How to Create a Life-Changing Routine

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When you think of routines, do you think of words like – boring, inflexible, rigid, and stressful?

What if I told you that your routine could actually be fun, flexible, reliable, and an important driver in your life.

All of us have routines – even if we don’t realize it.

Maybe you wake up and check your social media sites – that’s a routine.

Maybe you watch TV as soon as you get home from work – that’s a routine as well.

All of these bad habits that we’ve accumulated usually make up a big portion of our life. We just think of them as bad habits – not the accumulation of a bad routine.

This article will flip the way you think of routines and will give you the tools needed to start living a happier, more fulfilled life.

The Rules

Before we get into the nitty-gritty, I’d like you to take a look at the four rules I personally implemented when starting my journey.

The First Rule

The first rule to building a fabulous routine is to understand that creating a new routine means breaking bad habits – which is hard. 

Whoever said creating a life-changing routine would be easy was lying.

Have you ever tried to break a bad habit before – like smoking? It’s really hard but once you quit, you never want to go back to the way it was before. Your entire perspective on smoking changes for the better.

The Second Rule

You actually need to follow all of the steps outlined in this post. At first, it may feel overwhelming – but even just implementing a single thing into your routine every few days will make a difference.

Try and forget all of your previous ideas of what should make up an ideal routine and focus within yourself. What do you want out of this routine? Why do you want a routine so badly? What should this routine accomplish for you? 

Knowing this will help you to stay focused and motivated when you start to feel overwhelmed about the idea of following a routine.

The Third Rule

Are you one of the individuals who try something new and quit after things get hard? 

The most important thing for a routine is consistency. Even if you don’t accomplish what you’re wanting – just showing up is more important.

Remember, this routine is to make your life better. Always show up for yourself even if you don’t want to.

If you struggle with consistency, you can scroll down to the ‘Four Struggles of Routine’, I go more in-depth.

The Fourth Rule

You have to accept that failure is a part of the process. You are not going to be perfect and never fail. 

Failure is a sign that something in your routine isn’t working. So instead of taking it personally – look at it through the lens of improvement.

Why isn’t it working? Is there something you’re not doing? Is there something else you could do instead? 

Don’t bash yourself – love yourself enough to improve.

When I first started implementing a routine in my life, I was irritated. Watching YouTubers and reading articles about how routines changed their life motivated me, but I kept feeling unsure of myself. Why are others able to keep a routine but I can’t? Am I broken?

It weirdly felt as if I needed an expert to build a routine for me – because creating one myself seemed impossible.

I even at one point completely gave up on the prospect of creating a routine for myself because I believed it just wasn’t for me.

As you can tell – this is no longer the case.

I have come a long way in just two short years of experimentation about all things productivity, and now I have the privilege to talk and teach others about my experience.

I hope you stay for this entire post because I believe that your perspective, experiences, and life will be changed for the better.

Take Responsibility for Yourself

After too many failed attempts at creating amazing routines for myself – I finally decided to make a change. I decided that I would not give up on myself and I would keep trying until I figured out how to make it work.

Most of us aren’t taught how to manage our time, hold down jobs, be productive while happy, or have consistent daily routines. And some of us weren’t raised in an environment where these ideals were displayed to us.

As irritating as these experiences were when we were children, we’re now adults. It’s time that we decide to teach ourselves the things that we were failed to be taught. And most importantly – take responsibility for our happiness.

Because that’s what you’re signing up for when you create a life-changing routine – a fulfilled and happy life.

At this moment in time, I can whole-heartedly say that the benefits of a routine are worth the confusion and difficulty when first starting them.

I’m able to consistently follow my routine every day. Not only am I consistent, but I enjoy it and find it comforting. Just because I’m consistent doesn’t mean that I don’t have to deal with unexpected events. But the great thing is – I know exactly what to do when these things happen.

Honestly, where I’m at in this moment feels exactly where I’m supposed to be.

I hope that by creating your own personalized routine, you’ll feel this way as well. You will be consistent with a realistic and easily followed routine. It will also be flexible enough for many different types of dreams, goals, and ambitions that you have. 

How to Prepare for Your Routine

When first starting a routine, there are a few things you need to keep in mind.

“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” – Benjamin Franklin

Your Routine Will be a Mess

When starting a new routine, you’ll find that the first few weeks are an absolute mess. You have to face the fact that no routine is ‘perfect’ and that you’ll have to constantly be moving things around. 

This is what I like to call the ‘routine growth phase’ because you’ll be changing your schedule so much. Expect and welcome it!

It’ll Be Changing With You

As you grow into life, your routine will change over and over again. This is the great thing about routines, they’re adaptable. But because of this, you’ll have to learn when you should and shouldn’t change a well-made routine.

Others Steal (or borrow) Your Time

You notice the people around you are using up more of your time than you expected. I was really surprised when I first started time-blocking that I was spending more time with my boyfriend than I was with others and myself combined!

Too Many Or Not Enough Priorities

When building your routine you’re faced with the realization that you either have too much going on – or you have a boring life.

“Knock-Knock” “Who Is It?” “Time-Management”

This is probably one of the hardest things about building a routine – but not often talked about. You have to learn and know about time management to build a good routine.

I’ll put the basics here:

• Have 3 main priorities a day
• Give yourself enough ‘free time’
• Know when and how to work
• Know where to spend your time

Is it a Bad Routine or Are You Being Lazy?

Are you purposefully sabotaging yourself? Or are you not taking responsibility for your time and actions?

A big part of creating a routine is to look honestly at yourself and determine whether or not you’re giving the proper effort. You may have to face the reason that you’re not able to cope with routines is actually the fault of your own – not the making of a bad routine.

You’re Breaking Bad Habits – Give Yourself a Break

You’ll need to be prepared for the mental toll a routine may take. Like I mentioned before, you are going to be breaking bad habits that you’ve had – maybe for years. 

You have to be kind to yourself when you fail and try and keep a positive mindset. I’m not saying you shouldn’t have feelings – rather I’m saying you should work through why you’re having the feelings. 

When you get to the root cause of feelings, you’re better able to understand how you can work with them rather than against them.

Using Maslow’s & The Coaching Wheel in Your Routine

When creating a routine it’s important to have balance in your personal and work life. I personally like to use Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and the Coaching Wheel to determine what I need to be focusing more of my time on.

“Balance is a feeling derived from being whole and complete; it’s a sense of harmony. It is essential to maintaining quality in life and work.” –  Joshua Osenga

Using these tools has completely changed my view on life and myself. Even thinking back to who I was and how I treated myself a year ago completely astonishes me. 

If you’re looking for balance, peace, and to be fulfilled in life, I suggest you take a look at these.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is a motivational theory in psychology that demonstrates a 5-tier model of human needs. 

You work your way (mostly) from the bottom-up until you’ve reached the level of self-actualization. In self-actualization, you’ve become free of bias and are more accepting of facts. 

In the self-actualization state, you are able to become fully who you are meant to be. Not many individuals end up reaching this because it takes a lot of dedication and commitment.

The Coaching Wheel / The Wheel of Life

Coaching wheels are simply wheels used by coaches to determine how satisfied you feel with your life. The problem with doing online tests using these is that they don’t take into consideration what you PERSONALLY need, feel, and want. 

Most individuals have different levels of needs and wants in their life so customize it to your standards.

The Actual Process

The process for actually building a realistic and attainable routine is in your expectations and your ability to solve routine-related problems as they arise.

SMART Goals

One of the first stepping-stones to a great routine is the ability to set amazing goals.

Like I asked in the introduction, What do you want out of this routine? Why do you want a routine so badly? What should this routine accomplish for you? 

Knowing the answers to these questions will encourage you to create a vision for the type of person you want to be.

Then you can take these visions/ideals of yourself and create goals using the SMART goals image above. 

When working towards achieving your goals – make sure that you focus on one at a time. Sometimes when we’re feeling excited and motivated to change our life around we overestimate what we believe we can do in a short period of time. 

By focusing on one goal at a time, we avoid feeling overwhelmed and giving up when things get difficult. 

You also should give yourself rewards for accomplishing tasks or the goal itself. Just make sure the reward is worth it!

Avoid Burnout

One of the key ways to avoid burning out is to give yourself more than enough time to complete your tasks. 

If you feel like you’re unable to follow through with your routine, you’re doing too much. You need to add 15 to 20 minutes more for each item in your schedule. 

If you feel that you’re having too much downtime and are just not sure what to be doing with your time, just schedule more tasks for yourself.

Remember: This process takes experience and practice. Don’t expect to create a perfect routine on your first try.

I’d also like to discuss the four main struggles that I see people dealing with when creating a routine.

Half-Assing

When some individuals create their routine, they go completely in-depth about the goals, aspirations, and achievements they want to have. But when it comes to actually following through with these things – they just ‘hope’ that everything will pan out as hoped.

When it comes to putting in any actual real-world effort or application – they give up.

I wrote an article about how to quit half-assing everything if you’re interested in giving it a read.

Make sure when you’re building your schedule, you spend MORE time actually doing the schedule than you do planning and making it.

I’d say that 10 minutes to plan out your daily routine is enough when you’re getting started.

Perfectionism

The other extreme of half-assing is perfectionism. Some individuals expect perfection from themselves and their routines. This can be crippling and cause you to feel overwhelmed, irritated, and overall exhausted.

When you start following a routine – you need to have the expectation that you and your schedule will fail. 

Failing and sucking the first few times is the key ingredient to building an awesome, realistic, and amazing routine for yourself. 

Instead of looking at your schedule as a task of things you have to do in order perfectly, look at it as a science experiment where you’re the ‘research organism’. 

If you don’t feel comfortable doing that – you could just read my blog post about procrastination and perfectionism.

Procrastination

Procrastination is another big issue that people deal with when creating their schedules. This usually happens because their environment is set up against them and they don’t give themselves consequences for not completing their work.

Once again – feel free to check out my article on overcoming procrastination and perfectionism.

Consistency

Being consistent is closely related to not procrastinating. In order to be consistent, you need to be able to rely on habits.

