Five by five: reboot your stress
We are all crazy busy. Yes, me too, as can be attested to the fact I haven’t posted in months. We live with stress every day and it can be a killer.
This post has been languishing in my drafts for over a year, and I finally decided to finish it and post it and pay attention to my own preaching!
Here are five five-minute activities to decrease your stress and increase your organisation. Do them every day if you can. You deserve to feel some control over this rollercoaster ride that is life. Here are five of my favourites that help me feel like I have my life together!
- Make a dinner planner for the week, on Sunday. If you have extra time, make a bunch of meals ahead of time. I try to prioritise lunches because they are the one thing I always struggle with making healthy choices for.
- Decide on your clothes for tomorrow. This saves you so much stress in the morning! It literally takes a few minutes to pick out an outfit, and lay it all out. Pick out everything, including underwear. If you are not a morning person (like me), you will be glad for the extra time saved.
- Do that chore. If you walk past something – dirty dishes in the sink, clothes to put away, recycling bin to empty – and a stress triggers in you (“I really should do that”), quickly assess if it’s something you can do in 5 minutes. If it is, do it straight away. If not, write it down and do it later.
- Plan your leisure activities. This may seem strange, but if you have lots of things you want to do, it can feel overwhelming. Planning out a leisure activity or two to do each day (during your lunch break, or after work) really helps me to feel better about my hobbies, TV and gaming. We all deserve to indulge our passions.
- Meditate. Yes, I know it’s cliche. But even five minutes, to reset your body and mind, will clear out the cobwebs and give you a fresh perspective. Find a quiet place, set a timer, and focus on your breathing. Let everything else go and just breathe. If you can do this every day, you’ll see results in a matter of days.
There we have it, short and sweet, and completely achievable! Now get out there and enjoy your awesome life, because it’s YOURS!