Routine vs Variety.

What are your daily activities like?

Some people value routine and predictability in doing the same set of activities daily.

Others prefer spontaneity and variety in their day-to-day life.

What about you?

For some of us, following the same routine every day may eventually end up being boring and dreadful.

But ideally, it’s best to live a routine life that leaves some room for spontaneity to happen.

Routines simplify our lives and automates decision-making.

While variety spices things up and keeps life fun.

So implement routines but have some room for variety.

Dealing With Uncertainty.

We get upset when things don’t go our way.
We get upset when things go wrong.
We get upset when things turn out for the worse.

And we fret over situations and stressful events that we have no control over.

But all of these do nothing except worsen our mental health.

There’s no point being upset over things we have no control over.

Expect the worst in every situation.

And accept that not everything will go the way we like it.

Because we’re less likely to be emotionally affected then.

“Uncertainty is the only certainty there is, and knowing how to live with insecurity is the only security.”
– John Allen Paulos

Having a Consistent Sleep Schedule.

Get up and go to bed at the same time every day.

This helps more than we realise.

The body thrives on predictability.

Because we’re hardwired to hate uncertainty.

This applies to a lot of things in life too.

It’s why things such as morning and night routines exist.

The more consistent your sleep schedule is, the more your mind and body are in harmony.

Improve your sleep hygiene.

Exercise.

No matter how busy life gets, here’s a random reminder to set aside some time for daily exercise.

It could be a short walk in the nearby park.
It could be just 5 minutes to do some squats.
It could be an hour of a full workout.

As long as you get some daily exercise in.

If you notice that you’re too busy to exercise, that’s probably when you need it most.

Caffeine Supplementation.

Caffeine is perhaps one of the most popular sources of energy.

You probably know it best from drinks such as coffee and energy drinks.

But there are also other sources of caffeine that are not as well-known such as caffeine pills.

Supplementing caffeine has a ton of benefits too.

Caffeine boosts energy and productivity.
Caffeine improves athletic performance.
Caffeine also relieves headaches and migraines.

While there’s nothing wrong with caffeine supplementation, take care to limit your daily dose to a maximum of 400mg.

That’s roughly about 4 cups of coffee.

As with everything, use caffeine in moderation and don’t overdo it.

Use it responsibly and it will serve you well.

Feeling Sluggish.

It’s tough to pinpoint the exact cause of our sluggishness.

So we should aim to do all of the following as much as we can.

Sleep more.
Sleep better.
Exercise more.
Eat better.
Drink more water.
Reduce stress.
Do things you love.

A healthy person is an energetic person.

Sleep Better With This Technique.

When you’re lying on your bed and getting ready to fall asleep, try out this technique to help you sleep better.

Count whenever you inhale and exhale.

For example,

Inhale: 1.
Exhale: 2.
Inhale: 3.
Exhale: 4.

Keep counting and see how far you can go before falling asleep.

To make things even more interesting, challenge yourself by setting a target number to count to such as 500 and see if you can reach it.

This technique is brilliant because it helps you relax and prevents unwanted thoughts from popping up since your mind is focused on counting.

Try it tonight and see how it goes.

Slow Down.

Moving about frantically anxiously burns up energy.

Just think of a laptop.
High-performance settings will drain the battery very quickly.
Low-performance settings will allow the battery to go on for much longer.

But the difference for a human is that performance also suffers as our energy depletes.

We become more unproductive the more tired we get.

We become tired a lot quicker.

So conserve energy as much as you can.

Slow down.

“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.”
– Lao Tzu

Listen More, Speak Less.

The person who listens most benefits the most from an interaction.

They’ll gain a lot more knowledge.
They’ll make the person talking feel valued.
They’re less likely to reveal anything or say something dumb that they might regret later.

And people will actually listen when they speak.

So develop genuine curiosity in others.

Listen more than you speak.

“We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.”
– Epictetus

Inspiring Others.

Let your actions speak for themselves.

Inspirational people lead by example.

And so should you.

Don’t be that person who’s always ordering others around without doing an ounce of work.

Don’t be that person who’s wishing things would be different without putting in any effort

Don’t be that person who’s always giving advice that they don’t follow.

When you lead by example, others go, “If he/she can do it, so can I.”

Act first.

“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”
– Mahatma Gandhi