2019 was a big year for Organise.Curate.Design., as well as for me personally. I joined the team, moved house, completed placement for university and a whole bunch of other exciting and challenging things.
I learnt a lot last year and now I want to be as prepared as possible to have a fantastic 2020, so here are 5 quick and easy lifestyle changes I am trying to adopt this year and encourage you to try out as well!
Move your body
Exercise is a proven stress reliever, and it doesn’t have to be a dedicated 45-minute weights session. Even going for a quick walk around the block can do a world of difference if you’re having a particularly stressful day, and you’re more likely to want to keep going once you’re actually up and out of the house.
Book a group class that sounds fun, and ask a friend to go along with you, so it’s a good chance to catch up AND have fun moving your body. Some great classes to try are boxing, spin, yoga, pilates, Zumba, or water aerobics!
It doesn’t matter if you do it first thing in the morning, or last thing at night, being active means you’ve made a conscious decision to do something for yourself, and you can go to bed knowing you made at least a tiny amount of time for you.
Water your plants, and yourself!
Being around water is calming. This year I want to spend more time at the beach, swim in pools more, drink more water and need to water my plants more. I am in charge of the plants in the Organise.Curate.Design. Office and have a little reminder on my phone to make sure they’re surviving and thriving.
Hopefully, by making choices to have more beach days & swim with friends when we catch up rather than buying expensive lunches, we can thrive too.
Keep a calendar
I didn’t use an electronic calendar until midway through 2019, and it’s been life-changing ever since. I have a shared calendar with my partner, a calendar just for bills, colour coding for different work & uni commitments, and reminders which follow me until I tick them off.
If you’re not using Google calendar and you feel unorganised or a bit all over the place it is seriously the duct-tape holding my schedule together some days, so please give it a try!
Side Note: If you love the idea of an e-cal but you’re daunted by the initial set-up, have a cheeky look at our Calendar Establish Package, where we can set it all up for you & teach you to use it.
Try to wake up early, even when you don’t have to
At the end of last year, I read a magical book, The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod, and it changed my perspective on getting up and ready for the day.
He teaches you about getting up early and how best to prepare for a successful day, no matter what you’re actually doing. It was motivational and made me excited to set my alarm an hour earlier than I needed to (which I never thought would happen).
I’m still bad at it and often snooze my alarm for some more precious sleep, but I’ve noticed a difference on the days where I get up and going early and how I feel more satisfied with the way I spent my time.
This is definitely something I want to do more, and it’s a pretty straightforward change to make without a lot of effort needed, other than getting out of a nice warm bed when you don’t want to.
Stop spending time mindlessly scrolling Instagram/Facebook/Everything
Social media can be absolutely amazing when used for good, but lately, I’ve found myself scrolling for the sake of it, not really interested or invested in what’s on my screen, and I can’t believe what a waste of time it is.
My partner and I once made a bet that we could go longer than the other without using technology, with the limit set to 48 hours, and when in a position where we didn’t have access to just scroll we were overwhelmed with the possibility of what we could fit into the days. We planned to go hiking, swimming, see our friends, read books, and more. It really opened my eyes to how much we depend on social media to simply fill in time.
The crazy thing is – neither of us actually use social media that much, it’s just become a security blanket for a way to spend time when we’re not doing anything else. Even sitting on our phones checking the news, watching Netflix on the TV, or chatting with friends on Facebook is sometimes time better spent doing something else.
These five things seem pretty small and easy, but I promise – they will make a difference, and I think you’ll like it.
– Ruby x
