I was reading a post from The Minimalists last week that made a lot of sense. Joshua Fields Millburn was talking about how doing simple things every day, by building them into your day, you can accomplish much more than you thought. His example was that he writes in a room upstairs. At the bottom of the stairs he has a pull-up bar. Every single time he goes downstairs, he does 5 or 6 quick pull-ups. He stated that at the end of the day, he's gotten in another maybe 60 pull-ups he never would have made time to do as a stand alone activity. This got me thinking...what else can we do a little at a time throughout our day to get more done in the long run? Here's a few ideas:
1. Leave a book in the bathroom - I know these days most people spend bathroom time on their phones, but since we already do that all day long, why not read for a few minutes? Something educational, or about somewhere we want to go, or a self-help book to improve our relationships, finances, or enrich our lives? If you found a book with short chapters, you could get through a book a month, reading 12 new books a year. That's a LOT of information you otherwise wouldn't get.
2. Leave floss out next to the bathroom sink. If you flossed quickly every time you washed your hands, your next dental visit would go much better and save you hundreds if not thousands later because you've neglected in-between your teeth and developed cavities.
3. Keep a shelf-stable healthy snack in your purse, backpack, or vehicle. This way when you're away from home and busy, you can still eat healthy instead of stopping into some fast food drive through for something that will hurt you in the long run.
4. Take the stairs when you can instead of an elevator. At the end of a week, month, or year, you'll have gotten so much more exercise than you would have otherwise.
5. Keep a refillable water bottle with you at all times. If you have something to drink at your disposal, you can sip on it all day instead of trying to gulp down multiple cups at a time, or worse, drinking sugary/diet chemically-laden drinks. Getting in your 8 cups a day will be easier than ever. I know one person who keeps a glass of water next to her kitchen sink. Every time she goes to the sink, she takes a drink, about 1/4 - 1/2 of that glass each time, easily getting in more water than planning it.
What other ideas can you come up with to add some good things to your day? It'll help you in the long run.