This is obviously a problem if you’re just starting a new routine. So, you need to work from the bottom up and start creating habits. 

In order to start creating habits, you need to use the habit loop.

Here’s a quick example:

The habit I want to build: I want to start working out every day, consistently.

Cue: Drinking Pre-Workout

Craving: Driving to the gym (A craving is different for everyone and develops as a result of a good cue, response, and reward) (So don’t try to create a craving – it will come naturally)

Response: Working Out for 1 Hour

Reward: Lunch (You want to make your reward obvious, attractive, easy, and satisfying.)

Protect Your Schedule at All Costs

The final way to create a life-changing routine is to get rid of all of the things that will ruin your new schedule.

Distractions Everywhere

It is almost impossible to succeed in an environment that is against you. 

Looking for a balanced environment in which you are both challenged and accommodated will strengthen you and allow for prosperity.

You need to get rid of both environmental distractions and distractions from tasks you’re working on.

Falling into Bad Habits

Falling into bad habits is inevitable. There are steps you can take so you don’t fall into any – but more than likely you’ll end up picking one up anyways. 

The most important thing is that you’re prepared for bad habits to come, and are well-equipped to deal with them.

The way you can do this is by being mindful and present of yourself and your surroundings. When you’re able to acknowledge and identify a bad habit, you’ll be able to deal with it.

Not Taking Responsibility for Your Time

No one is going to hold your hand and walk you through life.

No one, but yourself.

When taking this journey to build a new life-changing routine, you need to learn to love yourself and the time you’ve been given. A part of loving yourself is by taking responsibility.

Being responsible for yourself means saying no, setting boundaries, learning to live a balanced life, and taking responsibility for the time you do have.

There will be people, things, ideas, and habits that come in and out of your life, it is up to you to determine what is and is not worth your time. 

You’ll be amazed to find that you have a lot more control over your life and situations than you think you do.

Quitting When Things Get Tough

The last barrier to living and creating a balanced life-changing routine is quitting when things get difficult.

As stated above, you are responsible for yourself and your life. You only get one – live it to the fullest and never give up on yourself or your goals.

What Are You Doing Today for Future You?

Before I wrap up this article, I want you to really think about whether or not the things you’re doing now are helping to create a better future for yourself.

Where will you be if you continue this same path in 1 year, 2 years, or even 10 years? Will you be happy with your life or will you be drowning in debt, bad habits, alcohol, drugs, or repressed anger and sadness?
You have the ability to be, do, and accomplish what we want in life – the only question I ask is: Will you take action today to achieve what you want tomorrow?

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The Complete Guide to Stop Half-Assing Everything

If you’re looking for someone to help build your site and complete your busywork, then do feel free to get in touch. I’m a virtual administrative assistant that would love to help grow your business with you. 💜 Get in touch here.

Surprisingly, a lot of people deal with the habit of half-assing. It’s important that we quickly free ourselves from this habit because it can do a lot of damage to both our relationships and to our professional lives.

When I was in high school, I had a natural inclination to either do something absolutely perfect or to not do it at all. Half-assing is very similar to perfectionism. They both can stem from the same problems.

If you’d love to start having a decent routine,  consistently working out, or start knocking your assignments out of the ballpark – then this is the perfect post for you.

1. Acknowledge Your Half-Assing

None of us like to admit that we have flaws. Taking the first step by acknowledging your half-assing is the most important action you can take to improve.

I’m assuming you’re here because you already acknowledged the problem. 

 Good for you!

2. Do Some Emotional Work

Before we start the section, I’d like to ask you to grab a piece of paper, a notepad, or anything where you can jot down your thoughts. 

 And I’d like you to ask yourself the question:

Why are you half-assing?

 Is it because you’re lazy, you’re insecure, you feel angry?

When I was younger, I felt that the adults in my life were taking all of the credit for the things that I worked hard for, so I started half-assing as a way combat this.

Basically, I didn’t want them to get the credit for my hard work. While this is a silly example, some of you may find that you can personally relate to this.

Figuring out the emotions or main cause for your half-assing will help you determine what the best course of action is.

Your course of action will depend on the cause. 

3. Change Your Self-Talk

 A lot of the time when we first decide that we want to stop half-assing, we tend to have this view of ourselves. 

We’re lazy, or incompetent, or we’re not good enough as we are. 

You shouldn’t feel pressured to stop your half-assing for the sake of others or as a result of your incompetence.

You should understand that this journey is for you and you only. 

If you have the expectation that you’re going to stop half-assing for a particular person or for your job, you’re more than likely going to fail.

Instead of thinking that you’re lazy and incompetent, instead, think of how proud you are of yourself for coming this far and for not giving up. 

Think about how amazing and complex you are as a human being, the special characteristics you have, and the perseverance you’ve shown. 

Giving yourself positive self-talk, especially when you fail, will help you to overcome any obstacles you may face. 

4. Embrace failure

 Sometimes half-assing is a way for us to combat the uncomfortable feeling of failure.

 Why try if I’m going to fail anyway?

If you’re a person who feels like this, I want you to remember that everyone fails all the time. 

Failing is learning and if you’re not failing, you’re not learning.

We try even if we’re going to fail – for ourselves. For our self-esteem, for learning, and for the sake of helping others.

If this is the reason you’re half-assing, I suggest and look more into embracing your failures and building confidence in yourself.

5. One Step at a Time

Now, when you realize what’s causing your half-assery, and you’ve decided to change your self-talk, you can identify the first area you can improve in.

At this stage, you may have many areas where you need to improve. I want you to choose one.

Try to avoid choosing an area because you want to be better externally. (External is rewards or praise from others).

Choose one area, that you personally want to improve in – purely for yourself and maybe even for fun.

 If you choose to stop half-assing for someone else, you will give up.

 Once you stop half-assing for yourself, you’ll be able to stop half-assing for others as well. 

6. When You Should Half-Ass

There will still be times that you need to half-ass things.

Whether it’s a deadline coming up, or you’re completely exhausted, there will be times when half-assing is okay.

Typically, you know it’s okay to half-ass something as long as you’re not repeatedly half-assing it.

For example:

You notice a deadline for a paper is coming up.

You accidentally forgot to block out time for it & now you’re behind.

It may be better to half-ass the paper – than not sleep for three days. 

If you keep finding that you’re waiting until the last minute and turning in half-assed papers, then you know that you need to improve in this area. 

If you find that you’re half-assing as a result of assuming ‘Meh, it’s good enough. I deserve a break’, you need to give yourself more structure. 

Before the session, determine when and how long you’ll take breaks, and what exactly you’re going to be accomplishing before you allow yourself to take a break. 

If you notice that you’re half-assing something, do not allow yourself to take a break. By taking a break, you’re rewarding yourself for half-assing, which continues the cycle. 

7. Stop Allowing Invalid Excuses

Because of the self-care movement, a lot of people have lost touch with what is and is not a valid excuse.

 I am all for self-care and the importance of giving yourself a break, but it’s still important that we don’t use self-care as a way to procrastinate or as an excuse.

Valid excuses look like this:

• An unexpected event occurred
• You’re sick
• You’re mentally not okay
• It doesn’t impede your productivity long-term

Invalid Excuses look like this:

• When you could have avoided an outcome
• You just don’t feel like doing something
• You’re rationalizing bad behavior as ‘out of your control’
• You’re hurting your productivity long-term

It is still a case-by-case basis, which just means that sometimes these invalid excuses will be valid.  

Think about the excuses you make to yourself and whether or not you’re being honest. Ask yourself, ‘Are you really being truthful right now? Is this excuse a way to allow yourself to procrastinate or half-ass?’.’

It’s important to stop making excuses and it’s also important that you’re still taking care of yourself mentally, physically, and emotionally.

Sometimes, when we’re mentally not okay, we can use this as an excuse to not do anything. When it becomes a long-term problem, it’s important that you stop using it as an excuse and decide to get help or take action.

Because at that point, we’ll continue to be unhappy if we stay in the same position and don’t change.

8. Review Daily

At this point, you should have determined the steps you’re taking, you’ve recognized invalid excuses, and you’ve chosen the first item you’re going to stop half-assing. 

Now, it’s important to set up a system so you can track your progress and improve. 

After each day of improving your half-assing, write down the good and the bad. What excuses did you make? What can you do to avoid using these excuses tomorrow?

Reflecting and experimenting will help you to make adjustments that are personalized for you and your situation.

9. The Habit of Half-Assing and The Perfectionist Trap

It’s not a secret that half-assing is a habit.

 The great thing about habits is that you have the power to change them.

If you think that you are too far gone or you’re too lazy to actually accomplish what you’re wanting to in life, don’t give up on yourself just yet.

Although it will be hard and it will take a lot of time, you can learn and teach yourself how to be a better human and to accomplish the things you want in life.

I also don’t want you falling into the perfectionist trap either. 

When we stop half-assing things, sometimes we feel the need to do them absolutely perfectly.

 Think of it like this:

You should be towards the right end, not in the middle, but definitely not in the far right or left. 

There comes a time where you’re spending too much time on something and only improving a little. Find that sweet spot where you try your hardest and bring the best result, but you don’t end up wasting time by perfecting everything. 

Conclusion

I really hope this article helped you to become a more productive and happy person.

If you haven’t already, sign up to my newsletter to read more FREE articles about time management, productivity, and no BS advice. 

When you sign-up to my newsletter, feel free to email me about current struggles you’re having – I may write a Q&A post featuring your question!

Best No-Nonsense Ways to Organize Your Time and Space

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Once you’ve finished reading, you’ll be well on your way to getting your life and time together. The more you work on decluttering your life, the easier it will be.

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Know How to Organize

Believe it or not, no one is born organized. Every person has to go through the process of learning the right ways to be organized, and how they can create healthy habits so they can continually be organized.

The first step in getting your life & sh*t together is to know exactly how to organize.

Organizing is actually a lot more simple than some people make it out to be.

The most important steps to organize a space is to:

Assign a home.

