Tips For A Great Life and Health

Here are just some of those ideas that have been proven to make your life simpler while freeing up your time and energy to enjoy the things that are really important to you.

1. Prioritize Your Life.

Decide which parts of your life are really important and which parts don’t need as much attention. Then plan your day accordingly. If by then end of the day you’ve at least spent your time doing what matters most you will feel good about yourself.

2. Simplify Your Meals.

Cooking dinner every night may be stressful after working all day. Try ways to make this less stressful, such as using a crock-pot, preparing in advance or finding someone in your neighborhood that delivers pre-cooked meals on a weekly basis.

3. Ask For Help.

There’s no need for you to do all the work around the house. Ask your partner or family to help you out especially if you’re tired or unmotivated. Most of all know that it is okay to ask for help.

4. Be More Active.

Regular exercise is essential for your physical and emotional well-being. It helps to get rid of toxins from your body and increases your oxygen intake – a winning habit that’ll massively boost your energy levels.

5. Communicate Your Needs and Expectations.

So much time and energy can be wasted on poor communication. Be prepared to talk to friends or family about ways to make life less stressful. Together you can pinpoint what causes stress and come up with ways to reduce or even eliminate this stress.

6. Slow Down and Take Time-Out.

Sometimes it’s all too easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of a hectic and busy lifestyle. Take at least 20 minutes time-out for you each day to relax and unwind. Whether it be a walk along the beach, playing with your dog or reading a good book, it doesn’t matter as long as you take a breather.

7. Manage Your Mood Swings.

This is a great way to keep your energy high and stress levels down. You may have to read a few books or attend a workshop or two before you master this skill but the payoff will be enormous. Imagine a life where you are in complete control of your emotions. Now there’s a thought!

8. Eat Sensibly.

A balanced diet provides all the necessary energy needed during the day. Overeating, starving yourself or any kind of addictive behavior cause your body to have to work harder just to maintain good health. Be kind to your body, after all it’s the only one you’ve got!

9. Get Up 15 Minutes earlier.

There’s nothing worse in the morning than getting out of bed late and then madly rushing to get to work on time. Try setting 2 or 3 alarms that get you up 15 minutes earlier so that you can ease into the day and arrive at your first destination calm and relaxed.

10. Get a Good Night’s Sleep.

Many people don’t get enough sleep. Inadequate sleep can be a major time and energy pirate.  Some of the remedies for sleepless nights include:

• Keep a regular sleep-wake cycle. Try to go to bed and wake up at the same time every day.
• Avoid caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine in the four to six hours before bedtime.
• Don’t exercise within two hours of bedtime. Exercising five or six hours before bedtime may help you sleep more soundly.
• Don’t eat large meals within two hours of bedtime.
• Don’t nap later than 3 p.m.
• Sleep in a dark, quiet room with a comfortable temperature.
• If you can’t fall asleep within 20 minutes, do a quiet activity somewhere else and return to bed when you’re sleepy.
• Wind down in the 30 minutes before bedtime with a relaxing pre-sleep ritual such as a warm bath, soft music, or reading

11. Reduce Your Commitments and Responsibilities.

Stress arises from an overbooked schedule or a greater number of responsibilities than one person can reasonably handle. Finding things to eliminate (and to decline, in the future) in a too-busy schedule provides you with more time for yourself and more energy to deal with your remaining commitments.

12. Learn to Say NO to Others’ Requests.

It is the most difficult, time-managementt task. Although it seems like a simple step, a large number of people admit that they often agree to requests because they have difficulty refusing them.

Practice the following responses if you need help saying “no”:

• ‘I’m not taking on any more work right now.’
• ‘Sorry, I’m unable to fit that in right now.’
• ‘I’ve got so much on that I’m unable to help.’
• ‘Right now doesn’t suit me, but I am available next Monday.’
• ‘I really don’t feel that I’m the right person for that project’

As with all changes and improvements, learning to free yourself from those things that don’t serve your happiness and joy is a skill you can improve with time.

Just by using any of these strategies and applying them to your circumstances right now you will already move a step closer towards living a happier, healthier and more productive life.

What Do You Trade Your Time For?

Image if you were told that you have just a few days left to live. How would this change the way you use your time?

Would you fall in a heap and waste these  days cursing your rotten luck and how unfair life is and being pissed off at the world? Or, would you simply just say “screw it” and spend every moment you had doing exactly what you wanted to do?

The reality is that relationships can come and go, money can come and go, friendships can come and go, and even your thoughts and feelings come and go, but once you have used up even a second of your precious time, it is gone forever!

You have 24 hours a day. No more, no less. The question is not how can you get more done in less time, or how can you get rid of your workload that is making you feel stressed and overwhelmed. The question is, are you living your life according to YOUR deepest values and desire,s or are you settling for a life of quiet desperation?

