Leading a healthy lifestyle with a busy routine is much harder than it sounds. If you are constantly submerged in work and have no time for yourself then fatigue is bound to catch up to you and leave your health in a very poor condition. So, to avoid getting to this stage we have gathered a list of things which you can easily cooperate in your life so you can prioritize the things that matter to you even if you are really busy.
1.Drink More Water
Dehydration comes with tell-tale signs of its own. If you are drinking less water because of your schedule then you will start to notice your skin becoming extremely dry, your thinking power slows down, and you feel very lethargic and weary even without the added workload. If you are experiencing something like these signs, then you should instantly pick up the habit of drinking water no matter the circumstance.
Always having a bottle by your side from the start of the day helps to remind you to drink more water. You can also get hassle-free bottles that you can sip from freely throughout the day. Making smoothies and using hydrating drinks of your flavour choice is also an efficient way of getting your essential electrolytes and vitamins along with rehydration. When you do this, you will soon start to notice a big change in your productivity status if you keep this up and it will make your focus a whole lot better.
2. Eat Healthier Snacks
Constant snacking is a habit that almost everyone is accustomed to and when you have a busy lifestyle, it's even more pronounced as you barely have time to get full proper meals. The way to make your snacks more nutritionally inclined is to have short but frequent snack intervals of about two hours and in these intervals, you should incorporate some more healthy options.
Examples of healthier snack options include carrot and celery sticks with hummus, yoghurt, and fruit, boiled eggs, whole wheat mini sandwiches, these are items that take almost no time in preparation and are supremely healthy at the same time.
3. Master a Good Sleep Schedule
A normal sleep cycle usually lasts for about seven to nine hours and getting enough sleep during that time is essential for normal functioning. A busy schedule does render us incapable of getting the much-needed sleep, but a proper plan and schedule can help us to better accommodate our sleep needs. You can start by figuring out the time you have to wake up in the morning and then count back 7 to 8 hours and make sure you are in bed by then. Cutting back on social media also helps and keeping your phone in another room when you are getting in bed is also beneficial to a night of good sleep. If you have trouble sleeping and you feel like you can't shut your mind out, then playing a podcast in the background may help as it focuses your brain on another topic and gets your mind off of things that make you anxious.
If you keep waking up during the night at around 2 or 3 am and have trouble going back to sleep then it may be due to low blood sugar levels especially if you had your last meal in the early evening. If this is the case, then you can either have your dinner a little later than usual or have a small snack before going to bed. Our brain needs the same amount of energy when we are asleep as when we are awake so low energy could be hindering it.
4. Meal Prep
Meal preps are a great way to save your time and allow you to spend the small amount of time you have during the week with your family and close friends. Food is a necessity for us but when we have piles of paperwork on our desks sometimes, we prioritize work instead of getting some nutrition in our bodies. If you have something pre-prepared then it's much easier for you to heat up and consume on the go. You can prep for your week over the weekend and prep your meals for the week which just need to be heated or you can do all the prep needed for them so all you have to do is put things together and cook them when it is time to eat.
It's good to have some variety and you can start by making a list of things available in the kitchen that could become potential dishes. Then you have to judge the cooking time for each of them and put the things taking an equal amount of time in the oven together like sweet potatoes and herbed chicken. You can make roasted vegetables, rice, boiled eggs, and the pasta sauce of your liking as well and freeze it. You can also marinate your chicken or steak and just put it on the griddle when you please. This means you can prep for dishes and freeze them in zip-lock bags or plastic containers for saving time throughout the week.
5. Daily Exercise
A common mistake we all make is under-estimate all the time we have throughout the day and we often think that we have no time for exercise or workouts in our already jam-packed schedule. Exercise is crucial especially if you have a desk job, it helps to relax your muscles and relieve the stiffness that is bound to occur. A good way to sort this out is to map out your day and you will see that you can take at least 30 minutes out to exercise or do yoga. You can also break these 30 minutes into two 15 minute breaks.
You can also have your partner or even colleagues join you and keep a check on you as when you have someone relying on you or you are relying on someone then you automatically become more committed. Joint workouts are generally more fun and tend to pass very quickly.
Life will always stay busy as we have so many things going on all at once and sometimes we have to take a step back and reflect on what's important. Without health and peace of mind, all of the work we are endlessly doing brings no pleasure and just suspends us in anxiety and stress.
This is why we recommend trialling and testing all the recommendations given above and make your life a little bit healthier one step at a time.
