I don't have time to rest after work. How to manage everything and live life to the fullest: practical advice. Mental traps that await us on the weekend
Hello friends!
There are many ways to kill time - and not one to resurrect it.
On this moment I am running 3 projects on the Internet and I have quite a lot of things to do, and a competent approach to this issue helps me to manage them. But it wasn't always like this. I learned how to manage my time wisely in Anna Vsekhsvyatskaya’s course “I have time for everything.” This course is designed specifically for women. It helped me a lot, so now I recommend it to all women who have problems managing their time. And if you enter the promo code mir, you will receive a 10% discount when ordering a course.
In this article, I will share basic rules that will help you get much more done.
Now ask yourself: Do you use your time wisely, achieve your goals and clearly know what you want, or do you constantly put things off until tomorrow, don’t set goals for yourself and just go with the flow of life!?
Didn't think about it! How so? This is your life and you have only one!
Either you manage your time, or others begin to manage your time.
And in order to become the master of your time, you need to know the basics of personal effectiveness and follow them. In the video I talk about how I manage my time and what helps me get everything done.
1. Define your goals.
To do this, take the time to understand yourself and understand what you want from life: who to become, what to do and what to have. After all, nothing is impossible in the world and it depends only on us how interesting and happy she will be. Therefore, understand yourself and make a list of goals so that you have a clear understanding of which direction to develop and what to spend your time on.
2. Organize your day.
Scientists have proven that if you go to bed at 22.00 and get up at 06.00, your body will be much more rested, and in the morning you will feel cheerful and energetic. I recommend taking this into account. I try to stick to this routine, but if you can't go to bed at 10 pm, then at least spend no more than 8 hours sleeping a day. This time is enough to get enough sleep.
3. Plan ahead.
Choose a time and schedule all your tasks for the week. For example, I do this on Sunday. Write no more than 5–6 things a day so as not to overload yourself. Choose the optimal load for yourself. Since the goal is achieved not by the one who does many things at once, but by the one who does things leading to the goal regularly.
4. Break a big task into small steps.
This way you will gradually and regularly move towards achieving your goal. After all, if you don’t break a major task into steps, then it may be put off day after day, and you won’t know how to approach it.
As you can see, this business consists of small steps. When you write down these steps, the task will no longer seem so scary and you will complete it much faster. Therefore, be sure to write down all the tasks that consist of many steps for yourself, this will allow you to complete them much faster.
5. Turn off distracting signals.
6. Spend no more than one hour a day on social media. networks and mail.
Set aside a specific time for this. It is best to do this in the evening, when most of the important things are done.
7. Learn to say no.
There are a lot of distractions in the world we live in. Early in the morning a friend may call you and ask you to help him with something or go somewhere. Such an intervention can take up a lot of your time, and if it happens regularly, then you may not get off the ground at all. Yes, you need to help, but you shouldn’t do it to your own detriment.
When I lived on Koh Samui, every day I received offers to go somewhere, see some new place, or do something interesting. Yes, this is all, of course, great, but at the same time I understood that I had urgent matters, my own plan, and I said “no.” I decided for myself: I work two days, rest one day. This way I had time to see new places, go to the beach, and do all the necessary things.
Therefore, before you start changing your plans, think about what is more important to you and whether someone else’s request or proposal can be postponed to another day.
8. If the matter takes no more than 5 minutes, do it right away.
There is no need to write down such a thing in your diary as, for example, calling and making an appointment with the hairdresser. It’s better to call and make an appointment right away so as not to waste any more time on this.
9. Delegate.
You don't have to do everything yourself. You can entrust them to other people, machines or services that will do your work faster and better. Of course, in order to delegate some of your responsibilities, you need to pay. But it's not a lot of money. Many people are mistaken that delegation is only available to wealthy people. In fact, this is not the case. You can turn to a freelancer who will take on any task on your project and do it much faster and with better quality, since he is an expert in this matter. This could be writing sales text, programming, creating a banner or logo, and much more. You can find such freelancers on the website work— zilla. com . Carrying out such small tasks as a freelancer is quite inexpensive.