How often do you have random items scattered across your desk and under your bed? Trust me – finding a dirty, old & smelly sock under your bed isn’t the start to a great day.

A simple way to fix this cluttering problem is to simply assign a home to all of your belongings.

If you don’t have space for something, do you really need it?

By assigning a home, it helps to keep everything organized, faster to find, and decluttered.

Use separators & storage bins.

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Using separators is so amazing is because they organize AND add style to your home.

You can use them for anything and store extra for later use. It’s kind of like your dad’s old toolbox. You don’t need it to be happy, but it is extremely useful when you have it.

Acrylic dividers can be used to organize your books, declutter your closet, and even store your vegetables in the fridge! They are a must-muti-use tool for everyone’s home.

My personal favorite is these acrylic shelf dividers.

Label everything.

Of course – label your items, not people.

Labeling all of your items not only looks aesthetically pleasing, but it also helps with the organization process.

If you are using any type of darker or non-see-through bin, labels help you to continually store items in the correct place.

Even if you have the acrylic bins and shelf dividers shown above, they can be useful if you ever need to know exactly where you’re putting items. This can be really important for when you’re first starting to get organized.

It can be really difficult to remember where all of your items are when you’re first starting to keep your space more organized. I believe getting a label maker can make this new organizational process a million times easier, and encourage you to continue being organized.

A great Label Maker from Amazon.

Create a Beautiful Environment

I’d say that it’s almost common knowledge that beautifying our spaces increases our mood – which in turn directly increases our productivity.

The most important step in creating a beautiful environment is to create a well-intentioned environment. If someone were to redesign my office to be aesthetically pleasing, I would like it – but I wouldn’t love it.

The reason why I love my office is because I decorated my office – with the intention – to represent myself & my goals.

If someone else were to look at my office – they may not even like the appearance of it. But because I designed it myself and bought objects that reflected the person I want to be, I associate my office with happy feelings every time I’m working.

Here are some cute & useful items from Amazon to take your office to the next level:

Use a Planner

I know, I know! Literally, everyone says to use a planner.

But, if you’re serious about getting your life organized – you NEED a planner.

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Planners help a lot when it comes to prioritizing your best work. A lot of us are using up a lot of our time doing non-essential tasks.

I can personally say – when I started using a planner, I freed up HOURS of time every.single.day. Using a planner helped me to see what I was actually spending a lot of my time doing. Usually, it was watching Netflix or trying to figure out what I should be doing next.

There are so many things and ways you can use a planner – here are a few examples of things I personally use mine for.

Building a routine.

When I first got a planner, I had no idea what I was doing or what I was supposed to be writing down. So naturally, I just started writing down what I was doing and when.

After a few days of this, I realized how disorganized my life really was.

That’s when I decided that building a routine for myself would be very helpful. I then created a routine that was completely unrealistic and unattainable.

Thankfully, because I was keeping track of how my routine was going and what I was doing during the day in my planner – I didn’t give up.

Instead, I created a routine that was easier for me to accomplish, and more realistic for what I’m physically and mentally able to do in a day.

Now after a few months of tweaking my routine to suit my needs – I can happily say that I’m accomplishing more in a single month than I was in a year.

Use time blocking.

Another useful thing I was able to do in my journal was to block out my time.

After creating my routine, I knew what I wanted to accomplish in a day, but I always seemed to be running out of time or wasting time in between tasks.

The simple fix was to use time-blocking.

This way, I was much more in control of my time and how I used it. This in turn, also helped me to prioritize my tasks.

By setting out exactly what you’re going to be doing and when, you’re better able to get rid of time wasters.

Tracking your sleep.

Too many people get too little of sleep. Myself included.

There are so many things wrong with not getting enough sleep – should I even have to explain why?

Sleep does a lot of things like – keeping you alive, allowing you to complete daily tasks, and being good for your health.

If you struggle with insomnia or to get enough hours during the day, I suggest you get a journal and start tracking it asap.

If you don’t use a journal and would like a better way of tracking your sleep, I suggest using a smartwatch from Apple. This one’s from Amazon.

Brain dumping.

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Honestly, nothing feels better than to get a huge brainstorming session out of your mind and onto paper.

Besides how it makes you feel, brainstorming helps your creativity and encourages problem-solving and innovative ideas.

It can also be super satisfying to create an aesthetic mind map of your brain dump if you have any extra free time.

I make sure to brain dump once or twice a week in my journal.

Know How to Set Good Goals

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A big part of organizing your life is also understanding why you want to organize your life.

To be happy, to feel good, or to make things easier for yourself?

The reason it’s so important to know the why is so you can create good goals for yourself going forward.

Basically, you need to be setting SMART goals.

S – Specific

Specific – Your goals should be clear and specific. Add as much detail as you can but try to make it concise. There’s no need to write an entire paragraph every time you want to make a goal for yourself!

M – Measurable

Measurable – Define exactly what progress you’re making and how to do so. What are the smaller tasks you need to complete to achieve your goal?

A – Attainable

Attainable – Is it even possible? Maybe it’s possible – but it’s not realistic. It’s very important that you set goals that are realistic for you personally.

R – Relevant

Relevant – Are the goals you’re setting realistic and relevant for you? Or are you spending your time doing arbitrary things that don’t provide any value? Make sure your goals are relevant and purposeful to you.

T – Time Bound

Time Bound – When do you need to accomplish the task? Make sure it’s realistic and adjust if needed.

Personal Tips:

Because of faulty evolution – we humans majorly suck at planning and preparing for the future.

This is why you need to be creating a long-term vision instead of long-term goals.

Long-Term Goal to Long-Term Vision:

I’m going to speak Spanish in 1 year 🢡 In the future, I’ll be able to speak Spanish fluently.

By creating long-term visions, you avoid the trap of feeling overwhelmed and dreading the amount of time it will take to accomplish something.

I’ve personally quit many long-term goals because, at the time, they just seemed to be impossible and unrealistic.

You also should be using short-term goals instead of short-term visions.

Short-Term Vision to Short-Term Goal:

Sometime this week, I’ll research how to start learning Spanish 🢡 On Monday, I will research how to learn Spanish and plan out an entire month of Spanish-related activities.

By creating short-term goals, you force yourself to know what you’re doing and when rather than ‘just going with the flow’ and hoping you’ll muster enough motivation to accomplish something.

The Right Way:

Long-Term Vision: In the future, I’ll be able to speak Spanish fluently.

Short-Term Goal: On Monday, I will research how to learn Spanish and plan out an entire month of Spanish-related activities.

Self-Care Actually Matters

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Self-care is doing anything that improves your mental, physical, or emotional health. It is also very important to include self-care activities daily.

How often do you actually plan specifically for self-care or relaxing activities for yourself?

I used to plan out my entire day – but when it came to my free time I’d just watch TV or think about everything I needed to do the next day.

I would always put my emotional and mental health off so I wouldn’t have to actually ‘deal’ with anything.

For the longest time, I thought that by putting off any of my emotions or my wants, I was being more productive.

In reality, this just led me to feel constantly burnt out and hurt the quality of my work.

As with anything in life, self-care is a balancing act. Too much self-care and you’re not being as productive as you could be, and too little self-care, and you’re harming your health and productivity.

Make a Self-Care Routine

An important aspect of self-care is to actually set aside time or activities for you to do – daily.

The great thing about self-care is the fact that it doesn’t have to be anything extravagant or well-planned out. For me, I have tea every day once I’ve finished my household chores. This is one of the ways I show myself appreciation for doing just the basic stuff.

Take Care of Your Hygiene

Not only does having good hygiene make you feel better mentally and emotionally, but it also reduces the spread of illnesses and decreases your risk for medical conditions.

In fact, most would argue good hygiene is a basic human right – I sure as hell would.

I take care of my hygiene by making myself feel good, look good, and smell great.

Here are some great products from Amazon if you’re looking to look, feel, and smell good.

Affirmations or Nah…?

If you’re unsure, affirmations are positive statements that help you to overcome negative thoughts.

Some individuals are very into affirmations and others – not so much.

But if you’re someone who is looking for a good way to destress and improve your thinking to be more positive, I suggest you spend some time researching and using affirmations.

If you’re wanting to look more into affirmations, I suggest checking out this article from healthline.

Take Care of Your Money

Having good personal finance is a skill that every single person will have to learn to have a successful and fulfilling life. Although this is a basic fact, schools still don’t teach personal finance skills to students.

Because of this, you should spend some time really getting to know how you should use your money, where it should go, and how you can use it to make even more money.

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To make sure you’re taking proper care of your money, I suggest you do a few things.

Read this article by me, seriously.

The Smartest Money Goals to Achieve in 2022

Immerse Yourself

There are thousands of resources to get yourself started with taking care of your money.

Personally, taking care of my finances allowed me to quit my job and start working entirely freelance. GOOD JOB ME :)!

What’s even more amazing, is that you can too!

If you’re looking for a really basic and easy way to solidify your finance knowledge, I suggest watching this free Udemy course.

If you’re already somewhat knowledgeable, I suggest these great books from Amazon.

Budgeting Planners

If you’re not already using one, budgeting planners should be on your ‘must-haves’ list.

Budgeting planners are so great because they allow you to see where you’re overspending as well as fix your bad spending habits.

Also, I find them SUPER pretty and satisfying. Like, look at this one.

Additional Income Streams

Do you know when you’ll be fired from your job?

Do you know if you will be fired from your job?

More than likely if you answered yes to both of these, you’re a bad worker.

All jokes aside – you can never know when something will happen to your main income stream.

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You also don’t know when or if an unexpected tragedy will strike and you’ll be left scraping by with only pennies left each month.

For my family, this was a reality when I was a measly 8 years old.

My sister had a pre-cancerous brain tumor that had been wreaking havoc in her life for many months. My family was already struggling to make their monthly payments, and this just made the situation much worse.

While I don’t blame my parents, and my sister is alive and well – it taught me a very important lesson.

Never assume that your money is safe – and always have a backup plan. Always have another source of income just in case something like this were to happen to you or your family.

