Between our work to do lists, home to do lists, and the simple fact there’s not enough time in the day, life can be pretty stressful at times!
We all know we should try and minimise stress where we can, so we can focus on our important tasks and still make a little time to prioritise our health and happiness, too.
Unfortunately, many of us form small daily habits that stress us right out without us even realising it! Is it time you quit some of these?
1. You don’t make your bed.
Making your bed first thing can set the tone for the whole day. It might even change your life.
In his book The Power of Habit, author Charles Duhigg calls this simple act a “keystone habit”, one that flows onto “better productivity, a greater sense of well-being and stronger skills at sticking with a budget.” If that’s not a reason to set the alarm a minute earlier every morning.
2. You’ve stopped moving.
Regular exercise is about SO much more than weight loss. A number of studies suggest regular movement calms the mind, improves mental agility and makes us far better equipped to handle stressful situations.
That’s one of the main reasons we’ve developed a brand new Movement Plan on the I Quit Sugar: 8 Week Program. It’s packed with expert-developed how-to guides and easily customisable workouts that will you moving throughout the Program and beyond.
3. You’ve forgotten how to breathe.
Stop right now and take a big deep breath… there, doesn’t that feel miles better?
We tend to breathe quicker and shallower when we’re stressed, which, ironically, makes us more stressed. Take a couple of minutes to deeply inhale and exhale next time you’re feeling overwhelmed.
4. You eat too much sugar.
Surprise! Except not really. If you’re punctuating your days with sugary morning muffins, afternoon sweets and late night chocolate just to get through the day, you’re perpetuating a cycle of sugary stress that can be incredibly tough to break.
Stop the blood sugar roller coaster by giving the sweet stuff the flick, eating nutrient-dense main meals and choosing savoury snacks (if you need them), like nuts and cheese.
5. Your smartphone is an extension of your arm.
How many times have you checked your phone today? How about in the last hour?
Research suggests that our constant need to respond to calls, texts, emails, tweets, Facebook messages, Instagram updates and Snapchat stories isn’t doing anything good for our anxiety levels (did anyone else break out in hives just reading that list?).
Make certain times of the day a “phone-free zone”, so you can disconnect from the wider world and reconnect to your here and now.
6. You keep putting it off until tomorrow.
We’re all familiar with that niggling thing on the to do list that somehow keeps getting moved to the following day? It’s not going to do itself. And leaving it hovering over you just gives it more mental roadblocking power as each day passes.
Fact is, tomorrow never comes. Face up to the challenge and do it today. Really, it’s never as tough as our stressed-out brains picture it to be. And your whole body will thank you when it’s ticked off.
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