- Actively listen
Think about someone you enjoy talking to. Do they try to have their say whenever possible or are they actively engaged in what you are saying? When you talk to your friend are you usually worried about what you are going to say next? If you are anything like me then this distracted you and you never fully paid attention to what your friend was saying. Once I realized this and started working on my listening skills, I saw my personal relationships grow drastically. I started to enjoy my conversations more and I could tell my friends did too.
2.Don’t reach for your phone when you wake up
How many of you check your FB or Twitter feed as soon as you wake up? Who can blame you? You just woke up and you want to relax but before you know it thirty minutes has passed by and you stumble out of bed. If this situation is familiar then you know you could be more productive. Instead, try reading 5 pages of a book as soon as you wake up. This will wake you up more naturally and you won’t have the feeling of having wasted your time. Once I developed this habit, my mornings became very productive and this caused a domino effect throughout my day. I realized that how I begin my day will greatly affect what happens throughout my day.
3. Learn something new that interests you
When is the last time you tried learning something new? It could be learning Javascript to learning how to cook a meal. I told myself at the beginning of the summer that I was going to teach myself how to learn SQL which is a coding language. After about the first week I started to lose interest and by the second week I gave up all together. I realized that if I wanted to enjoy learning a new skill that I would need to be interested it in. Instead of learning code everyday, I decided I was going to write one answer on Quora everyday since I have always enjoyed writing. Do you know what it feels like to wake up and actually be excited about your day? It makes the world of difference.
4. Meditate
You probably read that and thought “Not this again”. I understand that have probably read that and maybe even tried it and it wasn’t for you. I completely understand. When I tried to meditate for the first time I couldn’t focus for that long of a time. However, I tried again but with the box breathing technique which anyone can learn. I only do it for 5 minutes a day but the feeling afterward is amazing. Whenever I stress out, I find my mind tends to race and this makes it difficult to think. After I meditate, my thoughts are not everywhere and I can then process everything that is going on.
5. Read before bed
Have you ever told yourself that you would start that book? It might be a book that has been sitting on your bookshelf or one that a friend has recommended. You might have told yourself that you just don’t have time and I don’t blame you. We all have busy schedules and things to do. However, that’s the same thing I used to tell myself before I started to read before bed. I challenged myself that I was going to read just 5 pages before bed everyday. I started to do this and I slowly increased this amount to 10 pages a day. Before I knew it I had read more books in 2 months than I have in the past 2 years. Instead of checking your Instagram feed, I challenge you to read just 5 pages before going to bed. Who knows you might surprise yourself.
If you want to learn about more habits check out Kevin Jon. He discusses a habit that was mentioned above and other habits that can improve your life.
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