Lifestyle Makeover – Pushing for a healthy lifestyle
I used to sleep past midnight, usually at 1 or 2am. To compensate for the right number of hours, I would wake at 8 or 9am in the morning. That was my routine for the past 3 years or so. Well, I used to be an online copywriter and my job required me to work late in the evening so I could beat my deadlines. Or so I thought.
Looking back, I suffered from One, chronic procrastination. Since I was online most of the time, I would engage in social networking and reading other stuff while I’m working on something. Two, lack of focus. I didn’t really like what I was doing so I ended up expending more energy than I needed to complete the tasks. I needed money to pay the bills. Three, lack of organization. I did whatever I thought needs to be done. Yeah, I had a to-do list but beyond that, I wasn’t organized. Four, in fairness to me, I was overworked with my leadership of a national youth organization. Mind you, I wasn’t paid for that so I ended up supporting myself on the side.
Lately though, I read the book “Organise Yourself” by Ronni Eisenberg and Kate Kelly. Nope, I haven’t read the book completely. But what I read was enough to jolt me to organize my life and my activities.
I wanted to make my days more productive.
I want to be fit and live a healthy lifestyle.
I want to achieve my goals.
I want to live a fulfilling life.
Therefore I needed a lifestyle makeover.
image courtesy of Examiner.com
Here are a number of things I have started doing.
1. Sleep earlier and wake up earlier. I started waking up at 5am more than two weeks ago. I give myself some leeway so I don’t have to feel guilty if I wake up between 6 and 7 am on some days. It’s nice to wake up to the morning and watch the sunrise change the world from darkness to light.
The results: I’ve been more productive. While drinking my coffee, I can squeeze in an hour of learning about affiliate marketing and put in work at my niche site. Waking up earlier also allows me to work out in the morning.
2. Exercise and lift weights more regularly. I chose not to renew my membership at Slimmer’s World this year. It’s way too expensive and I wasn’t really getting value for my money because I don’t go there as often as I wanted to. Instead, I decided to buy my own set of dumbbells and build my home gym. I also started running every other morning. If it rains, I do some jumping jacks and some calisthenics at home. I’ve even downloaded some Pilates videos to help me trim my belly fat.
3. Work more efficiently and smartly. I bought a digital desk clock so I can time myself whenever I start doing something. Just like this blogpost, I gave myself 30 minutes to finish it and now I only have five minutes more, according to my clock. hahah. Timing myself for every task helps me avoid timewasters such as Plurk.com, Facebook and checking my email every minute. That’s another thing. I decided to check my emails only three times a day–in the morning, at lunch and in the afternoon before calling it a day.
4. Live Stress Free or at least minimal stress. When I was in the national leadership of the National UMYFP, stress became my middle name. You could imagine me bulging in the midsection (and elsewhere in my body), dark eyebags and a look that says, “don’t bother me, I got a deadline in an hour or so!” Hahah. I don’t even remember how I managed to live like that before. Well, now that I no longer am in the national leadership, I can take things in stride and be more stress-free.
This is an experiment in lifestyle change and makeover. So many things remain to be done. But I’m glad I have started. 
This means that this blog will also undergo a makeover. Instead of just posting book reviews and movie reviews, I will also be posting stuff about culture and tips on making a lifestyle makeover, short of writing about personal development. Oh, I forgot, one of the things I did yesterday was create a content calendar for three of my blogs so I would have a guide on what to write about in the coming months.
Ciao!
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