Make Your Life Easier

People who have well-organized lives all understand they need to keep things simple.

There are a lot of things you can do that will make keeping everything organized so much easier.

Plan the day before.

If you’re anything like me, having to do basically anything but exist in the morning is a chore.

A way that I make sure I’m productive as soon as I get up is to plan everything I need to do the day before.

For example, the night before I wash dishes, pick out my clothes, set out everything I need for my tea, and put out my needed electronics.

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This way, when I do wake up, I don’t run into any issues getting ready. This also allows me to write in my journal – which I enjoy doing, so I have no problem starting off the day productively.

I honestly think that if you truly want to start every day productively, then you should plan the day before.

Automate sh*t.

If you can, you should create ‘systems’ to organize when, how, and the amount of time for your different tasks.

Basically, create detailed plans and steps to make it easier to accomplish your tasks.

For me, this personally looks like a decluttering system, cleaning, and reading schedule.

By having all of these planned out, it makes it easy to get started on the task because I know what I need to do, when, and how long to do it for.

If you can, plan out important but tedious tasks to make them easier to accomplish.

Meal prep.

When first starting out, meal prepping can be a pain in the arse.

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Especially because you don’t know what to make, how much, or anything really.

But – if you are spending a lot of time working or studying, prepping your meals will be a massive life & time-saver.

Meal prepping is so useful because it can encourage you to eat healthily, and save you time during the week.

After a long day, the last thing I want to do is make dinner and spend my precious time worrying about what I should be making for dinner.

Organize the Nitty Gritty Sh*t

One of the key things to being an organized individual is to have your nitty-gritty sh*t organized. I can’t even tell you how frustrating it is when you finish all of your to-dos, only to realize that the thing you’ve been putting off now has to be done.

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The nitty-gritty is simply anything that you always put off for later or forget about in general. Realistically, we all want to be the person who actually cleans behind their toilet – but not all of us can be great like that lol.

Lastpass.

Is it possible to love something so much that you salivate at the thought of it? –I’m sorry, that sentence sounded much better in my brain. 😬

Anyways, if you’re someone who is relying on pure brainpower to store your passwords, there is a much better way to do it.

I use LastPass, the perfect password management system.

I’m not sure if you can tell – but I REALLY like it.

What’s great about it is that it keeps all of your passwords in one place where you can access all of them and get a score on how secure they are. They’re also very secure when it comes to storing your information and keeping it private – so there’s no need to hesitate on that portion.

I am always hesitant to keep my passwords in a journal in case I lose it – or my house were to catch fire or something. I know that’s not very likely – but you always need to be prepared.

Seriously, if you aren’t storing your passwords anywhere – use LastPass!

Backup everything.

What would happen if your phone, house, and computer were to burst into flames? Would you be screwed?

Probably.

If you use your computers or even your cupboard for storing important and vital information – back it up.

It’s better to be safe than sorry.

Know Where You’re Spending Your Time

It’s important that you spend your time properly. Having good time management skills allow you to get more done and prioritize your time. This brings us to our first point:

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Prioritize, prioritize, prioritize.

What are you spending most of your time doing? Are you being productive or just doing busywork?

When it comes to organizing your life, the MOST important step is to know what you need to be spending your time on.

If you spend countless hours cleaning your house every day, there comes a point where you’re not being productive anymore and just wasting your time.

We are given one life, one life to do 10 lifetimes’ worth of work, so make it count!

Social media rot.

If you’re someone who wakes up and scrolls through their Pinterest, Facebook, or YouTube feed – you should stop.

Don’t think this is me shaming you – it’s actually because too much social media use is bad for you.

If you use social media too much, it encourages a negative self-view and increases feelings of inadequacy.

In turn, all of these things make you feel depressed, anxious, and inadequate.

Social Media is not inherently a bad thing, but too much of it is.

Keeping up with the news?

I don’t know how often I hear people tell me how much they hate the political atmosphere here in the US, but they don’t even attempt to make things better.

I understand that it’s a lot easier to be a complainer than a doer, but you should go with the latter.

Although this doesn’t personally do anything to organize your or other’s life, if we all were to try and spend our time helping others – believe it or not – things would be much better here in the US.

If you’re interested, stay invested in the news and keep learning about ways you can contribute to a better society.

Continually learning.

A lot of people think that the end of their ‘learning career’ is when they finish college or are working in their first job.

You should still continue your education because of the many benefits it has. Not only do you become a better and more educated member of society, but it also increases your confidence.

Lifelong learning helps you to adapt to any necessary changes you’re forced into. Would you be able to switch careers today if you had to?

I personally love to learn things – like it’s just magnificent how the world and its systems work. It’s crazy to think how vast the universe is and how everything is so closely intertwined.

I just think this earth is so fascinating.

Sorry – I’ll stop nerding out on you.

Seriously, buy a planner already.

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You need a planner or a system to actually keep your life together.

If you’re serious about managing your time and life – you need to consider the benefits of a planner.

If you skipped it before – go read the ‘Use a Planner’ section up above! It is sooo important for organization.

Conclusion

Honestly, if you finished reading this article – good freaking job to you.

I’m glad that you’re taking an interest in bettering yourself. I really hope that this list will help you in all of your future endeavors.

Basically, the most important thing to organizing your life and time, is to know how, what, and when you should be organizing.

If you’re interested – I offer a free Get Your Sh*t Together printable if you’re wanting. This was basically created to be an easy list of things you can do to get your sh*t together in a single day.

The Smartest Money Goals to Achieve in 2022

If you’re looking for someone to help build your site and complete your busywork, then do feel free to get in touch. I’m a virtual administrative assistant that would love to help grow your business with you. 💜 Get in touch here.

Every single person that’s reading this article is blessed with the ability to have, spend, and use their money as they please.

If you’re anything like me – then you’ll understand firsthand how chaotic life can be if you don’t know how to use your money. In this post, we will discuss the most important money goals you need to be looking towards for next year.

Once you become a master of your own money, you’ll be on your way to living your dreams and accomplishing your goals.

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More than likely, when you became an adult, you realized that you don’t know what you’re doing – and no one is going to do it for you. And that’s okay. By reading through this post, you can take the first step into becoming a more responsible, confident, and abled individual. Just like Mr. Krabs.

From time to time, my blog posts and pages may contain affiliate links, which mean I may get compensated/earn acommission at no extra cost to you if the affiliate links are utilized to make a purchase. To learn more, click the link below to view my affiliate disclosure.

Affiliate Disclosure

Immerse Yourself in Finance

It’s a common myth that you need to be a ‘numbers person’ in order to be good with finances.

Thankfully, personal finance is something that anyone is able to understand, even myself.

When I actually took the initiative to learn about finances, it completely changed my life.

I was able to pay off a few thousand dollars in 6 months (working in fast-food) and continued to save up enough to quit my job and go freelance.

Immersing yourself and investing your time into finance, will pay you back 10 fold.

If you don’t believe me – there are plenty of other people on the internet with similar & more impressive stories than mine.

When I first started my finance journey, I was able to soak up a ton of information through courses, books, and podcasts.

Here’s some personal favorites of mine from Amazon:

Also, check out this post about realistic money hacks you can use.

All About Income Streams

Adding an additional income stream is all of the talk right now in the finance world.

I do understand that a lot of people can’t have an additional income stream because they’re too busy.

But if you have time – having an additional income stream can improve the quality of your life a ton.

I personally just started working on my additional income stream, and I’m well on my way to making a part-time income from it.

Not only does it create a better quality of life for you & your family, but it also provides some added comfort knowing that you have a job if the one you have ever failed.

There are too many stories from individuals who were fired before retiring or who lost their homes because they weren’t prepared to lose their jobs.

I mean – just look at how many people lost their jobs because of Covid.

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Create a Portfolio

If you’re someone who just throws money into Robinhood with no consideration into what you’re putting your money into – you’re doing it wrong.

Creating an investment portfolio is something everyone should do.

These portfolios help with minimizing risk and in turn – will lead to you increasing your profits.

There are many stories from people who were able to make a lot of money through making smart investments in stocks. Thankfully, we still have the opportunity to do this for ourselves as well.

If you’re new to stocks & the stock market, I suggest you spend some time reading this book from Amazon.

When done right, some individuals decide to quit their job and work full-time investing and day-trading.

Create a Goal Sheet

Do you want to retire at 50? Write it down.

You want to go on vacation in Cancun in 3 years? Write it down.

Also, I feel it’s important to mention that a goal sheet ≠ a budget. A goal sheet is simply a paper that lists what your main goals are for your money.

Having a goal sheet can be as simple as carrying around a sticky note in your wallet.

This will encourage you to focus on what you’re saving your money for and will help you to stay consistent with your goals.

On my goal sheet, I have ‘being my own boss’ as a goal. Where do you think I am now? 😜

Do You Know How to Budget?

If you haven’t heard – a budget is simply a way of keeping track of what money you’re making and what you’re doing with that money.

Having a budget can lead to a ton of opportunities and allow you to live your life the way you want to.

While having a budget won’t inherently make you any richer, it will show you how much you’re actually making.

Budgets can not only help you with saving in the short term, but they can also help you keep your long-term financial goals in check.

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They help you to be realistic about what you can be doing with your money.

A lot of people decide to follow the 50/30/20 rule. Which is 50% to your needs, 30% for your wants, and 20% for savings.

This tends to be a very realistic and attainable goal for even beginners who are looking to budget their money. You can adjust it as needed.

If you’re looking for a good way to budget your money, I suggest this budget planner from Amazon.

Improve Your Credit Score

When you think of credit cards, you may be one of the individuals who visualizes drowning in debt and high-interest rates.

But actually, credit cards are a great opportunity for individuals who use them properly.

In fact, having the right credit card and using it properly can actually MAKE you money.

Having a good credit score will help with purchasing a home, renting an apartment, buying a car, getting a loan, and so much more.

If you haven’t done anything with your credit and you’re a beginner, today is the best day to start.

If you’re looking into making money by improving your credit score, feel free to look at this blog post about making and earning extra cash by using credit cards.