Outsourcing necessary in cases where you want to transfer some business for a long period of time. For example, you can outsource bookkeeping or house cleaning services to such companies. You can also hire a personal assistant if you have a lot of small tasks that do not require professional knowledge. You can hire such an assistant for a long time.
In addition to people, you can seek help from services that will simplify your work. For example, instead of manually writing posts on VKontakte, you can turn to a service that will automatically publish posts in your group.
You can also ask for help from various machines. Now there are a large number of them. They are especially good at helping with housekeeping. These could be multicookers, dishwashers, washing machines, anything. Also, instead of wasting time on shopping, you can order the necessary goods online, which will also save your time.
10 Analyze.
At the end of the week, see if you have completed all the things you planned. If not, then try to understand where you went astray and what exactly prevented you.
If you feel that despite planning you are still not using your time effectively enough, take a time tracking exercise. To do this, every day for a week, write down all the things you do, and also indicate the time during which you do something. Thanks to this, you will understand what distracts you and takes up the necessary time. Sometimes you take on too much work and the next day you don't feel like doing work at all.
By analyzing your experience, you will develop an ideal system for managing your time and use it effectively, which means achieving your goals. Consequently, your life will change dramatically in the next couple of years.
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Drink green tea: Herbal tea has an excellent relaxing effect. Green tea is a source of L-theanine, which helps relieve anger. Boil water, brew tea, and take a soothing sip—it only takes a couple of minutes.
Chocolate bar: A few pieces of dark chocolate will help relieve stress and improve your mood. Dark chocolate regulates levels of the stress hormone cortisol and stabilizes metabolism, but keep in mind that it is not advisable to abuse it.
Remember about breathing: Is there an easier way to relax? Slow, deep breathing can help lower blood pressure and heart rate. For a change, try pranayama breathing. This yogic technique involves breathing through one nostril and then the other, and is used to reduce anxiety.
Try progressive relaxation: Are you tense? Use progressive relaxation to learn how to relax in any environment. This method consists of step-by-step training in selective tension and relaxation certain types muscles.
Count back: Yes, this method is known to everyone, but it really works. Try counting forward and backward several times. Your brain won't have time to worry if it's busy with numbers.
Close your eyes: If you can, then everything is fine. Just isolate yourself from the noise of the office or the chaos of the street behind the protection of tightly closed eyelids. This is an easy way to restore calm and focus.
Body relaxation
Give yourself a hand massage: Of course, you will not be able to use the services of a professional massage therapist at your workplace. But it’s quite possible to do it yourself. This will be especially useful for people who spend a lot of time in front of the keyboard. But if you have a little more than five minutes, then it’s quite possible.
Try acupressure: Acupressure is acupressure that owes its origins to ancient Chinese medicine. This method is less painful and completely safe, while being universally applicable and easily accessible to anyone.
Ride a tennis ball: Take off your shoes and roll a regular tennis ball with your feet. This makes for a great impromptu foot massage. This is especially nice if you have to wear high heels.
Wet your wrists with cold water: If you feel like this, then go to the toilet and just wet your wrists and the area behind your earlobes with cold water. This will help you quickly calm down and relieve tension.
New environment
Be alone: Not everyone needs a cabin in the woods, but five minutes of solitude will help you gather your thoughts and clear your head.
Create a Zen zone for yourself: Find or create a special place for yourself to relax. This is a place where no one and nothing will disturb you. Perhaps it will be a comfortable chair in the hall or a secluded bench in the yard - the main thing is that you associate it with peace and relaxation.
Look out the window: If you constantly look at the TV screen or monitor, then five minutes of contemplation real life Looking outside can really clear your mind.
