My Life Hack on How to Stay Mentally and Physically Healthy

The beginning of the school year always is the most overwhelming for me.

After a relaxing summer break (and a long semester of traveling abroad), I’ve found it even more difficult this time around.

How is your girl supposed to balance 5 classes, a part time job, working out and cooking healthy foods, job hunting, hanging out with my friends, going out, and SLEEP?!

It seems nearly impossible. But I may have found a way to start not only building, but also maintaining habits to keep me in a good mental and physical state no matter how busy I am.

So here’s how it works.

Step 1: Pick a day of the weekthat you like to think of as the start of a new week. For me, this is Sunday. I don’t know why but to me Sunday implies freshness and it’s when I’m feeling most motivated.

Step 2: Once this day of the week rolls around, think of one thing that you want to change about your current lifestyle. For example, have you been sitting on your couch too much and want to be more active? Have you been spending too much money? Do you not make enough time for your friends or family?

Step 3: Now think of something that could be a solution to your problem. Go to the gym 3 times a week, even if it’s only for 10 minutes. Make a daily budget for yourself. Make it a point to call your parents every day.

Step 4: Follow and stick with your solution for a week. See if you like it and see if it’s a manageable goal.

Step 5: Once that day of the week rolls around again, find another solution to a different problem you have. But don’t neglect your goal from last week. Keep adding to the list and keep maintaining them as the weeks go on.

Step 6: Sometimes if your goals are too big, they can be hard to keep up with. When this happens, take a step back and reassess your solutions. DON’T QUIT!!!! Just make changes to make your goals more manageable and attainable.

I’ve been doing this for about 2 months now and it’s such a simple way to make sure I’m continuously bettering myself. As the weeks go on and I find myself wanting to do more to solve a problem, I will add multiple solutions (which is why you will see “solution 2” for some of them). Here are the habits that I’ve built up in the last two months:

Problem: Not eating healthy enough.

Solution: Have one vegetable every day.

Problem: Not drinking enough water.

Solution 1: Drink 4 water bottles a day.

Solution 2 (that I added the week after solution 1): Drink one bottle of lemon water every morning.

Problem: Not preventing sun damage to my skin.

Solution: Apply a moisturizer with SPF every morning on my face.

Problem: Not working out enough.

Solution 1: Do 50 crunches every day

Solution 2 (that I added the week after solution 1): Do a 10 minute at-home workout every day I can’t make it to the gym.

Problem: Not focusing enough on my digestion.

Solution: Take a probiotic every morning.

Problem: Not preventing germs from my phone

Solution: Wipe down my phone with a Clorox wipe every night.

I plan on continuing this process every week and building more habits that will help me with things such as job hunting, saving money and being on my phone less.

Your mental and physical well-being is important and this is a super easy, and low-key kind of fun way, of keeping yourself in check.