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Why Creating a Healthy Routine is Good for You

Routines are the mind, and body’s natural clockwork – after getting used to a certain internal flow, a habit will fit into place like a jigsaw puzzle and can get stuck there. 

However, sometimes, these routines can be bad and ultimately unhealthy for you. Here are what a healthy routine can do for you: 

Healthiness is key to a long and prosperous life. 

Mentally 

A healthy routine doesn’t just have to be physical exercise. 

For your mental health, a healthy routine can do wonders for your mind. Spend a few hours a day listening to music, reading, writing, or going on a walk. This can lead to you spending your time being more mentally free.  

Clearing your mind from negative thoughts and clutter can improve your focus and lead you to a happier lifestyle. Your mood can improve but your focus and memory can also improve when involved in mental gymnastics. 

Being more mentally free allows you to be happier, and have a greater outlook on life.  

Physically 

Usually, when someone mentions a healthy routine, you think of physical exercise and diet, and that is what’s going to be covered in this section.  

If you are self-conscious, then physical exercise can make you feel better about yourself by improving your body, and diet. These are not only healthier choices but helps build confidence and courage in yourself to be proud of yourself.  

You can also just simply partake in a diet that will help you feel better and healthier and will have noticeable changes. You will end up feeling sick less, but it can also make your mornings a lot less groggy. 

Making it a routine to get up early would improve your sleeping pattern, and allow you to have more hours to yourself – about eight hours is healthy. This means you can have breakfast, which is stapled as one of the most important meals of the day. 

Read Now: How to Get Better Sleep 

Economically 

Your personal finance can be affected by your routine due to always buying the same thing at the shop, or for dinner every day. It can also be that you buy a takeaway frequently which can cause a decline in health and your finance as takeaways have a huge impact on you and your economy. 

By spending less money, you are also inhabiting a healthier diet – and improving physically, and mentally. As well as saving a lot more money in the long run. 

This can then be used as a sort of reward system. Let’s say you have a takeaway once a fortnight for reducing your intake. This gives you a reason for wanting to complete the challenge and results in saving money.  

Read Now: 7 Ways to Ease Financial Stress and Manage your Money 

Key to a Healthy Routine 

The key to a healthy routine is to stick to your ideals and beliefs, as delving from it can cause you to go back to your old routine. It’s about commitment, and focus. You need to want it to get it.  

It is recommended to start small and work your way up. For example, getting up earlier and having breakfast. This small step will show you what it is like to change and then can alter further changes in your routine to be healthier.   

Then someday you can tackle the more difficult changes! 

Push yourself and you will thank yourself later! 

Conclusion 

In conclusion, a healthy routine is one of the most important things for a healthier and happier life and by following your heart and not letting yourself trip on your attempts to gain a better routine, you will succeed.  

You will thank yourself in the long run. 

You are number one, and you should look out for yourself. Don’t think about how other people think, go out there and succeed. 

Hopefully, this has helped you find out why a healthy routine is good. For more information, contact us at Ceed here today. 

The Valuable Mental Health Benefits of Cold Water Swimming

Cold water swimming, especially in wild locations, comes with a variety of physical and mental health benefits. 

The colder the water, the better it is for you, whether that be in the sea, a lake or a river. Cold open-water swimming has been linked to:  

  • Pain relief 
  • Improved circulation 
  • Reduced inflammation 
  • Better concentration 
  • A significant positive effect on chronic low-mood and stress
Cold water swimming is good for your mental and physical health!

Inducing the Stress Response 

These health benefits come from inducing the body’s natural stress response. Through cold water swimming your body learns to self-regulate and overcome the stress induced by the water. 

The human stress response is an instinctive survival mechanism that reacts to your environment. So, any sudden change in your metabolic rate, like a change in temperature, will trigger a stress response. 

During this process your brain floods the body with stress hormones, which create a state of shock. This then triggers the parasympathetic nervous system which works to regulate your metabolism. Once regulated any physiological sensations and emotions fall back into equilibrium and you will feel calm again. 

By regularly inducing a stress response in your body through cold water swimming, you train yourself to be more efficient at regulating stress. So for those with anxious thoughts or panic attacks, cold-water swimming can help to train your body to overcome anxiety. 