Get organized: The daily clutter around you can be a much bigger source of irritation than you think. The chaos on your desk is often a reflection of the chaos in your head. Remove all that is unnecessary, put in order what is necessary, and you will see how beneficial it will be for you.
Exercises
Stretching: Does this word bring to mind an image of a gym and graceful gymnasts in the splits? This is not at all necessary - you can stretch without even getting up from your workplace. Try to stretch well up and to the sides, various rotations of the body, tilts, or, for example,.
Yoga: Many people think that yoga is very difficult and not entirely suitable for a noisy city. However . Yoga is a great way to take control of not only your body, but also your mind.
Weekends are the time during which you want to relax and have time to do everything that you don’t have enough precious hours to do on weekdays. However, you often hear the following dialogue: “How did you spend your weekend?”, “No way, we slept and watched a movie.” Why does this happen and how to make sure that Saturday and Sunday do not go in vain, but also do not become just another working day?
The dangers of lazy weekends
What's wrong with dedicating Saturday and Sunday to sleep? Behind working week we get tired, we don’t have enough time to sleep, and a weekend spent “half asleep” should solve this problem. But, more often than not, we encounter the opposite effect; after such sleepy days, we feel even more unrested and tired. Here are the dangers of such weekends:
1. Sleep and wakefulness patterns are disrupted. During the working week, our body gets used to a certain schedule, and on the weekend we begin to violate it, and this is the same stress for the body as any other change, but stress for the body is simply harmful;
2. We go to bed late on Sunday., because we got up late in the morning and didn’t want to sleep. And, consequently, we don’t get enough sleep on Monday, which leads to rapid fatigue;
3. We lose motivation. There is a saying: “He who gets up early, God gives to him.” This phrase means the following: we belong to the animal world, which means that our body is naturally tuned to wake up at dawn and fall asleep at sunset. Of course, you shouldn’t take this recommendation literally, but it’s worth remembering that waking up closer to lunch than breakfast is quite harmful, as it goes against human nature itself. In addition, the more we “lie on the couch,” the less we want to get up and do something. This effect is familiar to almost everyone;
4. Getting enough sleep and rest are not the same thing. We can sleep for 12 hours, but it will not be a complete rest. Complete rest– this is fresh air and new experiences, not watching dreams.
Useful weekend. Learning to plan business and leisure
So, in order to ensure that the weekend does not go in vain, you should follow several rules.
First, plan in advance everything you want to do during these days. For example, cleaning, taking a walk, going to the cinema, making a pie according to a new recipe. Be sure to include in the list activities that give you pleasure and new experiences; these are, after all, days off, and not days of “housekeeping and gardening.”
Secondly, increase your sleep time by a maximum of 1.5-2 hours. This will be enough to feel invigorated, but will not disrupt your daily routine very much.
Thirdly, at least one point of your plan should be devoted to achieving your cherished goal. Each of us has a dream. Someone wants to learn a language, someone wants to lose weight, someone dreams of a vacation abroad. One day, Saturday or Sunday, plan to do at least something that will bring you closer to your cherished goal. This will help you stay motivated to achieve success and give you confidence.
A weekend spent benefiting your soul and body will bring you much more benefits and pleasant experiences than the longest sleep.
WONDERZINE launches a new section on how to properly relax over the weekend in different life circumstances. Simply put, we give advice for all cases - what to do so that by Monday morning you don’t feel overwhelmed and ashamed of a pointlessly wasted weekend.
What to do on the weekend if you are alone? Not lonely, but alone and with a great desire to restore the strength spent during the week. There are a lot of plans, but every time the everyday stagnation spills over into the weekend and repeats Groundhog Day. One day it's worth trying to act according to plan. For example, like this:
Change your appearance for a short time
and social circle
When you live according to the same algorithm for years, the picture of the world becomes blurred, and the joy from every day you live goes away. Wait with the accusations of banality: psychologists have found that even clothes can completely change our mood and behavior. For example, if you ask a person to put on a white coat, he will automatically perform the assigned work more carefully. A timid girl dressed in tomboy style straightens her shoulders and feels more confident.
