I hope this doesn’t get grouped with the sea of self-help articles. You know, the ones with nonspecific steps like “ready every day” or “pick up a new hobby”.
They’re a little too simplistic. It doesn’t provide you with actionable direction, especially if you’re already feeling overwhelmed and inefficient.
Apparently, the journey to self-improvement is as easy as letting go of negative emotions as well. That’s pretty misleading and potentially damaging, wouldn’t you agree?
I’m hoping to break that barrier for you. I’ve been stuck in a rut many times and felt like I couldn’t catch a break with life.
I’m not a subject expert. But like a lot of other people, I’ve faced financial troubles, work worries, and the lackluster flow of creative juices. I’ve poured over the self-help articles and tried all the steps you can think of.
I was a sucker for click-bait titles and paid the price for online coaching. I’m saving you that trouble. The headers may sound cliché, but they’re far from it.
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Create an inspirational space.
Have you ever looked at your cluttered desk and felt all the motivation and energy just drain out of you?
You can’t honestly expect to create something in that kind of clutter. It’s uninspiring, a potential fire hazard, and it is just discouraging.
Common sense will tell you that if you surround yourself with vibrancy or clean spaces, inspiration is going to come to you naturally. The tough question is how and where should you get started?
The science behind it.
But first, let’s get a little science-y.
Every aspect of our environment affects our senses and has a part to play in our subconscious. The more we stimulate our senses, the more productive we’re going to be.
Designing your space the way you want to can improve your health, happiness, and productivity. In the workplace, employees who had control over the design of their workspace were found to be 32% more productive.
While you’re adding your touch to the space you’ve chosen, it’s also important to consider incorporating certain colors and lighting. Psychologists have found that we’re more likely to be creative in rooms that have leafy greens and natural light. It gives a sense of being out in the open.
Where to start?
Redecorating an entire room can be daunting. Websites like Pinterest can give you a broad idea of what you like, but you don’t have to spend $250 on organizational boxes just to be productive.
That’s ridiculous.
Ask yourself — do you prefer a certain color? What about cozy rugs and bean bags instead of a work desk? What do you really like about a space?
The idea is to feel a sense of calm every time you see that space. It doesn’t have to be a room. It could be a little nook in your bedroom or your bathroom mirror.
Pick one spot you spend a lot of time in or a space that has the most clutter and start there. You could also:
Add fairy lights to your bathroom mirror.
- Reposition a desk to face an open window.
- Clean up a messy work desk.
- Buy a simple filing cabinet to organize all your paperwork.
- Clear the icons on your desktop/laptop.
Start small. Don’t overwhelm yourself with an entire room that could take days to complete. You’d be surprised how the simple task of repositioning a desk can motivate you to do more.
Wake up early.
I can’t fully express how much I love sleeping in. My guilty pleasure is seeing my husband off to work, then climbing back into the warm comforts of my bed for about an hour or two.
But I always wake up feeling like I missed out on doing something more productive. I’m filled with guilt, and now I’m overwhelmed because I have to get all this done before dinner.
I’m always thinking “if only I woke up earlier”. But I never actually do. And so the cycle repeats.
I’m ashamed to admit I’ve even lost clients because I slept in.
The more I slept in, the lazier I felt. You’d think with that extra bit of rest, I’d feel more energized.
Nope.
The science behind it.
You can justify it all you want, but sleeping in after you’ve had sufficient rest counts as oversleeping. That doesn’t just lead to physical health issues, but mental ones as well.
Studies have found that waking up just an hour earlier than usual can reduce your risk of depression by 23%. This is especially helpful if you’re already feeling overwhelmed and unproductive. You don’t want to fall into that rabbit hole.
Waking up earlier has also been linked to success with early risers being more in sync with proactive attitudes. That’s ultimately what we’re aiming for — being a little more proactive.
Where to start?
So, how early should you wake up? All the other billionaires seem to be up by 4:00am.
That’s a little unrealistic. What if you’re working 12-hour shifts? Or what if you’re working nights?
Whether you’re working mornings, afternoons, or nights, all you have to do is wake an hour earlier than you usually do. My husband works nights, which means I’ve shifted my work hours to nights as well. I’ve applied the same steps and it’s been just as effective.
- Start by figuring out how long you take to shower, dress, and leave the house. Wake up an hour before you have to do all that.