Start cold open-water swimming today!

Immersing your face in cold water is key, as this stimulates the vagus nerve. This helps to slow your heart rate, relax the body, and activate metabolism. 

By submerging your face under water you trigger the mammalian dive response, which is where the somatic nerves of the facial muscles react to water and causes your heart rate to slow and muscle tissue to store more oxygen. 

Cold water swimming can also have a positive impact on your physical wellbeing. When the body is exposed to cold the blood vessels constrict, restricting blood flow and as a result reduce inflammation. So, if you have aches and pains that never seem to go away, cold-water swimming could be the answer.   

Read Now: How to Get Out of a Funk 

Mindfulness 

Mindfulness is the practise of being fully engaged in the present moment, aware of where we are and what we’re doing and not focusing on any distractions. To be mindful is to be fully present in the given moment.   

Cold water swimming and being in nature provide the perfect conditions to keep you present. It’ll be hard to focus on anything but the physical sensations you experience. 

When you’re in the water, it’s important to focus on your breathing and your movement through the water. You’ll disengage from any worry or stress in your life and find yourself completely present. 

Swimming in cold water takes courage, just the act of going and having the discipline to stay in the water can improve your sense of self-worth. It’s not an easy feat to be a cold-water swimmer. 

Read Now: 4 Effective Ways to Clear Your Mind of Stress 

How to Start Cold Water Swimming 

To begin your cold-water swimming journey its best to start small. It can be daunting to go out into nature and plunge into the cold. Instead try starting with something less intimidating. 

You can simply reduce the temperature of your morning showers, taking it one day at a time until you’re not using heat at all.  

As you ease yourself into cold water immersion be mindful of your breath and don’t allow yourself to tense up. Take deep breaths and relax. Essentially, you’re training yourself to be comfortable in the discomfort that comes with the cold.  

Another great option to try before taking the plunge is spending time outside in the cold. If you wear light layers this can trigger the same stress response cycle in the body without the intensity of cold-water swimming.  

When you feel ready to swim in the wild you can find your local swim group online. 

Read Now: 4 Mindful Ways to Help You Live in the Moment 

Be Safe When Cold Water Swimming 

If you’re wanting to give cold open-water swimming a try, it’s important to do so safely. When swimming remember to:  

  • Tell someone where you’re going and what your plan is. 
  • Swim with other people who are familiar with the area you’re swimming in. 
  • Be aware of your surroundings, keep in mind entry and exit points of the water. 
  • Enter the water gradually and allow your body to acclimatise. 
  • Ensure you’re visible in the water, either with a bright float or swim cap.  

For further advice on lifestyle changes to better your mental health, contact our experts at Ceed today.  

Digital vs Physical Planning: Which is Better?

An effective planning strategy is fundamental to good organisation and time management. You might think that planning is only useful to the uber-professional with lots of meetings and a heavy workload, but that is absolutely not the case! 

Planning can be helpful to anyone and everyone because it is so adaptable. Students can utilise planning to stay on top of exams, tutorials, and essay deadlines. You can use planning in your every day to keep on track with completing small tasks and motivating yourself. You can even use planning to keep on track with recreation, such as meals, exercise and reading. 

In the digital age, we are afforded many new and varied technologies for productivity and time management at our fingertips. So, we are provided with a new question. Which is better? Physical or digital planning? 

Any organisational purists out there will laud the benefits of physical planning. There is a great deal of support for the benefits that come from physical writing things out. They also argue the cause of the customisability of physical planning, something that some digital planning platforms lack. 

On the other hand, new age planning enthusiasts may love the accessibility digital planning affords. It gives support to the modern ‘always on’ work ethic and provides an ease and universality of use that comes with the online space. 

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Planning skills are a vital part of living a more productive lifestyle!

Whether you fall into the purist or new age camp, it is undeniable that there are benefits and drawbacks to both options. This article will delineate each type of planning with their pros and cons, and let you come to your own decision. Maybe you’ll even decide you want to utilise both styles! 

Why is Planning So Important Anyway? 

