Five Easy Ways to Make Your Life Better for 8/30/20
The Power of Bright-Line Rules
(Rakaelle Price | Medium | 1,050 words)
A bright-line rule is a commitment you make with no wiggle-room.
While gradual improvement might seem easier, in many cases giving yourself a strict rule actually helps you out.
For example, you may decide to spend less time on social media. But that’s vague. How much is “less time?” It creates a lot of decisions, with the potential for rationalization and guilt.
But if you set a rule saying “No social media after 6:00,” you know the right thing to do.
I found this in Nir Eyal’s Nir and Far newsletter.
15 Incredibly Easy Ways to Improve Your Sleep
(Steven Ray Marks | Self Helping Yourself | 1,650 words)
- Don’t cut back on sleep to get more done
- Wear orange glasses before bed
- Get blackout curtains
- Wear an eye mask
- Spend between $800 and $1,500 on a mattress
- Buy the right pillow
- Take your own pillow on trips
- Don’t take long naps
- Take short naps
- Don’t use a snooze alarm – ever
- Sleep in the right position
- Avoid caffeine in the afternoon/evening
- Make your bed when you first get up
- Don’t weekend-jetlag yourself
- Learn your individual chronotype
8 Really Bad Habits (We All Do) That Drain Our Focus)
(Nicolas Cole | The Ladders | 1,450 words)
You’ll be a lot more focused and productive if you stop doing these things:
- Constantly checking your phone
- Not really listening
- Multitasking
- Working with the TV on
- Working in unproductive environments
- Working with unproductive people
- Lack of preparation
- Using notifications
Why Time Management Won’t Solve Your Time Problem (And Nine Things That Will)
(Becky Kane | Ambition & Balance by Doist | 2,200 words)
Ways to feel less busy:
- Identify the values you’re sacrificing to busyness
- Accept that you can’t do everything
- Do one thing at a time
- Invest in aimless acts of creativity
- Read a book
- Spend time with friends
- Give your time away
- Spend 15 minutes outdoors
- Make space for stillness and solitude
How to Deal With Disappointment: 12 Helpful Steps
(Henrik Edberg | Positivity Blog | 1,950 words | Subscribe)
Sometimes disappointments happen in life. To move forward afterward:
- Accept how you feel
- Remember you’re not a disappointment
- Learn from it
- Remember disappointment happens when you leave your comfort zone
- Refocus on what you’ve got
- Talk it over with someone close
- Adjust your expectations
- Take a break
- Get outside your own head
- Find energy and motivation with help from others
- Find a small step to start moving forward
- Improve your self-esteem
Bonus Boost
Everything You’ve Heard About Dieting is Wrong
(Steven Ray Marks | Self Helping Yourself | 1,050 words)
Diets don’t work because they’re too hard, and you can’t maintain them for life. At best, you’ll temporarily lose weight, but gain it back as soon as you stop the diet.
The right way to lose weight is to use the right strategies to build habits that are easy enough to keep for life.
The most important habit is to think before you eat, make, or buy food, make a rational decision about what and how much to eat, and then celebrate and take pride in your good decisions.
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