Dramatic reforms can be made not only in clothing, but also in behavior and social circles. If among your friends and acquaintances there is a person whom you openly or secretly admire and would like to learn something from him (for example, making connections and easily communicating with people, running a household or business) - become his partner for a day. Observe, learn and help.
Digital detox
A typical weekend scenario: as soon as we open our eyes, we go online and spend the entire day on it. Researchers talk about real addiction - every new photo, text, status update stimulates the release of the pleasure hormone dopamine, and it encourages you to log into the social network again and again. As a result, the brain feels crowded and chaotic, memory suffers, the ability to create and plan, communicate live with loved ones, friends, make new acquaintances - we become autistic, withdraw into ourselves. Mood swings, fears, phobias, depression are also the price to pay for the habit of being “stupid on Facebook.”
Digital detox (temporarily eliminating all electronic devices from life) is a proven way to protect the brain from information intoxication. The rules are the same as with food detox. Start early - reduce your time online by 15 minutes every day of the week. Don't take your phone with you when you go to lunch, and don't put it next to your bed - buy a regular alarm clock. It is better to schedule a digital detox on a day free from work, when you belong to yourself and can relax. Pick the sites or apps you spend the most time on and ask yourself: what is it about them that draws you to them? Try to find a replacement for them in real life. If you're inspired by artistic photos on Instagram, go to an art gallery. If you spend hours on fitness blogs, go jogging or skiing.
In the evening, when you turn on your phone again and are flooded with filtered photos from your friends' fun weekends on Facebook, remind yourself that social networks reflect only the most beautiful moments in the lives of others. Most of them are not so shiny and remain behind the scenes.
Sport
Most of us view exercise as a bitter medicine: hard physical labor in exchange for health and a slim figure. Few people realize that the body is initially programmed to enjoy movement (hence the expression “muscle joy”). After 40–50 minutes of intense exercise, the brain begins to produce cannabinoids, substances similar to those found in marijuana. They relieve anxiety, pain and create the so-called runner's euphoria (“runner's high”). Athletes describe it as a feeling of complete relaxation, pure delight, harmony with oneself and nature, “as if you are rocking on the waves of happiness.” Women aged from 18 to 63 years old can experience orgasm during physical training.Here is a ranking of fitness types in order of increasing pleasure: race walking, running, cycling, yoga, strength fitness, abdominal exercises.
This coming weekend, try doing your workout as if it were a reward in itself. Concentrate on the pleasant sensations while doing the exercises. Finally, one more inspiring argument from Jane Fonda in favor of sports: “Perhaps the most quick way clear the mind - put the body in order. Get your thoughts out of your head and take care of your body.”
Creative date
If the words “going to an exhibition” or “excursion to the theater” make your cheekbones ache, try creative dates. The author of the term, American director and screenwriter Julia Cameron, wrote a bestseller on this topic - “The Artist's Way” (by the way, a great idea for weekend reading). Choose one of your favorite activities (a visit to an art supply store, a spa, an Italian lesson, an outing, a regular walk in the park) and go on a date with him. It is important not to take anyone with you for company and not to force yourself out of control. Instead, a creative date should be about spontaneity and time for yourself and what you truly love. You don’t need to look up to anyone or look back; the more you behave like a child, the more ideas and insights come to your mind.
Do some spring cleaning
Cold, darkness, dirt and chaos in the house, lack of sleep provoke bouts of gluttony - proven scientific research. Moreover, on weekends, as a rule, overeating reaches its peak. Start your weight loss program not with a diet, but with spring cleaning. Give away or throw away unnecessary items. Buy beautiful bedding and try to sleep at least 7 hours a night. If you are cold, wear more soft clothes.