- Your first goal is to wake up early tomorrow and actually get out of bed. Don’t lay there saying you’re just going to stretch and scroll through Facebook for a bit (that’s always my excuse!).
- Immediately do the first thing you usually do when you wake up. No, Facebook scrolling doesn’t count. What’s the next thing? Coffee? Ok, let’s go with that.
- Set a goal of waking up at the same time three days in a row, or until your next day off. Allow yourself to sleep in an hour on your day off.
- Rinse and repeat.
Once you’ve fought the temptation to stay in bed once, it’ll seem a little easier to do it again the next day.
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Create a to-do list.
I’m more of a Type A personality. I stress over little things and get impatient with myself if I can’t complete them in time.
This also means I always feel like I don’t have enough hours in a day. When I’m actually spending a lot of time doing frivolous things, like daydreaming.
By forcing myself to create to-do lists, I’m holding myself accountable for ensuring I complete them. It has allowed me to take back control of my time by categorizing what I have to do that day.
It still leaves me with plenty of time to daydream. But at least I don’t miss out on important tasks now.
The science behind it.
To-do lists are incredibly helpful when it comes to decreasing anxiety and providing structure in our everyday lives.
Even if you’re not able to complete all those tasks, just making a plan to complete them can free you from anxiety.
However, simply scribbling a list of words doesn’t cut it. It’s crucial to be detailed and realistic about what needs to be done and when it can be completed. Having a properly drawn-out list reduces the burden of you mentally maintaining a list in your brain.
Where to start?
There are usually two major problems with to-do lists. You either don’t know where to begin, or it grows to the point it overwhelms you. To solve this, you can:
- Begin with listing what needs to be done in that week.
- Next, prioritize those tasks and move them to the days it has to be completed.
- In the beginning, try not to have more than 5 items in a day.
- If you have a big project, break it down into smaller tasks that can be separated into different days.
- Read that list over and over again. If you can’t complete it all, rearrange your list to make it work for you.
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Cut out TV time.
Who doesn’t love binge-watching their favorite TV shows? With the availability of Netflix, Hulu, and the likes, it’s so easy to get wrapped up in a series.
I’m not the only one who has burned the midnight oil watching a movie only to be extremely tired the next day. But I realized that the more TV I watched, the less I could write.
I’d stare at a blank page trying to come up with a sentence, only to have the last scenes of Modern Family playing in my head.
The science behind it.
Watching TV is a very passive activity. It doesn’t require much (or any) physical movement. If you’re watching a lot of TV, you’re ultimately leading a sedentary lifestyle which can lead to a multitude of health issues.
Limiting TV viewing, including videos on social media to two hours a day, can delay or prevent poor health. This includes cardiovascular diseases and obesity.
Binge-watching TV has also been found to dull your brain and could lead to having poor memory down the line. This is because you’re not interacting with what you see as you would if you were to read a book. Your brain doesn’t have to process that much information. It’s just fed to you without you having to think about it.
Where to start?
It’s difficult to cut out TV time when it’s so readily available to you now. You don’t want to miss out on your favorite characters, and you can’t wait to find out what happens next.
It’s even worse when you don’t seem to have anything else to do but watch TV. I’d suggest starting with these little steps:
- Shortlist the TV programs you like the most.
- Limit yourself to either one movie or two episodes a day.
- Is the movie or series based on a book? It may be worthwhile to read the book before watching it.
Last pieces of advice.
I can sit here and tell you all the different ways to self-improvement. But I’m no expert.
The most I can do is share my experiences and what has worked for me.
Take every self-improvement or self-help article with a grain of salt. Try different methods and eventually you’ll find out what works best for you.
Commit to your plans.
You can read as many articles on self-improvement or personal development as you want. But nothing is going to happen if you don’t commit to your plans.
Make the decision to improve yourself. Understand that it doesn’t happen overnight, and hold yourself accountable for that decision.
Self-help responsibly
Don’t fall into the traps of self-proclaimed gurus and websites that insist you have to pay a subscription fee to improve your life. There is no secret to unlock at $9.99 a month.
No one can improve your life but yourself. Success is not measured by how many things you’ve accomplished in a day, or how many books you’ve read.
Success is measured by how you feel about yourself.
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This post was previously published on medium.com.
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