Stop Balancing, Start Crafting: Your Harmonious Life Awaits

Stop Balancing, Start Crafting: Your Harmonious Life Awaits

Welcome to Effective Habits, a weekly newsletter where I share evidence-based strategies and tools to help you live a happy, healthy, and productive life.

Today at a Glance:

• How to Craft a Harmonious Life

• Wearing an Eye Mask While Sleeping Improves Memory Encoding and Alertness

• How to Do a Hard Reset on Your Life in 30 Minutes

How to Craft a Harmonious LifeDr. Jessica de Bloom & Merly Kosenkranius

Lights, Camera, ... Are you struggling to find balance between work and personal life? Well, forget about balance and aim for harmony instead! In this new era of work, where emails and work follow us everywhere, achieving balance can seem unrealistic. Instead, focus on fulfilling your psychological needs across all domains of life to achieve what is called "life domain harmony". This means finding satisfaction in various roles, such as being a dedicated employee and a loving parent, and allowing positive spillover between them. By doing so, you'll not only enhance your personal wellbeing, but also increase productivity and creativity at work. So, ditch the idea of work/life balance and strive for harmony in your symphony of life.Action!

1. Assess your current level of psychological needs fulfillment across detachment, relaxation, autonomy, mastery, meaning, and affiliation. Consider taking a short test provided by the University of Groningen.

2. Perform an audit of your time to identify how you spend it. List enjoyable and non-enjoyable activities of a random day and consider how each activity satisfies or compromises your psychological needs.

3. Practice needs-based crafting to proactively strive for balanced needs satisfaction. Consider each of the six DRAMMA needs (especially the unfulfilled ones) and think of ways to further satisfy them through new routines and practices.

   1. Detachment: Create a transition ritual, such as writing a to-do list for the next day or changing your clothes after work, to help you switch from work to leisure mode. Schedule a "worry moment" every day to postpone worrying until a specific time.

   2. Relaxation: Engage in activities that personally relax you, like reading in a café, getting a massage, or taking a walk in nature. Try progressive muscle relaxation to relax your body quickly.

   3. Autonomy: Schedule a day or part of a day just for yourself with activities that you truly want to do and people you enjoy spending time with. Craft your day with activities that satisfy your needs.

   4. Mastery & Meaning: Identify your core values and check how they have been present in your recent activities. Brainstorm new ways to incorporate them into your life, such as taking on a new challenge, learning something new, or volunteering.

   5. Affiliation: Nurture your relationships with loved ones and participate in group activities that you enjoy, like joining a sports team or volunteering with others who share your values.

Wearing an Eye Mask While Sleeping Improves Memory Encoding and AlertnessBeth Ellwood

Lights, Camera, ...Want to improve your memory and alertness during the day? A recent study suggests that wearing an eye mask while sleeping can help! The simple act of blocking out light can enhance your cognitive function and lead to better memory encoding and faster reaction times. Ambient light, like streetlights or electronics, can disrupt our sleep and negatively impact our daily activities. But don't worry, the solution is easy and inexpensive! By wearing an eye mask overnight, you can improve your cognitive performance and be ready for anything that comes your way during the day. So why not give it a try? Your brain will thank you!Action!

• Wear an eye mask overnight as an inexpensive way to block out light. Studies have shown that even ambient light from electronic devices or other sources in the bedroom can negatively impact your reaction times and memory performance the next day.

How to Do a Hard Reset on Your Life in 30 MinutesDesiree Peralta

Lights, Camera, ...Have you ever had those days when you just can't seem to get anything done? You stare at your computer screen for hours, but nothing comes out. Well, instead of losing the whole day, you can do a hard reset. Remember, it's always better to spend 30 minutes disengaging from what you’re working on and restarting your brain than to lose a whole day because you couldn't focus.Action!

1. Shut down all devices and go for at least a 15 minute walk when feeling stuck with a task. This helps your brain switch environments and think differently. When you return, restart your devices to get a blank and holistic perspective.

2. Restructure your routine to match your mood and remove any roadblocks. Analyze why you're feeling blocked and adjust your to-do-list accordingly. Complete small tasks on days when you don't feel like deep thinking.

3. Prioritize the most important task that will move you forward and eliminate any non-value-adding activities for the day. Focus on completing the main task first and attend to other tasks later.

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FUN FACT 

The moon is slowly drifting away from Earth. In 600 million years from now, the earth will experience its last total solar eclipse.

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Disclaimer: The information provided in this newsletter is for informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Please consult a medical professional for advice, diagnosis, or treatment. We are not liable for any risks or issues that may arise from using this information.