Listen to the music
Ten minutes of good music can play the role of the most effective meditation and, in addition, acts on the brain as cardio training: it strengthens blood vessels, improves the functioning of memory and imagination. Develop a sense of music - there is melody in all the sounds around us, we are just used to thinking of them as noise.
Cosmetic procedures
A day off is the ideal time for spa treatments. If the budget is very small, you can limit yourself to a massage. In a good salon, along with a massage, they offer free access to the hammam and swimming pool. You can carry out a full cycle of cleansing and nourishing the skin, relax muscles, relieve stress, reduce cellulite and swelling. To enhance the effect, on the day of visiting the salon, eat minimally (give preference to light dairy products, vegetables and fruits) and drink more water. After the massage, spend the rest of the day in relaxation and tranquility - no urgent meetings or parties.
Illustrations: Masha Shishova
The first danger awaits us in the evening of a regular working day, when we no longer want anything. To avoid spending the entire evening on social networks, cut off your escape routes in advance. Buy a ticket to a concert, promise your spouse a trip to a restaurant, bet with a friend that you won’t miss a workout. And in order not to think on your tired head, right now do a simple exercise “Evening Rest Scenarios”.
Divide the sheet into two columns. On the left, write options for a typical dull evening: “scrolling through Instagram,” “sitting in front of the TV.” And on the right - remember good options: “take a walk in your favorite park,” “go to a new exhibition,” “dive into the pool after working out at the gym.”
An excellent option for those who meet Friday in a state of squeezed lemon. All you need to do is finish your work 1-2 hours early once a week, leave the office and carry out one of the evening relaxation scenarios. Do something that you don’t have enough time and energy to do on an ordinary evening: go to the cinema, to a water park or to a concert. Having a quality rest in the middle of the week, you will get a lot more done in the remaining working days. For a half-day off, Wednesday evening is ideal.
Planning a weekend getaway is a pleasant experience and rarely causes problems. But a mountain of household chores is a real danger of ruining everything. After all, it is on the weekend that most of us are used to shopping for groceries, cleaning, washing and cooking.
Here are a few ways to clear your weekend from household chores or significantly reduce the time spent on these activities:
a) Make to-do lists, assign responsibilities and deadlines. Everything is like at work. This will save several hours.
b) Don’t save things up for the weekend. For example, you can start the washing machine on Tuesday evening.
c) Delegate. The rest of the family, including children. Or to professionals, but for money (the windows can be washed by guys from a special office, for example).
d) Buy groceries on weekdays. Remember the terrible queues and traffic jams on Sundays.
e) Use delivery services (food, household chemicals, pet products).
Rituals are needed not only for work, but also for relaxation. It's the details that differentiate an ordinary action from a ritual. Compare: fry a “ready kebab” from something unknown or choose good meat yourself, marinate it with interesting spices, fry it on the right grill, serve it in beautiful dishes.
Here are some ideas:
a) Entertainment: cinema, theater, football
b) Pleasures for the body: bath, massage, spa
c) Communication with nature: forest, river, sea
d) Sports: bicycle, badminton, skiing
e) Games: board games, cards, chess
e) Food: kebabs, cake
Dr. Elaine Eaker warns that you should not rest less than twice a year, otherwise the risk of heart attack and depression increases significantly. At the same time, it is better to rest little by little, but more often.
Options:
a) 2 weeks in summer + New Year holidays + November and May holidays
b) 2 weeks + spread one day over Fridays to make a long weekend
c) change the climate: leave winter for summer
Taking a month off at once is a bad idea.
On vacation, alternate between resting and switching. Relaxation is a passive scenario, such as lying on the beach and reading a book. Switching is an active option that gives vivid impressions: exploring architectural monuments, playing volleyball.
The most important switch must happen at the beginning of your vacation - you need to switch from work. Therefore, first we “pump up” ourselves with switches in order to get work problems out of our heads, then we rest passively, and so we alternate until the end of the vacation.
Before going to work, passive rest is required, one or two days. Otherwise, you will go to work exhausted and unrested.
