It may be a cold, snowy, and a looooong winter depending on where you live, but it’s a perfect time of year to do things that you’re too busy to do during summer, spring, or fall!
Winter does seem to offer us more ‘alone’ time, so why not put it to good use? Click to Tweet!
Take the time for you…and you’ll feel better for it!
Conduct a Life Audit
Haven’t heard of a life audit? By definition, it’s an exercise in self-reflection that helps you to clear the cobwebs of noisy, external goals and current distractions and revisit or uncover the real themes and core values that drive and inspire you. It’s also known as spring-cleaning for the soul.
So get that mug of hot chocolate ready. Get a pen and paper. And get your soul in top shape for spring!
Start by getting a package of post-it notes. Write down one wish on each one – keep writing until you reach 100 or run out of ideas!
Map Your Wishes
Categorize them into topics like personal, creative or professional. Keep sorting. You’ll learn a great deal about yourself as you go through your notes.
Follow this great process to chart your values and aspirations. Although you think you know yourself, you may not. So, go and take your life audit. And learn about you!
Boost Your Energy Gently…and Naturally
Your energy level and mental attitude is your greatest asset or your greatest liability – so give them your full attention. The greatest impact on your productivity is not the ability to block out time and set boundaries. Those activities are important, but if you set time to complete a task and you can’t focus on that task, you’ve just wasted your efforts and that time.
When you’re operating at optimal, you’ll find the pieces of your business and its growth seem to fall into place. Here are some interesting tidbits that will help you boost your energy levels…
Coffee Alternatives
Coffee gives you a boost, but there are healthier alternatives…even ones that will give a bigger mental boost.
Green tea is a healthy and delicious coffee alternative. It’s linked to a lower risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes and has a high concentration of antioxidants, so it’s a great way to boost your mental alertness. A study in Psychopharmacology found green tea to be effective at helping improve cognition and memory.
If green tea isn’t your thing, there are plenty of other alternatives to boosting your energy that are just as effective…
Recharge with a Nap
Sara Mednick, Ph.D., sleep expert, and author of “Take a Nap! Change Your Life.”, believes in the power of a nap. “You can get incredible benefits from 15 to 20 minutes of napping. You reset the system and get a burst of alertness and increased motor performance. That’s what most people really need to stave off sleepiness and get an energy boost,” she explains.
A NASA study found that just 26 minutes of shut-eye can help improve alertness by 54% and performance by 34%! Even a 2008 study revealed a power nap is more effective than caffeine when it comes to boosting memory and learning.
Sweat it Out
Lack of activity destroys the good condition of every human being, while movement and methodical physical exercise save it and preserve it.
~Plato
Going to the gym or working out at home means so much than washboard abs or toned biceps. Studies show it makes people smarter – and happier.
Harvard Medical School psychiatrist John Ratey, author of Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain, believes that exercise is your best defense against everything from ADD to Alzheimer’s’ and everything in between. “Exercise is the single best thing you can do for your brain in terms of mood, memory, and learning. Even 10 minutes of activity changes your brain,” he says.
While you’re toughing it out during the last few weeks of winter, use the time to learn more about yourself…you might be surprised at what you find out! Winter gives us all a wonderful opportunity to sit back and reflect, so take advantage of it!
What are you doing to banish Cabin Fever – and what are you looking most forward to this spring? Share your comments below!