Many of us value hard work and effort, because we know that this is largely the only way anything gets done. We cannot sit on the sofa and watch Netflix, and expect to advance our careers, for instance. We cannot eat every single fanciful meal we wish for via Uber Eats and expect a healthy bank balance or waistline at the end of the week. However, while these examples are quite obvious (maybe even too obvious), it’s important to consider the ways in which this attitude we adopt can prevent us from living a comforting, easier lifestyle.
Wanting to live an easier life is not a vital flaw in your character. You needn’t have to rush around dominating every single aspect of your life to enjoy the content of your days. You also needn’t be afraid of trying to settle down a little, getting back to the basics. Sometimes, a little humility can be very healthy for us. In this article, we hope to discuss how we can balance practices that may be defined in this way against practices that may be considered too indulgent and unhealthy.
This can help us get to perhaps one of the most important things in life to curate - balance.
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Easy Online Subscriptions
More and more services are recognizing the fact that people live busy lives, and in order to bring people together, they need to ensure they slot into a schedule well. Using these services, or searching for them to help aid with your daily planning can be a tremendously worthwhile new convenience for your life.
Of course, when we think along these lines we can often think in a limited capacity. For instance, we all know that Spotify, Netflix and Amazon Prime services offer us the convenience of an on-demand media diet, but this is hardly the only service benefiting from renewed, easy subscription methods. For instance, you can now get repeat prescriptions online and then enjoy home delivery, to ensure that your medications are well stocked and that you needn’t take a trip to the pharmacy. This can save you potential hours from each week as you commute back and forth, and it will always mean that you have your medication to hand. That, in itself, can be a tremendously worthwhile approach to make.
Structuring A Routine
It’s very easy for us to put down people who use techniques to keep on top of their discipline. We might think that discipline should come on its own due to how important it is, but in practice it’s easy to see how this just isn’t the case. Structuring a routine, then, could be an extremely worthwhile approach to take.
Waking up at the same time each day, going to bed at the same time, trying to shower at the same time, meditating, your morning workout, all of this can help you build one thing - life momentum. This means that it will feel much less difficult taking yourself from one task to another because you’ll be motivated and continually moving forward.
Some may feel that this is a lazy way of prioritizing your action, but really, it’s the wisest approach you can take. After all, the growth of internal discipline is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled. If you can keep those flames fed, you’re going to have a much easier time in life. Subscribing to this idea, and then kickstarting said routine in a way that makes sense to you (this last point is the most important), you may just move forward and enjoy a better sense of progress.
Daily/Weekly Digests
Many of us hope to be an informed and worthy citizen, keeping in mind a nuanced view of all that is going on around us, but really, publications, tabloids and news websites can sell us on information overload. It’s very easy to listen to hours of commentary about a subject, but as long as the present facts are being understood, you’re on the right track. Many of us haven’t the ability to learn the depth of the situation in the Middle East, or social issues in another country, or just what the latest biomedical research development is.
It’s okay to trust this news and commentary to professional sources, and more than that, to detach from reading the news every single moment to instead focus on your own life. We only have so much mental and physical bandwidth and so many hours in the day, after all. Subscribing to a morning digest, such as the age-old newspaper, can help you keep on top of the news without reading endless social media pieces or opinion columns. By all means weigh into the conversation online if that’s something you enjoy doing, but instead of allowing yourself to waste time trying to become informed, use the streamlined measures that can help free up your schedule. Even something as simple as reading the Google News morning digest or watching a video from carefully researched Geopolitical channels such as Caspian Report can be extensively useful.
Lessening ‘Dead Time’
‘Dead time’ can be a real issue. For instance, time spent on our commute, or time we spend sitting in a lethargic bubble after eating our evening meal. Of course, in order to live well, you needn’t be ‘go go go’ all of the time. However, it can sometimes be that you make things easier for yourself by making use of this time in a manner worthwhile to you.
For instance, listening to a range of educational audiobooks or podcasts during your commute can help engage your mind and help you think of topics interesting to you as you drive or take the train into work that day. The same goes for doing dishes. Perhaps even downloading a few mobile games on your phone can help you stay actiive and engaged when waiting in line at the post office. Dead time is part of all our lives, and so making use of this through a simple mobile option like this can be a great idea. There are some who feel that the convenience of this, such as listening to the fiction audiobook instead of reading the actual novel, somehow lessens the worth to be found here. We couldn’t disagree more. Whatever works for you, keeps you engaged and helps you relax is often more than suitable in the long run.
We All Need A Break
We all need a break from time to time. Accepting this can help us give up the ghost from time to time. We simply cannot be all things to all people and never tire of this pursuit. We cannot work twenty days in a row without a need for a day off. We cannot work out every single day without having to take a rest.
Resting is not lazy, is can often be the height of wisdom, provided it has been earned. When earning your rest in this way, it only becomes all the more enjoyable and rewarding. To that extent, you’re much more likely to enjoy a better, healthier attitude when it comes to taking a break.
The concept of overtraining is something well understood in exercise science, and put simply it is the ease in which novice and intermediate weightlifters (to use an example), can overdo things if not taking adequate time off to rest between heavy lifting attempts. This concept can apply to almost everything in life. Perhaps your most solemn duty is learning how to relax. Consider this your permission.
With this advice, we hope you can make life easier for yourself without worrying about becoming lazy.