Reduce Your Expenses

It is estimated that thousands of individuals are paying for subscriptions that they don’t even use.

I mean – think about it.

Do you really need that Hulu subscription if you only watch a movie every few months?

Reducing your expenses on items that you don’t use or use very rarely, will allow you to have more money for yourself and your savings.

You can reduce your expenses by taking very simple steps such as:

• Having a budget
• Reducing your electricity use
• Deciding not to eat out
• Getting rid of old subscriptions
• Getting rid of a gym subscription that you don’t use.

If you’re not wanting to get rid of subscriptions that you use every once in a while, consider getting a service that gives you an all-in-one.

Prioritize Your Savings

We typically view having a savings account and an emergency fund (link to a book about emergency fund or course) as a ‘beginners’ financial goal. But in reality, it is something we all should continually be investing in.

Every single person should have a savings and emergency fund for any unforeseen issues that may occur.

Having an emergency fund can be the difference between having a car or being able to pay medical expenses.

If you ask me, putting away a few dollars every few weeks is well worth it for the long run.

To build an emergency fund, all you need to do is put away some of your paychecks into a savings account. You can do this by automatic payments or manually transfer your money every few weeks.

Know When to Spend Money on YOU

If you’re a regular visitor to my blog, you know that I am a big believer in taking care of your mental, emotional, and physical health through productive self-care.

Sometimes, we spend too much on ourselves.

Sometimes, we don’t spend enough and we drown ourselves in responsibilities for ‘what-ifs’.

Both of these decisions are the incorrect way of thinking and using your money.

We don’t know if today or tomorrow will be your last day so you shouldn’t stress too much about keeping every penny for savings.

It’s best to find a balance. You should be saving most of your money, and using the rest for living expenses and some for yourself.

You shouldn’t feel guilty if you want to get your nails done every once in a while.

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Conclusion

If you take care of your finances, then your finances will take care of you.

The most important thing you can do is to understand personal finance, create a budget, and use your money to your advantage.

Also, subscribe to my blog to learn about more ways you can save money.

Also, if you’re looking for ways you can generally just get your sh*t together – grab this free printable.

Toodles 🙂

How to Get Your Sh*t Together in a Single Day

If you’re looking for someone to help build your site and complete your busywork, then do feel free to get in touch. I’m a virtual administrative assistant that would love to help grow your business with you. 💜 Get in touch here.

It’s not a secret that life is a complete sh*t show. It’s also not a secret that getting your sh*t together is no easy feat.

In this blog post, I discuss what qualifies as getting your sh*t together, what your expectations should be, and the steps you can take RIGHT NOW to get yourself together.

Some of the steps provided do span out a few days because you want to make getting your crap together a habit. Yes, a habit.

I also provide a free printable 📑 that goes along with this blog post. You can grab it either here or at the bottom of the post.

From time to time, my blog posts and pages may contain affiliate links, which mean I may get compensated/earn acommission at no extra cost to you if the affiliate links are utilized to make a purchase. To learn more, click the link below to view my affiliate disclosure.Affiliate Disclosure

✨ Buckle up buttercup, cause we’re making our way down to productivity town. ✨

oh, and grab your tea cause this is about to be a long one…

What Qualifies as Getting Your Sh*t Together

A lot of people assume that getting your sh*t together is a one-time thing. They assume that if they follow their routine day after day until it’s a habit – that they will always have their life together. Almost as if you’re flipping a switch.

Sadly, no one is perfect, and reaching perfect productivity is a continuous journey.

Before you stalk away and cry in a corner, there is some good news. It’s a fun journey.

I know the thought of violently scrubbing your bathtub sends shivers down your spine, but afterwards, you feel great. 😃

While this is a pretty complete list, I still want you to expand your knowledge about productivity and self-growth after you’ve completed it.

A great way to do that is to subscribe ☞ to my blog and Pinterest!

Your Expectations vs. Reality

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As I stated above – quite harshly – you need to get your expectations in check with reality. While some of the expectations are doable, for the majority of the population – the expectations aren’t realistic.

❌ Expectation: I’m going to be rich one day.

✔️ Reality: If I work smart – I can have an income that suits my needs.

❌ Expectation: I’ll never procrastinate.

✔️ Reality: When I realize I’m procrastinating, (without shaming myself) I’ll start working towards being more productive.

❌ Expectation: I’ll work every day for the rest of my life so I can be the best.

✔️ Reality: I’ll work hard while still giving myself breaks so I can be and feel my best 100%.

❌ Expectation: One day I won’t need to look up how to get my life together.

✔️ Reality: I should probably subscribe to this blog so I can always be updated on the best ways to keep my sh*t together. 😉

❌ Expectation: Getting your sh*t together is just following a comprehensive to-do list.

✔️ Reality: Getting your sh*t together is following a custom to-do list, building routines, building healthy habits, building self-confidence, independence, and finally, is a journey – not a light switch.

Now that we’ve discussed what your expectations should actually be, let’s get into the actual steps we can take right now.

Do you have any questions or need advice? Feel free to contact me or follow my Quora. 😊

Download my free template! 📑

The first thing you need to do is download the free printable 📑 and checklist that comes with this guide. Grab it here.

Create a System 📅 & be CONSISTENT

Have you ever tried to keep up with a habit but it seemed that you either forgot, or you were too busy? Me too.

Creating a system means that you need to find a way to schedule or note down your responsibilities to make them habits. 📝

Do you ever just assume that you’ll just remember something? I do this all the time. And I forget it – almost all the time.

By using a task management system 📇, you can make sure to keep your life together daily. The great thing about creating a system is that you’re able to make it your own and the way that you like it.

I personally use 3 tools to keep all of my life together.

The 3 tools I currently use are Notion, Google Calendar, and a personal bullet journal.

If you’re new to making routines and keeping up with your responsibilities, I suggest downloading an app to your phone 📱 that you’re able to access on your laptop 💻 as well.

Here’s a great article from nTask that goes in-depth about 51 different apps for personal task management.

After you’re finished downloading the apps, make sure to set a daily timer ⏰ that goes off when you need to plan out your day.

Creating a system is an important part of getting your sh*t together because it ensures that you keep it together.

At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if you choose to keep a sticky note 🗒 to manage your tasks – it just matters that you consistently use it.

Consistency is key! 🗝

I go more in-depth in the printable 📑 about how you can set up a system that works for you.

Create a list of everything you need to do this week.

After you’ve decided what task management system you’re going to use, spend some time thinking about what exactly it is that you want to be accomplishing.

At this stage, it doesn’t matter how many lists or to-dos that you decide to make, the most important thing is that you actually do them.

If you’re someone who struggles to get done what they need to be doing, choose 3 tasks to do every day for an entire week. This will flex 💪 your dedication muscle and will get you started on taking action.

During this stage, it’s important to remember that action takes place BEFORE motivation. Not the other way around.

If you’re feeling unmotivated to do anything – just do something to get started.

Instead of thinking about how much you don’t want to sweep the floor 🧹 – just do it.

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Get to Spring Cleaning!

Before you decide to throw in the towel at this step – stop for one moment.

You don’t have to clean right now.

While it’s awesome of you if you decide to start cleaning right away, the most important thing for you to do at this moment is to create a cleaning schedule. 🧽

A cleaning schedule will ensure that you’re keeping your house 🏡 or apartment in tip-top shape.

Not only should you create a cleaning schedule, but you should also create a decluttering schedule.

A decluttering schedule will be everything from going through your email 📧 to your style choices 👚.

Although if you’re looking to get your life back together today, then you should definitely spend some time cleaning and decluttering.

How I personally know if I’ve been cleaning enough, I ask myself – “Would my mother approve?”.

Most of the time after I’ve cleaned – it’s still a no. 🤣 But at least it gives me some perspective on how clean my apartment is.

In the printable, I offer a free cleaning 🧽 & decluttering 👚 template! Enjoy!

Be Messy

You may be thinking – girl! 🤦 this is contradicting what you just told me before! – and yes it is.

You need to know when a little clutter is okay. You don’t have to have everything ✨sparkling✨ all the time.

My friends and I tend to have that creeping feeling that it’s just not clean enough. The house🏡, our cars🚗, our offices💻, our rooms🛏️.

This is why the schedule comes in handy. Maybe you want to pick up daily for 15 minutes twice.

When you’re not doing your schedule, you shouldn’t be worrying about keeping the house clean.

Of course, doing something as simple as leaving dishes in the dishwasher for later is helpful, but you shouldn’t feel expected or pressured to do this.

Find a system that works for you, but don’t be constantly worrying about whether or not the house is clean. It doesn’t have to be perfect. It can be messy.

If you’re someone who always feels pressured to clean, I suggest setting some basic rules:

✔️ Jackets hung up

✔️ No wearing shoes in the house

✔️ Dishes in the Dishwasher after eating

✔️ and etc.

Besides these lists of things – avoid cleaning unless, of course, you really want to.

Quit Living Someone Else’s Dream

We’ve all seen that movie personnel that has the perfect body and hair, she’s ranking top in her classes, she’s kind to everyone, and her parents just conveniently tend to be rich. 🤸‍♀️

I so badly wanted to be this person.

You expect that once you have all of the nice cars, the nice things, maybe even a pretty house with a picket fence🏡, that you’ll be living and loving your life the way you should.

✨You think that if you follow the way life is supposed to be – then once you get all the stuff and play the role correctly – you’ll be fulfilled. ✨

What you’re actually doing is putting yourself in a box with no air.

In my life, this was caused by fear.

Fear that I wasn’t good enough. Fear that I wasn’t valuable. Fear of failing – I just wanted to be the best the first time.

The way to escape others’ dreams for you, is to embrace the fear.

When you embrace the fear, you no longer have that lingering feeling that you’re not where you’re supposed to be.

You need to decide for yourself – who are you and what to do want in this life?

What goals are you working towards and how many of those goals are for others and not yourself?

