When you think about your life and ways to improve it, usually your first reflex is that you are missing something. But you often forget that one of the best ways to improve your life, to feel better, is not by adding. On the contrary, it is by eliminating.
Today I will share with you 5 things that I stopped to do in my life and that helped me improve my life and feel better.
1. Stop taking things in a personal way.
When a person addresses you in a different way than usual, and you start thinking for the next half hour what’s wrong with you, stop it. When a person behaves differently depends on them, not on you. Do not try to understand something you do not know, because you can’t guess what may have happened to that person, maybe you can talk to them about it, if you see it would help, but stop thinking that it is because of you. In this way you will avoid wasting energy and precious time.
2. Work too much.
If you do an activity that you really like and that involves you completely, it is normal for you to devote a lot of time to your work. But remember that one day the breaking point may arrive, life sooner or later will send you the bill. Learn to delegate, ask for help from a colleague, it is not necessary for you to be involved with everything. If you work more than 8 hours, do you really think you’re efficient and productive for all the time you’ve spent working? Take breaks, take time to eat, take a walk even around the workplace, go to the gym. You will see that when you get back to work, you will be much more productive.
3. Reduce the time spent on social media.
Do you know how many hours you spend in front of your phone, tablet, or computer? There are apps that tell you this. Install one and you may be surprised. In some social media you can also establish the maximum time you want to spend watching, reading, communicating. Also ask yourself why you need to spend long hours on social media. Is it a distraction for you? Do you need social connections? Would you like to build a network? Or is it just rewarding to your ego? Once you have found the answer, try to find activities that can replace the time spent in front of a screen. Instead of chatting with a friend, why don’t you call them and agree to see each other? We are social beings after all. If it can help you, think about what you do when you are on vacation. This is the time when you definitely do a lot of different activities and spend shorter hours in front of a screen. You’ll want to visit a museum rather than go for a tour of an archaeological site, or a walk in the mountains, or swim in the sea. Now put yourself in vacation mode and look for an activity similar to what you would do on vacation.
4. Change your priorities.
Do this exercise. Draw two columns on a sheet. In one column write the things you like to do, in the other those you don’t like, or you don’t like that much. Look for activities that enrich you personally and professionally. Describe what and why makes you feel good and do it more often.
5. Stop feeling guilty all the time.
Our society is structured in such a way that you may feel guilty about so many things. You do not practise enough sport, you eat unhealthy, you sleep little, you do not have the right skills, etc. When you feel guilty about everything that happens to you, what you do or don’t do, you lose control of your life. On the other hand, however, ignoring guilt altogether leads you to be pleased with yourself. The solution might be focussing on the values that guide your life, for example love, family, ethics, authenticity.
To conclude, the message to take away is that if you have plenty of things to do, to improve your life you do not need to add more, but you shall eliminate some of them, so to create more space to make you feel better.
Therefore, less is more.
Do you think that you have a very busy life?
For more on improving your life, please visit my blog crisbiecoach.
Brillant post, worth sharing 😊👍
So true I think for me number 3 it’s a real struggle…
I see, some days for me too 😏thank you commenting!
Great Post, short with concrete steps.
Thanks for sharing this
Thank you!
I absolutely loved this post, Cristiana! Thank you for sharing such valuable insights with us!
Thank you Art!
I loved this post, Cristiana. Honestly, every one of your points was on target for me, but especially #4. There’s too little time to waste it on things that aren’t meaningful. Thank you for sharing this!
Thank you for reading and commenting Audience of One!
#3 has been my rule lately. I need space for my own thoughts.
Excellent. Thank you for sharing!
Great post, Cristiana. I love this phrase, “life sooner or later will send you the bill.” For sure!
And the clarity that you describe in #4 is brilliant. “Describe what and why makes you feel good and do it more often.” Such a straightforward way to eliminate what isn’t working.
Thank you Wynne!
All incredibly important suggestions and reminders, especially the last four. In America, we are taught to feel guilty if we aren’t “being productive” and/or active all the time. There is nothing wrong with doing nothing or “being lazy.” When I feel a profound tug to be lazy, I recognize that my body, mind, and spirit have a deep need for quietness, for stillness, for simply unplugging and decompressing. Inaction is not doing nothing. Inaction is healing “action.” Thanks for this, Cristiana.
I agree totally with you about being lazy. Not only we need it, but also it may be a creative moment! Thank you Troy!
Thanks for these tips. I try to remember Thoreau’s advice, “Simplify, Simplify, Simplify.”
I love “simplify, simplify, simplify “ but I think that we mainly complicate, complicate, complicate. Thank you for commenting!
OMG, this is so true!
Outstanding article Cristiana and so true! Everybody should read this!
Thank you Todd!