour in the evening when you can meditate or read. It may be an evening out on your own. You need me time, in order to feel refreshed and ready to take on the world. Without it, there is every possibility that you will begin to feel resentment.
Spirituality and Mental Well-Being
Spirituality may not be top on your list at the moment, but feeling spiritually aware helps you to accept life and to see the beauty of it. This doesn’t mean that you are religious. It just means that you have a close connection with the spiritual world and are able to relate to it.
Mindfulness is something that is very easy to incorporate into your life and this will help you to get rid of bad habits. Remember that this moment is the only one that matters. What is past cannot be redone. What lies in the future is anyone’s guess. Be present in the moment and make it count. That means enjoying life to the fullest. Take in the atmosphere of life, enjoy the aromas, the tastes and the opportunities life offers you. Clear your mind of negative thoughts. Observe and learn not to pass judgment. When you can do this, your mind will be peacefully aware of life and able to get back to its spiritual roots.
Peace and Tranquility are important. Try to go somewhere that inspires you. For example, this may be a beach at sunset or a hill from which you can see outstanding countryside. Open your mind to being close to your maker, whoever that may be and soak in the beauty of awe inspiring scenery. It helps to put things into perspective and makes you very whole inside.
Learn to be humble – Humility plays a large role in your mental and spiritual wellbeing. That means being able to give of yourself without expectations of reward. If you are able to help out at the local pet shelter, or even work serving up soup to the homeless, do this as your way of paying it forward, rather than expecting people to praise you for it. Humility helps you to change habits that are negative into very balanced habits that are positive and help you to gain self-esteem and peace of mind.
Feed your soul – In this case, you may be willing to try something such as meditation which helps your mind and body to come together and feel whole, or you may just want to try relaxation, listening to music which you find to be uplifting. If you do decide on either, try to cut out noises which may detract from the experience.
Learn to love yourself – People who love themselves are those who appreciate life the most and are grateful for the life that they live. Self-love is not vanity. It isn’t conceitedness. It is a quiet acceptance of who you are in the order of things. You are a human being with thoughts and Learn to love yourself – People who love themselves are those who appreciate life the most and are grateful for the life that they live. Self-love is not vanity. It isn’t conceitedness. It is a quiet acceptance of who you are in the order of things. You are a human being with thoughts and feelings and when you control who you are and what you like about yourself, you attract others and also attract good things within your life.
Health and Physical Fitness
The following changes are important to your wellbeing. People with self-esteem issues may not respect the basic rules and it’s time to change. The reason change is needed is because these changes make you stronger and more capable of embracing the life that is offered to you.
Respect your need for sleep. This is vital because although you may be unaware of it, your body heals during your sleep time. Your mind also heals and if you are in a negative situation, making sure that you have your eight hours of sleep a night can help you to find solutions, to see things clearly and to feel stronger.
Exercise sufficiently – Many bad habits are formed because of the way that modern people live. With the convenience of the motor car, we tend not to walk anywhere any more. In areas of France, people live well past their nineties because walking is the national obsession. You may not have to take up a trailblazing marathon of any kind, but if you can add a little exercise to each day, you will find that this helps your body to feel better. It makes you more alert and less prone to health isorders that are due to obesity. It also helps those who have arthritic conditions to suffer less. If you don’t like exercise, try an exercise you do enjoy.
Dancing can be a great exercise, as can using a jump rope. If you have a Wii, why not try Wii sports? It’s enjoyable and stops you from becoming a health disaster.
Eating good foods will help you. If you can look into your larder and get rid of all the sodium rich foods that are lurking there, you will find that you will improve your health. Too many carbohydrates are bad and you need to start reading labels when it comes to choosing the food that you buy. If there are too many chemicals, try to avoid buying that particular food. Home-made dressings are much more delicious and you control what you eat, rather than having to put up with foods that may just be doing your body harm.and that includes breakfast, lunch and the evening meal. Relax, enjoy and stop trying to make your digestive system work overtime digesting foods that you have not chewed sufficiently.
Leisure
Your leisure time is important. Don’t waste it by letting work life creep into it. You do need this element of fun in your life because it helps you to build up energy for the less enjoyable parts of your life such as work and financial obligations.
Take up a hobby that makes you feel happy. The happiness factor is important. It doesn’t matter if you are not the next Van Gogh. If you like painting, then don’t be afraid to experiment and enjoy it. Other crafts which are great for those with problems are things such as Zen Doodling. This is enjoyable and provides great fun and if you like artistic endeavors you may enjoy it. Used in hospitals to help patients with mental illness, you simply doodle, but do so in a very organized way. It helps your level of concentration and it also helps your development of patience.
Try to take in new knowledge. Reading is very good for this. If you are not someone who has taken a lot of time reading, it’s time to understand that there are books on every subject on Earth, so you can get books that will be enjoyable. The peace of mind that you gain from reading is amazing. Plus it helps you to open your mind to new learning and that’s always beneficial.
Sports activities may not appeal, but if you enjoy going out on a lake in a boat, do it. There are all kinds of sporting activities that take you close to nature and you don’t have to be a sports fanatic to take part. If you have a cycle and your pal has one too, why not take a picnic lunch to a local beauty spot and give each other the incentive to enjoy that sport. Go roller skating or even ten pin bowling, because all of these activities are leisure activities that combine social skills and physical exercise.
Take time for relaxation – From a spiritual standpoint, this is essential, but even if you don’t see yourself as spiritual, taking time out for relaxation helps to lift your mood and makes you feel positive about life.
Family time – In your leisure time, you have time to mix with family and friends and you should always make sure that your life is not so busy that you don’t put in the time you need to give to relationships with others. Have a few friends over or go to visit them. This social contact helps you to feel better about life and may be just the ticket when it comes to developing new habits that are positive.
Conclusion
You can see from this article that the changes you need to make in your life are simple to make. They are not at all difficult and yet so many people miss the point when it comes to introducing them into their lives.
Your life can be a very happy and healthy place to be. It can be a wonderful opportunity to shine or simply enjoy what time you have with the people that you love. If you go through life with your head in the sand ignoring all of the possibilities that life offers you, it’s not surprising that life offers little in return.
