Enjoy your current work more. Brainstorm what you could do to enjoy your current work more, then implement your ideas. For example, I work as a rideshare driver and used to deal with a lot of boredom and back pain, so I brainstormed and implemented: being more enthusiastic with customers, stretching, jumping jacks, and deep breathing after bathroom breaks, using better posture, buying and using a butt cushion and a back cushion, choosing, printing and hanging pictures of my goals on the dashboard, putting colorful decorations in the car, creating a music playlist with 10+ hours of feel-good songs across lots of genres, figuring out and sticking to a healthy energizing lunch, and listening to audiobooks between rides (free from library with "Libby" app). When you start brainstorming, it might take a little while to get ideas, but just keep trying. Try imagining a different version of yourself who enjoys the work, and figure out why they enjoy it. We spend so much of our time at work - it's worth trying to make it more enjoyable. Even little changes here and there can make a big difference over time.
If you dislike your current work, try to minimize how many hours you work each week. This will likely require you to first minimize your expenses so you don't need to make as much money. Make a list of all your expenses then spend a few minutes on each one, thinking about how you could get the expense to be smaller. Then ask yourself, "If I told my boss I can only work 35 hours a week instead of 40, would that be ok?" Get a little creative if needed. Maybe telling them you'll be a more efficient worker, happier, have more energy, and bring the morale of the team up a little more, would make them more likely to approve your request. You could also look for other places to work that would allow you to work less hours.
Make a list of all the people you interact with at least once a month. Sort them into 3 lists. People you interact with and feel energized during and after, people you interact with and don't feel any change in your energy level during and after, and people you interact with and feel drained during and after. Spend more time with the first group, a little less with the second, and as little as possible with the third. Sometimes stepping away from different relationships we have is the best thing for us.
Spend at least 2 hours a week focusing on what you want to create in your life. I recommend at least 10 minutes each morning and night. Use this time to think about, write about, plan, and act toward the things you want to create. Better realtionships. Better emotional health. Better physical health. Financial health. Adventures you want to go on. Learning a musical instrument... It could be anything. Think, write, plan, act. (See the User Manual for more on this.)
Streamline your basic necessities like sleeping, exercising, bathing, cooking, eating, cleaning, socializing, etc, by creating routines that incorporate them. This way you'll always be keeping up with the basics and won't have to think about them much. All of us already have routines, whether we're aware of them or not. Writing them down can help us see them more clearly - then move pieces around, add pieces, get rid of pieces, etc.
---
That's all I've got for now. I'll likely update this list over time.
The whole point of this is to maximize our free time so that we have more time and energy to do the things we're curious about, interested in, and passionate about.
Comments