If you are trading your time for a difficult life then wouldn’t it make more sense to trade it in a different way? After all, that’s all we are ever doing, trading our time for something that we believe is of value to us, even if that value is pain and suffering.

Believe me I know what it’s like to be time poor as I once had a full time sales job while building a business on the side. I worked 12 to 14 hour days, 7 days a week just to keep up. This went on for 4 years. However, what I was trading my time for here was a plan.

The plan was to create a business that I could get paid a full time income while working from home and living anywhere in the world I choose.  The plan worked. Did it happen exactly as I planned? Not even close. But the fact that I had a plan and never gave up on it was the secret to my success.

Now I only have to work one hour a day making more money in a month than most people do in a year. The point I am making here is that in order for you to feel like you are not wasting your time, you must have a vision of a better life… Otherwise, why bother?

The alternative is to just go through the motions of living each day while internally your spirit is getting sucked dry because there is seemingly no light at the end of the tunnel you find yourself in.

The Joy Of Being ‘In-Time’

When you spend time doing something for a purpose, or doing something you love or enjoy, then it requires so much less effort than if you hate what you are doing. Our body gets energy from things we are passionate about and drained by doing things that we force ourselves to do.

Have you ever noticed how quickly time passes by when you are happy and how slowly it goes when you aren’t? It’s not that there is any difference to the way time is ticking over, it’s just that the quality of your time determines how it feels.

It’s during those moments that you forget about time and are fully immersed in the joy of what you are doing that your mind and body comes fully alive. You senses get heightened, your mind gets clear and focused, and you have all the energy you need to enjoy what you  are doing.

It’s simple really, the clock is ticking and none of us really know how much time we have left. The only question is how are you going to use the limited time you have left? Will it be wishing your life away as you pray for your work day to end so you can escape it again for a few more hours?

Or, will you wake up tomorrow and decide, “How do I really want to use my time today?” And then follow your heart without hesitation. The choice as always is totally up to you.

The Real Secret To Time Management

If you want to know the real secret to time management – it’s simply to enjoy as many of your moments as you can. If you have to ‘manage’ your time then you’re already playing a losing game because time doesn’t care what you do with it.

Do everything you can to get your life into a place where time doesn’t matter at all. I can recall when I first threw away my watch and decided that I would not let time rule my life anymore.

That included having to be anywhere at a certain ‘time’, no alarms to wake me up and certainly no rush to get anywhere. Instead I decided that now was the perfect time and that whenever I got up, or arrived somewhere was the right time for me.

I can’t tell you how freeing this was and how much fun I had. I still live this way to this date. But here’s the best part, I have since discovered that we all have an internal clock that helps to keep us functioning in a timely fashion.

All it takes to live by your internal clock is to acknowledge that it exists and then start to trust that it will always be there for you. It may take awhile before you can totally trust in it because you have to let go of the need to rely on external devices for it to become fully functional again.

However, it is well worth taking the time to re-discover this hidden treasure because you’ll never need an alarm clock, person, or device again to tell you how to manage your time.

You see, I discovered awhile ago that productivity and energy levels are dynamically linked. If you’re energy levels are low or fluctuating, then even the smallest of tasks or obstacles can feel overwhelming and send your productivity spiraling downwards.

Whereas when your energy levels are high, your capacity to handle things grows which makes it easier for you to stay productive and handle obstacles almost effortlessly.

It’s All About The Power of Now

The best way to get the most out of your time is really be fully present in whatever you are doing. The opposite of this is to allow yourself to be easily distracted.

When this happens your energy gets pulled in many directions which can have a draining effect on your mind and body, not to mention mess with your focus and ability to get things done in a timely way.

Being fully present has many huge benefits for you on so many levels. One of the most important being that your energy can be channeled in just one direction which enables you to have improved focus, clarity, drive, motivation and get more done with seemingly less effort.

The alternative to this is to dwell on the past or worry about the future either of which take you out of the present moment and waste minutes, hours or days obsessing over things that are no longer relevant or may never happen.

The habit of dragging up the past and replaying old tapes in your head that make you feel bad or getting anxious about a future life that hasn’t happened yet, is deeply ingrained in most of us. It’s not until we change these habits that you can expect to be able to manage your time or your life better.

To begin to change this pattern, you need to bring your mind back to the present by asking, ‘What is happening right now?’  For example, you may be sitting in a chair feeling overwhelmed by the task you have ahead of you. To bring yourself into the present moment ask yourself the question and the answer would simply be a reality check, ‘I am sitting in a chair’.

Nothing else is happening, except you are sitting in a chair, breathing and thinking about things. However, it’s important to note that your thoughts can never be in the present moment because that’s not the way the mind works. It is a linear mechanism that is always past or future focused. The moment that your mind becomes aware of the present it ceases to be.

In other words, those moments when your mind stops is when you create a space inside your head that instantly opens up to calmness and clarity. You have had many of these moments in your life and they always feel the same, peaceful.

