In a busy and hectic schedule that we all follow, it is very important to enjoy small joys in life. We need to balance our life, and taking out some time to count your blessings is as important as following your dreams and working hard towards it.
If you are like me, there will be days when you will be so caught up in something that you will forget to be grateful. I know that I need to remind myself that I have way more blessings in my life than the stress, struggles and low moments.
In an effort to try to balance my life, I have made this list of 5 things to do daily.
- Meditate daily.
This means that you take out a minimum of 5 minutes and up to 30 minutes out of the 24 hours of the day to connect with your inner self. You can use this time to calm and relax yourself. Meditation takes time and patience, and I myself am still learning. But remembering to take out the time to be thankful, to reflect on your life, to pause and stop your busy daily routine and make a connection with yourself is very important and a type of self care that we all can practice over time!
In meditation, you try to focus on only your breathing and try to stop any other thoughts. Or you can focus on one thought or activity, so your mind is not racing and you try to make your mind calm and stable. I use my backyard in the early morning and the living room at the end of the day with kids to take out time on a daily basis, but any place in home can be used as a routine to sit, think and/or meditate.
2. Work out every day.
In one of my earlier posts “It is a new decade to be healthy” I have written about the benefits of exercising, motivations and steps for putting this practice to use. Working out helps physical as well as mental well being of everyone, irrespective of their age. Of course depending on where you are physically, there are different types of work out styles that you may chose from. Here is also my list of 10 tips to motivate yourself to work out and stay healthy. Please check the list by clicking here. A short walk or achieving your steps goals for the day or any type of movement daily helps.
I follow Lucy Read Wyndham because her YouTube work-outs are free, doable, effective and balanced for me. I can work as little as 7 min (she has tons of 7 minutes long free workout videos ) or do 2-3 sets to make it a whole body longer work out. Most days I do a 7 minutes belly fat and a 20 minutes full body workout. For the past year, I have been doing her work outs and spend between 7-30 minutes 6-7 days of the week. It has become a routine and part of life for me now. You can check her free YouTube videos here.
3. Journal or write your thoughts daily.
I have written about our journaling habit in 2 of my earlier posts, and we really like the GLAD journal. At the end of every day, kids and I jot down things to wind our day. G stands for what you are grateful for, L stands for what you have learned today, A stands for what you have accomplished today, and D stands for what has delighted you today.
Although these are brief notes and not writing pages, it helps us since it is short and concise. Below are couple journal pages as our examples.
4. Cook and eat one home made meal.
I know for many, if not most of us, this may be a routine but I also know that there are times when we may end up eating packaged or carry out food for days. This is a reminder for all of us that food is the fuel for our body, and what we put in is what makes this machine, a.k.a. our body work. The food is the energy and our body does respond to the nutrients and the ingredients we put inside it. Healthy eating is one of the most essential steps to leading a healthy life.
Over this quarantine period and staying at home, I have tried multiple new recipes. I try to always look for recipes made from scratch and minimize processed or packaged food. Below are the few pictures of home-made food prepared in the last week or so.
5. Take out time for connection.
It may be in the form of spending quality time with family or any loved ones, or it can be time reading something that you prioritize. Reading or talking relaxes you and your brain, and helps you make connection with others around you.
In my home, I read mostly online but also get a book or 2 from my kid’s bookshelf every now and then:)
In my earlier post on having an attitude of gratitude, I wrote about the mind set where we are given strength and the will power to be thankful by counting our blessings daily. We should not take things for granted and always should be able to look at what all we have instead of always worrying about what we may not have, or what is going on wrong in our lives. Here are the few basic things that we all can always be thankful for –
- Good health: self as well as family
- Home: rented or owned where you spend your nights at peace and protected from the natural elements
- Education or job or skill sets: what you have achieved in your life because of your prior experiences
- A spiritual guide: religious or not, spirituality is when you acknowledge the power that you are not in control and the confidence that things will always work out for you. It gives us the strength to continue when things may not be working our way. Faith moves mountains and is a pivotal step for confidence and contentment in life.
- Family or friends: social people that you have in your life whom you can rely on and reach out for help.
- Being able to give back to community: in any small ways as possible; remember that home is always the first place to start!
