Good morning loves! On this Monday morning, I thought I’d share a post that’s been in my mind for the last couple of weeks. I’ve definitely had hectic periods earlier, but after I started school the hectic periods have become the norm rather than the exception. I’ve been traveling so much lately, and I’ve found it difficult to find time for it all. Studying, attending class, blogging, working with different projects, traveling, spending quality time with my boyfriend, friends and family etc. The first weeks of school I didn’t even see my friends as there was so much else I had to do, which left me so bummed.

In periods where I can’t do everything I want to do, I’m left feeling not good enough, which is a really sucky feeling to have. I hate going to bed with a bad feeling in my stomach when thinking about all the things I should have done, but didn’t find time or energy for. Therefore I’ve started doing little things in my everyday life to make myself feel better. I think that if you take good care of yourself and do little things for yourself every day, the rest of the tasks go so much easier. Here are some of my tips for an easier everyday life, with little things you can do for yourself every day or a couple of times a week.

• 1. Put yourself first

This is crucial! Putting yourself first in your everyday life will make you so much more balanced and happier. Remember that it’s perfectly OK to feel overwhelmed and tired sometimes, and when you feel like that, forget everyone else and focus on getting your spirit back on the good track. If you’re constantly trying to please others and feeling overwhelmed and stressed yourself, something is wrong. Take charge over your own happiness, and take time to breathe and make yourself feel better when you’re having a bad day. 

 

• 2. Get up earlier

Something I’ve started doing lately is getting up at least an hour earlier than I have to. Yes, it sucks when the alarm clock rings and all you want to do is sleep, but when you actually get up it’s so worth it. If there’s one thing I hate, it’s having little time in the morning. Rushing through the bathroom, picking something random from the bedroom floor to wear, and sprinting out the door without breakfast in my tummy is the worst possible way to start the day! Having extra time in the mornings is gold.

The extra hour you suddenly have in the morning can be spent doing whatever makes you happy. Whether it’s watching an episode of your favorite show with your coffee, meditate, spend a little extra time doing your hair and makeup, play with your dog, reading a book, making a yummy breakfast, whatever! I always take a long hot shower, jump in my comfiest sweats and slippers, read my favorite blogs and take some time to plan my day. It’s the best me-time, and it sets a balanced tone for the rest of the day.

Getting up an hour earlier should also entail going to bed an hour earlier by the way, we need our beauty sleep! Getting enough sleep is crucial.

 

• 3. Be active

Challenging your body and mind is so healthy, so a little activity every day is super important. You feel so much better after a workout, and the endorphins will make you feel great. I’m personally not a big fan of gyms, so I usually do long powerwalks with my favorite music in my ears, and just walk and walk as fast as I can. I’m so much more focused and energized after the fresh air and the high pulse, and suddenly the 100 pages of macroeconomics that has to be read, or whatever the task is in your life, doesn’t seem so difficult to get done.

There are seriously no downsides to being active, and about a trillion upsides, so the choice should be simple.

 

• 4. Make lists

Another thing that makes my everyday life easier is planning my days, and making lists of what I need to do that day. It’s important to be realistic, and don’t put too much pressure on yourself. I like to have two main things to get done, and a few smaller ones. One day the two main things can be reading three chapters of a school book and making three blog posts. If I for instance have a lot of accounting work to do, I’ll have the accounting work and making blog posts as the main things on my list. If I try to do both hours of studying, hours of blog work and hours of accounting work in one day, I just know that it will be too much, and the result will be sloppy. I find it so much better to have a few big things to focus on in one day, and doing them well, as opposed to trying to do ten different big things and end up with a big mess in your mind.

Checking off something on your to-do list when you’re done with them is the best feeling! And it’s so much easier to get through the day with a little structure.

 

• 5. Me-time

Ah, me-time!! Seriously girls, SO important. Put your phone on flight mode, turn off the computer, put away all distractions, clear your mind and focus on yourself and what you like to do. Having at least an hour of me-time a week, for instance Sunday night so you’re fresh and ready for the new week, does so well for your mind and soul. Take a long bath, listen to calming music, do home-spa, and take time to just.. Be!