When you start making your own goals, accepting fear, and going your own path, you’ll feel fulfilled and purposeful in your own way. 🎌

Following what others expect of you will just leave you feeling empty and used. It does the opposite of making you feel valued or good enough as you are.

Follow your own path.

Be Prepared

If you’re really wanting to get your life together – this is a very important step you should take TODAY.

While you can’t always be living your life as if a large disaster will be occurring at any given moment, there are steps👣 you can take today.

Being prepared does not mean you should be missing out or never taking the time to appreciate the good things in life.

🥇 The first thing you should do is to let go of any uncertainty that you may have.

You can’t predict what life will be like in 50, 20, 10, or even 1 year.

So why waste your time being on high alert🚨 for something that may not even happen?

It’s okay to accept the unpredictable nature of life as a natural part of it. Something that you can’t change even if you’re wanting to.

By letting go of any uncertainty that you have, you’re better able to navigate tricky situations. You find peace in knowing that they’re unavoidable and you’ve prepared all you can for them.

2️⃣ The second thing you should do is to have general plans in mind in case something does go wrong.

While you shouldn’t live your life on high alert, you also shouldn’t live your life being ill-prepared.

There are basic steps that you can take today to start being better prepared for your future.

Here are a few examples:

✔️ Are you currently paying off your debts if you have any?

✔️ Are you saving money for retirement?

✔️ Are you investing money?

✔️ Do you know how to get out of difficult situations? Like needing to change a tire without wifi?

✔️ Do you know what to do during an emergency?

✔️ Do you know CPR or how to bandage a wound?

While you don’t have to do all of these things right now, you should have some sort of a plan moving forward.

Stop Trying to Change YOU

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Above, we just talked about how you shouldn’t be changing yourself to fit someone else’s mold.

I do feel it’s important to touch on what you should be doing instead.

A lot of people feel overwhelmed and as if they’re under constant pressure. Pressure to perform well at their job🖨️, pressure to be a better student📝, and pressure to be a better daughter, brother, mom, dad, grandparent. 🧎

A lot of this pressure comes from the feeling that what you are is not good enough or lacking.

While not all expectations are bad for us, we tend to be the ones putting them on ourselves.

When in fact, our boss is only looking out for himself & the profit of the company💸, a hiring company doesn’t care about perfect marks❌, and your siblings may be thinking we’re already doing a good job. 👍

The point is, stop trying so hard to shape and mold yourself into a perfect person because you’re unique as you are.

A big part of loving yourself is to also love yourself enough to change.

It may seem contradictory at first but it makes perfect sense.

You should love yourself as you are, today. You should love who you have become and who you will be.

You should also work towards changing your habits – not for your friends, family, or anyone else.

You should work towards being a better human for the future you.

If I were speaking to my younger self, I would tell myself that it’s okay to try and to fail, it’s okay to cry and be emotional, it’s okay to spend time on my weird hobbies, and it’s okay to speak up for myself.

If you are struggling with self-love, the more you take care of yourself and strive towards being the person YOU want to be, the more confident you’ll become. 😎

Check out a post I wrote about 10 Ways to Build your Confidence.

One Change a Day

While I know we’re trying to get ourselves together in only one day, it’s important that we stay having our sh*t together.

A great way to do this is by knowing our limitations and creating daily long-lasting habits. 🧘🏻‍♀️

To create a habit, you should perform the same action at the same time ⏰ every day.

After around 21-30 days, it should become a habit.

If you’re someone who is looking to wake up earlier in the morning🌄 and work out🏋️, I encourage you to start by making only one change a day.

Think about all of the steps that go into waking up and going to workout:

wake up → change clothes → brush teeth → drink pre-workout → pack bag → find keys → defrost car → drive to gym → workout for an hour → shower → go home → change again → wash face → get ready for day

A lot of these things may seem like small actions when looking at them, but it’s actually a lot of commitments for wanting to create a new routine.

Instead, you should break up ✂️ your goal habits into smaller ones.

Maybe instead of waking up earlier and going to the gym, start with just picking out your clothes the night before and waking up earlier.

pick out clothes → sleep → wake up → brush teeth & wash face → read

As a treat to waking up earlier – spend the time however you like. 💅

After a week of this, start doing 20-30 minute workouts at home.

pick out clothes → sleep → wake up → change → brush teeth → workout → wash face → read

And keep building your habit until you’re where you want to be.

By breaking up your habits into small actionable chunks ✂️, you are avoiding decision fatigue🥱 and allowing yourself time⏰ to adjust to your new schedule📅 better.

If you’re thinking this feels like a waste of time – think about all of the times where you couldn’t stick with a new schedule you placed on yourself.

It’s better to do something rather than nothing. 🤷

Take Care of your Health for F*cks Sake

❗Now, before you write off my entire post and assume I’m pressuring societal beauty standards on you – I’m not.❗

A big part of getting your sh*t together is to also feel like you’ve got it together.

via GIPHY

When I was a teenager, health was seen as the least of my concerns.

I smoked🚬, never worked out🛋️, drank often🍹, never took care of myself🛀, and I felt terrible ☹️ all the time.

(Although I feel better mentally – I actually feel worse physically. But that’s just probably because of aging reasons instead of health ones lol!)

The majority of the reason I had struggled with feeling so worthless was because I was treating myself like I was.

When we don’t take care of our health and what we’re putting in and out of our bodies, we are treating ourselves like we’re not worth the time and effort to be better.

I also feel it’s important to mention that working out 🏋️ can increase your life span and eating healthily 🥗 can help with depression.

Invest in yourself and decide how you want to include eating healthier🥗 and working out 🏋️ in your schedule.

Here’s a pretty cool diet and exercise planner I found on Amazon!

Automate it 🔄

I honestly hope you’re not still paying your bills by checks.

There’s nothing wrong with it if you really like to do it – but I just feel we’ve come farther than that, ya know?😄

✔️ Have your bills paid automatically through your bank account.

✔️ Have a certain percentage of your paycheck taken to your savings every few weeks.

✔️ Create systems to reuse to make your life easier.

By automating these things, it allows you to spend your time on things that are more important to you.

For example, my blog is still really young.

In fact, I think this is the 3rd or 4th post I’ve written so far.

I realized that I’ve been wasting a lot of time by planning out the exact steps I need to take for each blog post.

At this moment I’m currently creating a basic to-do that each of my blog posts will go through before being published.

This will save me a lot of time because I won’t have to brainstorm each of the steps I’ll be taking and when.

So if you can, automate it! 🔄

Download a Money Management App

Tbh, I almost didn’t include this in my list because I feel like everyone mentions this.

Nonetheless, it made the list because I do feel it is very important to get your sh*t together.

All you have to do is find a money management app of your choice, connect it to your account, and BAM you’re done. 📱

The reason I suggest downloading a money management app instead of creating your own excel sheet is that it’s a lot easier to keep track of and you’re more likely to stick with it. 🏆

Intuit Mint is a very popular choice at the moment. In fact, my boyfriend swears by it.

Also, if you’re someone who’s just starting out with tracking your expenses and investing and the like, it’s very easy to get overwhelmed.

That’s why I suggest just starting with a free easy app and working your way towards investing more in your money.

Honey, Keep up with the News 📰

I know the thought of reading the news – especially at a time like this – may cause you to cringe internally, externally, & all the ternallys.

But it serves, in my opinion, a divine purpose we all have.

I feel that reading the news 📰 is so important because it allows us to learn about different cultures🐉 and perspectives🔮 aside from our own.

via GIPHY

Not only that, but it also educates you on social issues, climate issues, other cultures, and what’s happening around the world. 🗺️

Keeping up with the news is also important when it comes to avoiding possible policy mistakes.

I personally read my news in a different language to use as a study tool⚙️.

If you prefer, you can listen to your news through podcasts📻, subscribe to 2-3 different online news sources, or just read📚 about the social issues that interest you.

I feel very strongly that my generation should be and do better for people and the environment. I hope you feel the same – no matter your political affiliation. 🗳️

Don’t let Social Rot Your Brain

I know that you’ve heard it a million times.

I know that we can all acknowledge that some parts of social media can just be… extremely toxic☠️.

I also know that not all social media is bad.

Can we all just agree to not generalize social media?🤷

I firsthand have dealt with the negative consequences of overusing social media and using it as a time-waster rather than a tool⚙️.

Social media is a great thing when you’re using it for the purpose of learning📕, relaxing🕯️, or even working👩‍💻. It becomes a problem when you’re spending hours scrolling through your feed.

The reason why social media is so addictive is because it literally is. When someone likes your post or links to you, you get a free hit💨 of dopamine.

When treating a social media issue, the most important thing is to acknowledge that you have one.

I mean – you might as well acknowledge it since you’re here. 😄

There are multiple tools you can use to block social media sites. For me personally, I found that just completely going cold turkey 🦃 from social media works best 👍 for me.

I suggest watching 👀 and reading up 📕 on “dopamine fasting”, which is essentially what I do every time I get addicted to YouTube again.

Another thing that helps me is to find activities to do instead. Check out my blog post title 30 Things to Do Instead of Netflix for some ideas. 🥳

Where is your life headed?

I’m sure you’re assuming I’m asking if you know what you want to do with your life.

No, instead I want you to predict what you’ll be doing in the future if you continue using the same habits you have been.

For me, this question was the start of my productivity journey and this blog. 😊

A few years ago I knew my life was looking towards juvy, jail, suicide, drugs, or something else just as bad. This really haunted me and kept me up at night. 👻🌃

Decide to make a change today for the future you.

I decided to change for me and I can honestly say it has been such a great and fun journey. I want everyone to feel the way that I feel right now. 😃

The most important tips from this section would be to get to know, love, and respect yourself, and to take responsibility for who you will become.

The sooner you do that, the sooner you can start working on building a better future for yourself.

Note:

I feel like it’s important to mention that if you’re starting your productivity journey – you should just start.

When I first decided I wanted to change myself, I was unsure of what the steps I was supposed to take were.

You should know that there are no wrong steps 🙅‍♀️ and that there is no ‘list’ of things you can do to be where you’re supposed to be.