Wrap Up
In today’s post I wrote about 10 things to do daily. To summarize, life is not a battle to be won but rather a journey where you take out the time and chance to make and cherish beautiful moments. Please share your thoughts about what you do on a daily basis, that keeps you focused on the good in life and helps you lead a balanced life.
49 replies on “5 things to do every day”
I love these ideas especially the cooking part because I love creating new recipes!
Thanks Tiffany! Yes fun but time consuming; being at home and in quarantine is def giving us more time to explore cooking!
Very well put, you shares some good ideas 😊 Thank u !
Thanks Bhavya!
These are some essentials, for sure. I especially resonate with the journaling idea! And I think the last one, (taking time for connection,) is so important to include! Thank you for this!
Thank you Lauren
Great advice. Working out everyday has helped my mental health SO much, couldn’t agree more with that tip.
Thank you for sharing Hallie!
Essentially for everyday routine or even weekly. Thanks
I really love these ideas! I think the idea of writing down you rethought each day is a great idea.. I might give this a try! thanks for sharing
Journaling is new for us too, but it is such a good idea!
Happiness is in these little things, I learned to find time for them and be grateful for them.
Beautiful thought, thanks for sharing Cristina!
Great post! These things are extremely important for your well being!
These tips for daily living are so awesome! I love the one about making/eating a homecooked meal. As a busy working mom, its hard and sometimes makes me feel guilty that some of the meals we eat are just quick meals! Thank you for these!
Agree, thank you!
This is a great post. Reminder that self love and care is vital. The past 2 weeks have been hectic, I haven’t had time to exercise. Thanks for the reminder
Gamu, thank you. Hope you are able to come back to routine soon, we all have been there when we skip or don’t have time but eventually the consistency works.
One more thing I could add (for myself) would be LOG OUT. Just get off the social media. Too stressful!
I love this list! So simple and impactful and so relevant to the kind of social situations most of us live in!
Thanks Nkem
Meditation has been my zen lately to find my quiet inner voice of serenity, seek enlightenment and find a truth that has been drown out by the raging, churning world right now.
That is great, thank you for sharing. I am still trying to perfect my meditation, my mind keeps wandering a lot!
Amazing post, these small changes make great impact on our life.
Beautiful article with excellent suggestions.
I have a practice of morning prayer and writing and a practice of journal where I unravel thoughts. I love that you’ve included eating a home cooked meal. A meal made with hands of love is the most delicious.
Thanks you Karletta. It is amazing to read your daily practice.
Love this list. Just taking a little time to meditate will leave you much calmer and ready to conquer the world.
These are such important reminders! I like your point about eating a homemade meal daily! That is very important to our health and well-being. Thank you for sharing this information!
Thank you Stephanie for the reminder!
Cooking, reading and writing are my favorites, engaging in active chores, can help with keeping the body and spirit together, especially if they happen to be what we enjoying doing most; they are always fun.
That is wonderful, thanks for sharing
Totally agree! I do most of these every day, though as an introvert sometimes I prefer alone time
I have never been able to stay consistent with keeping a journal every day. Although I love it. The rest I do and find they really help.
Meditation calms me and hepls me relax.
Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts. I make my kids journal daily though I may skip and come back to it later:) I am still trying meditation, concentrating is really hard for me!
Very well put together but i just can’t seem to exercise, so i chalk up meditation as exercise because i’m soooo lazy
Thank you! That is great too. We can always replace couple and find the ones that work the best for us.
Thank you for sharing these tips! 🙂 I notice I always feel better when I do them, but it’s hard to always motivate myself to… It’s always good to have some inspiration like this!
Erin
Thank you! We all need inspirations!
Thank you for sharing these tips! I really need to do more of these tips mentioned in the post. Great post!
These are great tips, and such easy things to add to any daily routine. I love preparing and eating homemade meals. It makes such a difference!
Thank you Kait!
journaling has honestly changed my life! I now do it daily and it has helped my stress levels so much
Thanks for sharing Supal
Love your blog! We write about similar things. Great post.
I really love GLAD for the journaling. I always struggle to keep things moving along and not sound like a boring rundown of the day. This will help!
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