 

• 6. Spend time with friends

If you don’t have time to see your friends, you should check your priorities. Having time to just relax with your girlfriends, talk, or maybe do something fun like a girls’ night out, should definitely be a big priority. As I mentioned, the first weeks of school I didn’t get to see my friends, and I felt so awful. I need that time to just be completely silly and talk about everything between heaven and earth.

My brother is one of the most hardworking people I know. While he did his medical degree, he also did a bachelor in biology, and took classes in economy and pharmaceutical studies. Yes, we’re talking four different educations at once. He’s a machine!! But anyway, every single Friday and Saturday night he went out with his friends, no matter how much he had to get done. I always asked him how it was possible to find time for all the partying, late nights, hangovers, and still do so exceptionally well at school. And he told me that going out with his friends was actually one of the reasons why it was possible. By setting off time for pure enjoyment with the guys, doing something fun with friends, he could focus so much better on studying the rest of the week. By Monday morning he was fresh and ready to take on a long school week, and he knew that at the end of the week a new round of fun awaited, which gave him motivation to kick ass at school Monday to Friday. I’m writing about him in the past tense because he’s finished his education, it’s not like he’s dead or something, haha. By the way, now he’s a doctor, but he also takes online classes at Harvard and Yale. Yes, I’m the proud little sister of a genius.

Okay, sorry for the rambling about my brother. The point was that spending time with friends and having fun is more important than you might think, and should definitely be a high priority.

 

• 7. Give yourself rewards

Rewarding yourself when you do well is a great thing to do. Acknowledge when you’ve done something great, and treat yourself to something you’ve been lusting over. Whether it’s getting an expensive handbag or indulging in that tempting cupcake you always see at the café but never get, it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t have to be pricey, it can be little things. Like when I’m finished with all my exams this semester, you better believe I’m gonna have a three-day food fest to celebrate myself. Yes, unhealthy food makes me happy, haha. Ah, I’m gonna eat brownies until I wind up in a sugar coma!! And when I’m done with the whole Bachelor’s degree, I’m gonna get myself something big. Maybe a car!!

 

• 8. Eat healthily and plan your meals

Making healthy choices when you have long days with lots of things to get done isn’t exactly easy. When you’re blood sugar has dropped and you feel that classic hanger (hunger + anger), stuffing your face with cheeseburgers from the McDonalds’s at the corner is about a million times more tempting than going home and preparing a salad.

Eating healthily is one of the most important things for a better everyday life. You are what you eat, and if you just eat crap all day, you’ll most definitely end up feeling like crap that day. Eat enough, and make healthy choices!

At school we have both a regular cafeteria and a more fancy café, with so many goodies, chocolate, cupcakes and everything you can imagine. To avoid indulging in candy bars and cupcakes on a Monday afternoon, I always bring my own lunch and plan my meals. I make a salad the night before, with lots of healthy stuff like avocado, hardboiled eggs, nuts etc, which immediately picks me up when I feel the blood sugar dropping. Plan your meals a few days ahead, and make sure you don’t get to that hangry state of mind.

 

• 9. Keep the house neat

A neat house is so important for my well being! I’m about the messiest person on the planet, but I really try to make an effort to keep the house clean and neat. When I come home from a long day and just want to relax, it’s not exactly a great feeling to lay on the couch with yesterday’s dinner still on the dining room table, a bathroom full of laundry that needs to be cleaned, and simply a house full of mess. My bestie Amalie gave me a great piece of advice for keeping the house neat; “If you always clean up after yourself, there will never be a mess”. As simple as that! If I just clean the kitchen immediately after making dinner in stead of letting everything sit until the next day, and if I just hang up my clothes when I take them off, there won’t be any mess. It might sound silly, but it was a perfect advice for me who have no problem waiting about a month to unpack after a vacation, or hanging up all the clothes on my bedroom floor about every two weeks.

 

• 10. Have something to look forward to, but don’t forget the now

Having something to look forward to is always great. It’s easier to get through long days when you know you have a vacation or a fun event waiting for you in a few months. Focus on that when you need it, but by all means, don’t forget the now!! “Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans” they say, which is so true. Take time to make the now special, focus on all the things you have going for you, and do your best to be the best you you can be. I hope these tips can help you along the way♥