A great place to start your productivity journey would be to subscribe and join the community.

Writing 📝 Your Future To-Do

The last step to take at this moment is to write ✍️ a custom to-do list of what main goals you want to accomplish in the future.

When writing your list, keep in mind what the future you will look like if you’re consistent with these habits.

This process will help you decide whether or not you actually want to accomplish those things.

It also helps to guide your perspective by showing you that other things – such as making your bed 🛏️ – make no difference in the direction of your future.

This is a great time to decide whether or not you want to be spending your time on these things. If they make no difference and you dislike doing them, why do them? 🤷

Because I can’t personally hold your hand and walk you through life, the most important step you can take right now is to take action.

Own your life and your future.

Conclusion

Congratulations on taking the steps to better yourself! Even if you’ve only read the post, you’ve taken the time and the first step towards getting your sh*t together for the long term.

The most important step is to take action and to remember that consistency is key! 🗝

The 10 Best Ways to Improve Your Self Confidence

If you’re looking for someone to help build your site and complete your busywork, then do feel free to get in touch. I’m a virtual administrative assistant that would love to help grow your business with you. 💜 Get in touch here.

If you have any knowledge of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs – you’ll have a basic understanding of the importance of improving your self-confidence. Being confident helps your personal and professional relationships, as well as helps your psychological wellbeing.

Below I describe the best 10 ways to improve your self-confidence.

These aren’t in any particular order, but you do need nearly all of them to build confidence in yourself.

From time to time, my blog posts and pages may contain affiliate links, which mean I may get compensated/earn acommission at no extra cost to you if the affiliate links are utilized to make a purchase. To learn more, click the link below to view my affiliate disclosure.

Affiliate Disclosure

1. Your Purpose & Cognitive Biases

Having a basic understanding of what your beliefs are – and cognitive biases that you may have can help a lot when it comes to building your confidence.

When understanding what your beliefs are, it’s important to understand what your place in the world is. If you’re not sure what it is – that’s okay.

You should work towards understanding why you believe you’re here and the greater purpose that you serve. It’s hard to be confident in yourself when you’re unsure of what you should be doing with your daily life.

A cognitive bias is an error in thinking based on an incorrect personal interpretation of the world’s processes.

Learning these biases will help you understand your incorrect interpretations of events. Which in turn will allow you to build your confidence by becoming more open-minded and educated.

A common cognitive bias is called the confirmation bias. The confirmation bias is the tendency to support or favor ideas that confirm our existing beliefs and cater to our current knowledge. Knowing this is important when navigating tricky social and political situations that you may face.

2. Be Grateful

Oftentimes, we don’t spend enough time thinking about all of the things that we’re provided and given every day. Being grateful is important to confidence because it allows you to understand that what you have is enough. When you’re confident in yourself, you believe that what you are currently is valuable just the way it is.

If you try and convince yourself that you’ll be confident and happy when you have money, other materialistic belongings, or even more knowledge, you’re kidding yourself.

If you struggle to be grateful for what you have, try living without it for a few days. Do you waste a lot of food? Try fasting for just 2 days and educate yourself on food shortages throughout the world. I’m almost certain you will have a change of attitude towards your food.

Doing this will help to put things into perspective and guide yourself on being a better person – but still thankful for yourself and the things you currently have.

3. Focus on Your Health

Do you take time to focus on your health? When you’re feeling sick do you avoid calling into work for fear of pushback from coworkers? Maybe you never visit the dentist and don’t attempt to clean your teeth yourself.

Taking care of your health is very important for building self-confidence. In fact, you should always take care of yourself before others around you. The more you care for yourself, the more you’re able to better care for others.

Focusing on your health helps to ensure that you’re always feeling the best.

To ensure I am eating the best fuel for me, I use the app Lose It! to track my calories. It’s such a great app that allows you to track your macros, your weight, and it even uses your Ancestry to create the best caloric plan for you. If you’re looking to lose a few extra pounds, I’d definitely check it out!

4. Partake in Self-Care

A big reason that I decided to start this blog was to share the importance of self-care with others.

Self-care is important for your confidence because it builds up your self-worth. Although it may seem that something as silly as washing your hair and face can improve your self-worth, it definitely will make a difference!

I used to neglect my self-care out of hatred for myself and the belief that it make me ‘weak’. I’m now only starting to understand how important self-care is for others and myself.

If you live in a family where being vulnerable or talking about mental health is taboo, make sure to find a group of people you can trust to build you up.

If you notice that you waste a lot of your time sitting around instead of keeping yourself entertained, check out this post about things you can do in your free time.

Some self-care products from Amazon to check out!

5. Growth Mindset & Forgiving Yourself

At this point, it seems that almost everyone has heard about the growth mindset.

A lot of times we tend to put ourselves into a box of things we can and can’t do. Instead, allow yourself to know your capabilities but always believe that you can improve. You may not be good with math, but you can always improve and may one day become great at it.

When I was younger, I was always doubting myself and my abilities. I wouldn’t even allow myself to try new things out of fear of failing. I wish someone would have told me failing was just the process of improving.

More than likely, if you’re not failing, you’re not improving. To be confident, you need to accept your shortcomings and forgive yourself for any mistakes you’ve made in the past – and move on.

Allow yourself to grow without judgment and work harder to fail more.

6. Toxic People & Having Boundaries

Although I believe this is the hardest step out of all of them, it is also the best for your confidence.

All during my childhood, I had an extremely toxic friend (my only friend), who always made belittling comments towards me.

At this time, I had the worst social anxiety and couldn’t even look at myself in the mirror without crying.

After I had left the friendship and created new healthy bonds with others, I was finally able to be happy, look at myself in the mirror, and understand my true self-worth.

Surrounding yourself with others who lift you up instead of tearing you down is one of the most important things you can do in life.

Take my advice and learn to set boundaries for yourself and don’t tolerate others treating you poorly. You cannot be confident if you allow those around you to belittle and mock you.

Words leave bruises longer than fists will.

7. Find a Way to Work Through Your Emotions

Sadly, I know too many people who don’t know how to “deal” with their emotions. For centuries, emotions have been seen as bad, toxic, and just plain useless.

Emotions play a large role in making you who you are and they help to shape many of the beliefs you currently have. They even play a huge role in many of the buying purchases you make.

While I don’t encourage you to take all of your emotions to face value and justify everything you feel – I do encourage you to learn more about emotional intelligence and how you can use emotions to your benefit.

One book in particular called ‘Permission to Feel’ by Marc Brackett is a great read if you’re looking to understand your emotions better. This book has changed my life for the better – I recommend it to everyone.

8. Give Yourself Realistic Goals

A lot of people I know set very high expectations for themselves. While it’s good that you set high standards, it can really tear down your self-esteem when you constantly feel like you’re falling short.

Confident people always give themselves goals they know they are able to achieve.

When setting goals, you should always look for a challenge but nothing that is impossible or so difficult it causes you to give up.

If you find it hard to set realistic goals for yourself, start with the bare minimum expectations for yourself. The more you work towards your goals, the easier it will be to understand what is realistic for you.

9. Make Better Choices

Sadly, I know a lot of people who make a lot of poor decisions in their life.

You can’t expect to be confident in yourself and your abilities if you’re constantly making impulsive decisions.

When a confident person knows they don’t make impulsive decisions, they trust themselves. You may be lacking trust in yourself if you don’t think before you do.

Having trust in yourself provides you with comfort knowing that when you are faced with a difficult decision – you will make the best you can.

Making better choices can be implemented in every portion of your life from personal relationships to your coworkers.

10. Stop Putting Unnecessary Pressure on Yourself

You may put pressure on yourself because you believe that if you don’t, then you’ll fall behind others or you’ll be underprepared. This just leads to you sabotaging yourself rather than building your confidence.

The first step to stop putting unnecessary pressure on yourself is to stop believing that you need to be perfect otherwise you’ve failed. You should accept your failures and understand that you can’t reach perfection. No one is perfect.

You should also try hard to lead a balanced life. At the end of the day, the most important thing is the people surrounding you and knowing you’ve experienced everything you’ve needed to.

If you knew you were going to die today, would you really be worried about the trivial things in life?

Conclusion

I really hope that this list helped you to build up your confidence in yourself. Also, congrats on spending the time to better yourself!

Make sure to grab your Free Productivity Guide down below that will give you some tips to be a more productive person.

30 Productive Activities To Do Instead of Netflix

If you’re looking for someone to help build your site and complete your busywork, then do feel free to get in touch. I’m a virtual administrative assistant that would love to help grow your business with you. 💜 Get in touch here.

Did you know that the majority of people spend 5 hours watching TV… daily? 

A year ago, this was definitely me. I used to watch Netflix to relax, which funnily enough, actually just made it feel like I had no time to relax. 

We were never really taught what to do with our free time. You often read about how to be productive and spend time being busy, but rarely about how to use your personal time properly. I hope to combat this with the 30 best things to do instead of watching Netflix. 

Let’s get into it. 

From time to time, my blog posts and pages may contain affiliate links, which means I may get compensated/earn a commission at no extra cost to you if the affiliate links are utilized to make a purchase. To learn more, click the link below to view my affiliate disclosure.

Affiliate Disclosure

How to Incorporate these Tasks into Your Schedule 

I wanted to write a quick section about how to implement these things into your schedule during appropriate times. A lot of people, including myself, try to do high-energy tasks as soon as we get home, and burn out. 

I’ve decided to categorize each task based on how much energy you will expend when doing them. 

I personally enjoy doing low-energy tasks in the morning and after work. 

High energy tasks in the afternoon and late at night. 

Medium energy tasks during low to high energy transitions throughout the day.

Low, Medium, and High Energy Meaning

Low Energy – Times when you’re feeling exhausted and you have little to no motivation or drive to do anything. You also struggle to focus too much on anything.

Medium Energy – When you’re transitioning from a low to a high energy period during the day. You struggle a little to focus on complicated subjects but find no problem in doing things like daily chores.