It’s like a wave of calm and relaxation comes over you and just for a moment the chatter in your head stops and everything goes quiet. Then the magic happens and everything that was burdening you disappears as if it never existed.

Wouldn’t it be great to be able to do this on command? Imagine if in a day filled with chaos you could find inner peace whenever you wanted. It’s after these moments that your energy levels and productivity soar.

Well, here’s how you can do it right now.

Stop and Listen Exercise

Right now, if you were to drop all the chatter in your head and sit quietly with your eyes closed for 1 minute and do nothing but listen to the sounds around you without any judgment you would notice that when you open your eyes again your body and mind is very calm and relaxed. Try it now.

How can this happen so easily if all those things that are causing you to feel pressured are affecting you so much? The answer is that they are not affecting you at all. In fact, your natural state is to be calm and at peace. While your mind is focused on your so called problems it is distracting you from this natural state of harmony.

Of course it can take awhile to change the way your mind focuses on life’s challenges so don’t expect it to happen overnight. In the meantime start developing the habit of doing the stop and listen exercise for 60 seconds whenever you remember.

This will instantly re-energize you and give you a moment’s reprieve from the daily insanity, while helping to keep your mind clear and your productivity soaring.

Rather than just give you the same old stuff about setting priorities and being more organized to manage your time and life more effectively, I’m going to give you five simple ways to help eliminate stress, anxiety and clutter from your life.

1. Waste Not, Want Not

We all have the same 24 hours a day at our disposal. The difference is how wisely you use it. Why waste a precious second on something that has no value or meaning in your life? The more you choose to use the time you do have that’s brings you joy and fulfillment, the more satisfying your life will be.

If you’re in a job you hate and it’s sucking the life out of you, then quit it. If you’re in a relationship that is abusive or the passion has died, then get out of there as fast as you can. If you’re health is not 100%, then start loving yourself more and you’ll find you’ll want to take better care of yourself.

By wasting time on things that do not serve you to move closer to your ultimate date with destiny in life then you’ll always feel a lack of meaning or purpose to all that you do. As soon as you switch this around and do only those things that you love, then your time will feel magical.

2. Live Each Moment Fully

What do you think is going to matter most when you’re laying on your deathbed looking back over your life? Will it be how many sales you made at work? Or how clean you kept your house? Or how many things you didn’t get done?

Probably not! Make each moment count as you never know when your last moment will be. Never arrive at the end of the day having left something important undone. Whether that is telling someone you are sorry, or you forgive them for some indiscretion.

Or, whether it’s something you know is important to do and must be done but have been avoiding. Stop putting anything off that is going to help you have a better life in some way. You’ll be so glad you did because it’ll feel like you have lifted a weight off your shoulders.

3. Don’t Forget to Take Time-Out Each Day

No matter how busy or hectic your life gets it’s vital that you give yourself 5, 10, or 20 minutes a day just being with yourself. This time allows you to reflect on your day and do whatever it is that brings you joy or helps you to relax.

Relaxation techniques that progressively relax the muscles of your body while calming your mind are well worth investing time in. Even if you just take time for a short walk, or to sit under a tree and do nothing but relax for a moment, it will be time well invested in yourself.

This is also a great way for you to remind yourself that you are just as important as anything you do.

4. Stop Telling Yourself You Don’t Have Enough Time

The more you affirm what you don’t have, the more you will attract it into your life. One of life’s laws is that what you focus on you get. When you focus on what you don’t have, you will have even less in the future. Instead, start affirming that you have an abundance of time and energy to get everything done that matters.

Does rushing to get places and do things make life feel any better for you? Probably not. You most likely just arrive at your destination feeling either overwhelmed or agitated. Either way, where’s the fun in that?

Instead, take your time doing as many things as you can. Sure, by driving at the speed limit you may get to your destination a few minutes later – but so what! By driving safer and perhaps singing one of your favorite tunes while your driving, you may actually get where you are going and feel great.

Whatever you do, see if you can slow down a bit and enjoy the doing of it. This will help you feel so much better about how you spend you time. Give yourself permission to take longer for some things and watch as the tension melts away.

5. Give Your Watch A Break

Put away your watch for the next seven days in either a cupboard or dresser. I did this for a period of three months and by the end of this time my internal clock had me waking up in the morning, getting to appointments and being where I needed to be in perfect timing.

At first, this may stress you out a little but after seven days you’ll experience a deep sense of freedom at not having to be a clock watcher all the time.

A wise man once said that money may come and go. If you lose your money, you can always make it back, but when you lose a minute, it’s gone forever. To live a life without regret is to know that you have followed the path of your heart and spirit without hesitation.

Don’t waste another moment letting the apparent lack of time be the reason you live a life of stress and anxiety. Stress is the biggest killer on the planet and you have the power to get rid of the majority of your stress just through learning some simple stress relief techniques to enjoy a happier, healthier, relaxed and more productive life.