“I want to start making healthier changes but I’ve been too caught up with work.”
If you find yourself saying this more often than you’d like, we are here to help. The truth is, your schedule is always going to be busy, but that shouldn’t stop you from leading a better quality of life. So we’ve put together a list of tips that will help you get there while saving on time. No more fluff, we know you’re on a tight schedule, so let’s get straight into it!
Early to Bed, Early to Rise
Several studies show the numerous health benefits of sticking to a sleep schedule and waking up early. Early risers get a better quality of sleep, and hence, have a fresher mind when they sit down to work. They’re also just generally in a better mood throughout the day.
Waking up early is a lifestyle change you can make without sacrificing time. You’re adding more working hours to your day and can be more productive.
Planning for Productivity
It’s common to feel overwhelmed with the amount of work you have to do—too many tasks in too little time. What works best in this case, is writing everything down and allocating a start time and deadline for each of your tasks.
Physical planners, as well as apps, can help you establish a solid daily routine. You can set a time for tasks that you want to do every day—like working out, cooking meals, etc.— and then schedule new work for the rest of the day. We recommend planning your day the night before when you’re winding down for bed.
Make sure you’re giving yourself enough breaks in between tasks, even if they’re only 5-10 minutes long. It’s easy to overwork yourself and, as a result, produce poor quality work or burnout. If you follow this process consistently and set realistic daily goals, at the end of the day when you’ve ticked off your last task, you’re going to feel elated!
Simple Skincare
When it comes to skincare, a lot of people believe you need 30 mins and 30 different products to have flawless skin. In actuality, skincare can be very simple and require no more than 5 minutes at the start and end of your day.
The key is to find skincare products that have good quality active ingredients and target your specific concerns. Say, for example, the perfect skincare routine for dry skin would contain products that are more moisturizing and less stripping.
Focus on finding a good face wash (and makeup remover if you wear makeup), a good moisturizer, and by far the most important, a good quality sunscreen! Sunscreen will help prevent aging and protect your skin from harmful, cancer-causing UV rays.
Step Towards Meal Prep
When you’re busy, the last thing you’re thinking about is eating, much less cooking your food! It is easy to fall into a cycle of ordering all your meals but that system is far from ideal.
Having take-out every day is incredibly unhealthy, and if you find healthy food options, they are usually incredibly expensive. Meal prep can not only be healthy and inexpensive, but it also saves you so much time!
So what is meal prepping?
Meal prepping is preparing a large portion of a meal and then portioning it out to create grab-and-go meals for the rest of the week.
Now, we know what you’re thinking—won’t the food spoil? Not if you know how and what to meal prep. Usually, cooked grains and pasta, meat, beans, cheese, nuts and seeds, sauces and dips, hearty, fresh vegetables are all great options. Stay clear of softer fruits and vegetables and crunchy food.
All you need is 2-3 hours out of your weekend for meal prepping. Then, for the rest of the week, you can just reheat and dig in!
Walk and Talk
We often hear people talking about how they don’t have time to go to the gym or stay active. Instead, they spend most of their time working at a desk. This next tip is by no means a replacement for weight training or playing a sport, but it is a good way to get your 10,000 steps in for the day.
If you spend a lot of time on phone calls, try taking them while walking around your house, neighborhood, or at a park. Of course, be mindful of your surroundings at all times and don’t do this while crossing the road, but do try to make this a habit.
You’ll be surprised by how quickly time goes by when you’re on a call and how many steps you’ve managed to complete while doing this.
10 Minutes of Mindfulness
Being more mindful is one of the best things you can do to improve your mental health. Everyone should get into the habit of meditating, no matter what their schedule looks like.
While you may see this as a waste of 10 minutes, daily and consistent meditation can boost your productivity by a significant amount. In the long run, being mindful allows you to achieve more in your professional life by making you more self-aware, de-stressed, imaginative, focused, and creative.