High Energy – The time when you have the highest energy in the day. During this time you can focus on more complicated subjects and work for longer periods of time. 

1. Painting (Low-Medium Energy)

Painting is a great pastime for individuals who want to express their creativity through color. You can choose to either start with a completely blank canvas or paint in a painting book. 

High quality supplies from Amazon to get started:

2. Coloring (Low Energy)

I recently have become obsessed with adult coloring books. I’ve found that coloring is perfect for when you’re feeling really exhausted but you don’t want to fall into the trap of watching Netflix or tv.

Coloring can also be a great activity to do with your kids or anyone you’re bonding with. I personally love spending time with my niece coloring and talking about her day. 

High quality supplies from Amazon to get started:

3. Educational Courses (Low-High Energy)

Online courses have become all the buzz in the internet atmosphere. Watching courses are great because it allows you to learn things while relaxing. 

I love combining the courses I watch with lower energy activities, like coloring, to keep my hands and brain occupied at the same time.

Depending on the course, it will either take a low, medium, or high amount of energy. 

4. Cooking (Medium Energy)

Personally, I am not very fond of cooking. On the other hand, my boyfriend loves to bake and try new things in the kitchen. When you’re feeling hungry, spend time making an actual meal rather than quickly grabbing a snack. 

If you like cooking, I recommend grabbing this cookbook that talks about the science of it. It’s a personal favorite of my boyfriend’s.

5. Swimming (High Energy)

Swimming is a great hobby to have. Not only does it help you to have a healthy heart, but it can also be a lot of fun. I suggest swimming with others, but if you don’t have anyone to go with, there are ways you can make it more fun for yourself. 

Ways to Have More Fun Alone in the Swimming Pool – PoolSide News

5 Tips to Make Swimming Alone More Fun – SW

6. Yoga (Medium Energy)

Yoga has currently been a popular activity, and for a good reason too. You can pair up yoga and meditation to help with any anxiety you may have. The good thing about yoga is that all you really need is a good mat, a pillow, and access to YouTube!

7. Workout (High Energy)

I believe at this point, nearly every person is aware of the benefits of working out. 

Adding just 150 minutes of exercise a week can increase your life expectancy by 7 years!

If you’re unsure of where to start, don’t fret. I personally started working out at home by following videos on YouTube. Don’t feel pressured to start going to the gym every day or having to work out for an hour at a time. 

Do what you can!

8. Gardening (High Energy)

Not only is gardening great for Vitamin D intake, but it also provides some needed exercise and beauty to everyone’s life. If you’re someone who has been putting off yard work, this is your sign to get started!

High quality products from Amazon to get started: 

9. Reading (Medium Energy)

Reading is definitely an underappreciated activity to do in your spare time. Reading helps memory, empathy, vocabulary, and decreases depression. 

Reading should be considered a high priority in every person’s life. Reading will help you to be involved in the world and open up your imagination in ways you can’t believe are possible. 

I personally enjoy reading and listening to books.

High quality e-reader made by Amazon:

10. Writing (Medium-High Energy)

Writing a book is a great way to spend your time. Writing gives you a sense of peace and encourages ways for you to be inspired. 

You can write books for fun on sites like Wattpad or publish them on sites like Amazon. The great thing about writing books is that it looks great on your Resume and when talking to others about your professional experience. 

It’s also just a fun hobby. 

11. Journaling (Low-Medium Energy)

Journaling is a great past time activity. A lot of people make the mistake of viewing journaling as only long handwritten sections of personal information. Journaling is really anything you can think of doing with a journal.

You can create reading journals, diaries, or even bullet journals. The sky really is the limit.

12. Origami (Low Energy)

Origami is one of the most well-known but rarely practiced pastime activity on this list. Origami is great if you are on a tight budget and you enjoy focusing on small details. You can literally do origami anywhere, and not get any weird looks from passersby. 

13. To-Do / Declutter (Medium-High Energy)

One of the most common and least fun things to do instead of watching Netflix is to tackle your to-do lists. Perhaps you could even clean out your pantry or reorganize your office space. 

I feel great after getting all of my busywork done because it clears my mind for more important things. 

Check out these cute sticky notes that I bet would look nice in your office!

14. Video Games (Medium Energy)

Video games are a great way to pass time. Not only are you able to play games with friends, but you’re also allowed to complete missions and work towards an end goal. 

Amazingly, video games actually improve spatial skills, problem-solving, and sometimes may improve your reading skills. They’re are a great way to get away from busy daily life – as long as you don’t play too much. 

My Personal Favorites:

15. Card Games (Medium Energy)

Did you know that you can actually play paid poker online? There are a multitude of card games that you can play by yourself, with others, or to make money. Card games teach strategic thinking and can improve math and memory. 

16. Board Games (Medium Energy)

Whether you practice chess openings to learning money management through monopoly, board games are a great pastime for the entire family.

Although board and card games are very similar in nature, they are completely different in practice. Like card games, board games can also teach strategic thinking, and improve your math and memory. 

17. Trying a New System (Medium-High Energy)

Another interesting thing to do instead of watching Netflix is to switch up your system. When I say system, I’m referring to your routine or your daily habits. You can also try to move all of your physical papers to your laptop.

In fact, I recently put all of my passwords onto LastPass (which is an awesome online password management system) and it has been a lifesaver. 

It’s important to try new systems and habits because it ensures that you continually grow as a person. 

18. Crocheting (Low-Medium Energy)

Crocheting is a very popular pastime. Not only is crocheting cheap, but it’s also relatively easy once you know what to do. If I personally crocheted, I would pair this with watching one of my courses.

19. Volunteering (High Energy)

Although volunteering is a high-energy pastime to do instead of Netflix, there are many benefits to it. Not only do you get to help others, but you get to learn how to be more selfless. 

For some of us, it’s really easy to be selfish and much harder to be selfless. Most of us were raised to only care and provide for ourselves. Volunteering will help you to be more empathetic and help provide your life with purpose. 

20. Become Green (Medium Energy)

When I say become green, I mostly mean to brainstorm some ideas on ways you can help the planet. I personally choose to reuse my bags when I shop or use reusable paper towels. 

There are so many things that you can do even if you don’t make a lot of money. Cutting down on only one thing can make a big difference. It’s important to understand the costs and benefits of becoming more green as a society. 

Looking for More Info?:

Advantages of Going Green: Help the Environment

25+ Good Reasons to Go Green to Save Our Mother Earth

Are The Effects of Global Warming Really That Bad?

21. Night Out with Friends (High Energy)

Ah, a classic night out with friends. I personally don’t have any friends to go out with (lol) but if I did I’d make sure to spend time with them often. Just remember to not drink and drive!

22. Make a Quilt (Medium Energy)

I personally know a few people who make quilts and they love it. Quiltmaking can be a very fun activity and gift for the family. It’s also known to be a huge stress reliever and a way to express yourself creatively. 

If you’re looking to get into quilting, check out this article: 

Beginners Guide to Start Quilting

23. Spice Up Your Resume (Medium Energy)

Although this activity isn’t a lot of fun, you can spend some time updating and revising your resume. 

Something I like to personally do is create a ‘future resume’ of all of the skills and things I’d like to learn on it. This way once I learn all of the skills, I’m better able to see how much value I can provide to an employer. 

Spicing up your resume also helps to ensure that you’re keeping on top of things and that you’re continually learning more skills – even if it’s just for fun.

24. Learn a New Skill (Low-High Energy)

There are so many things to learn, why not? Learning helps to continue self-development, which is important to your self-identity and feeling purposeful in life. 

It also provides a big boost to your internal satisfaction with yourself. 

25. Watch Online Documentaries (Low-Medium Energy)

Online documentaries are very similar to Netflix, except they’re actually teaching you something. They can be fun to pair with coloring, painting, or any low-energy activity that you can partake in. 

The great thing about documentaries is that they’re non-committable. This just means that if you find the subject boring then you can just find a new one to watch.

Another benefit of documentaries that people rarely talk about – is how they can introduce you to new hobbies and things you’d enjoy doing. 

You can find plenty of documentaries online for free on sites like YouTube.

26. Play an Instrument (Medium Energy)

Besides the fact that instruments actually make you more intelligent – instruments are a great pastime for every single person. 

I personally invest time in playing the piano for this exact reason. Playing instruments is a ton of fun once you get the hang of it.

A great starter instrument for adults & kids alike:

27. Find New Songs (Low-Medium Energy)

Hopefully, by now you have a playlist of some sort. A fun activity for when you’re just wanting to sit on your phone and relax on the couch is to find new songs to listen to. 

While it can be time-consuming and tedious to find great songs – it can be very rewarding. 

28. Spa Day (Low-Medium Energy)

Don’t even get me started on the importance of self-care. Self-care was one of the main reasons I decided to start this blog. To learn more about why I started this blog, click here.

A spa day can include massages, skin care, baths, journaling, exercising, and even eating snacks. Spa days are important for everyone, especially for people who work a lot. 

Keep in mind that ‘spa days’ don’t have to actually be an entire day. You can have a spa night or even a spa morning.

29. Learn Investing / Create a Budget (Medium Energy)

Another great thing to do is to spend time on your budget or financial health. Finances have long been a key ingredient to a happy and fulfilling life. 

Even if you don’t make a lot of money, it’s important to save and invest when you can. 

There are so many websites that you can learn more about spending, investing, and budgeting your money.

I lightly cover this topic on my blog because I believe it’s another key ingredient to being productive and a healthy individual. 

A Relevant Post:

5 Realistic Money Hacks

30. Dancing (High Energy)

You may have never considered dancing to be a great way to spend your time once you get home. 

Dancing is awesome for losing weight but it’s amazing for stress relief as well. I enjoy dancing because it allows me to express myself creatively and to just ‘let loose’. 

Also, who doesn’t want to show off their cool dance moves?

Conclusion

I really hope that this list helped you in finding new things to do instead of watching Netflix. Also, congrats on spending the time to better yourself and to use your time more wisely. 

Make sure to grab your Free Productivity Guide down below that will give you some tips to be a more productive person.