Planning has a range of benefits one may not originally consider. Planning can help you concentrate and focus better on the task at hand. It helps you get all of your thoughts and tasks for the day down and out of your head. This means that they’re less likely to be forgotten, and you can complete the things you need to do without worry. 

It also helps with targeted efficiency. If, for example, you’re someone who thrives on being organised, you can pair a timetable with a task list to keep on track. This can help you be more productive because you know exactly what you need to do at any given time. 

Planning can also be important for those who struggle with mental illness. Talkspace, an online blog that discusses mental health explains that many mental health challenges directly affect your brain’s ability to effectively manage tasks. Planning effectively and on a platform that works for you can help mitigate some of the symptoms people may struggle with. 

For example, if you have anxiety, and university essays and deadlines are exacerbating that anxiety, planning may help manage it. Writing task lists can help to identify what is making you anxious, then can help you break things down into manageable chunks. When the task you’re facing doesn’t seem like one huge monolith, it can feel easier to tackle and work through. Some planners also can work like information dumps. You can use them to deposit any tasks or thoughts you may have to tackle at a later date. Depending on the person and their preference, this action can sometimes be helpful for people with ADHD. This is because it helps to get out any thoughts or tasks that may be presently distracting. You can then potentially come back to these ideas later, to give yourself a better opportunity to focus on anything that might be more time sensitive. 

If you’re using planning to help manage your mental health, create achievable goals for yourself. Start with listing little things. This can be things like brushing your teeth or going on a 15-minute walk. It can be so beneficial to set yourself up for little successes. Then, even if those are the only things you manage to do all day, ticking it off still feels like an achievement. 

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Planning can help improve your mental health.

However, it is important to be realistic with your plans. By writing tasks that you can feasibly complete, it stops you from getting overwhelmed too quickly. It also stops you from being hard on yourself if you don’t meet those tasks – you want a planner to work for you, not against you

It is important to note that planning is not an end-all method to ‘fix’ a mental illness or improve your mental health. However, it can sometimes serve to help mitigate some issues in certain ways for people. It may also be helpful to speak with a licensed therapist, who can help identify strategies for succeeding. Planning or timetabling can be included in this discussion too to help retain a sense of structure or routine. 

The Pros and Cons of Physical Planning 

The act of physically planning in a journal can have many benefits. Some of them include: 

Digital Separation. Physical planning can provide a level of separation between your real and online life. Our phones and devices feel like an extension of us, so it can be doubly hard to turn off if your organisation is on there too! Studies have shown that too much screen time damages the brain. By planning in a physical planner or journal, you are decreasing that screen time and giving yourself time to shut off. 

This also limits your ability to become distracted by all the other applications or the internet on your phone. It’s all too easy to have the best intentions and be focused, but we all know the liability of scrolling on Instagram for two hours instead. Physical planning removes this temptation and keeps you on task. 

Consider the pros and cons of physical planning and if they suit your lifestyle.

Personalisation. A big pro of physical planning is that you can make it as customisable and personalised as you want. There are different methods to do this, but a particularly popular one is the Bullet Journal method. With this method you can customise everything from the layouts of each monthly spread to the notation systems you use to keep yourself on track. 

You can best suit your own needs with a physical planner. You can customise the colour coding, fonts, highlighting, and even add fun things like pictures, stickers, and washi tape. The customisation can make it more fun to use, and therefore make it more likely for you to get into a rhythm when planning. If you like it, you’re more likely to stick to it! 

Visual. A physical planner is a very visual reminder of the things you need to do. Whether you keep it on your desk or your bedside table, it is an in-your-face reminder to be organised. You can use the visual nature to the advantage of collective planning. For example, you can use methods like whiteboards in communal spaces to organise a bigger group, like families or housemates. 

Physical Act of Writing. Writing things down is very good for your memory. It can also help improve the chances of you being able to call your tasks to mind easier. Writing is also a great stress reliever, as studies show writing shuts down the thoughts that cause you to be stressed. Ticking off completed tasks can also be great for boosting your mood! 

There are also a few drawbacks to physical planning. These include: 

Space and Accessibility. Physical planners can often be bulky and take up space. Because you have to always carry the planner with you to have access to it, it can also be an extra hassle. This can be a drawback for some, especially those on the go a lot or with limited space. 

Cost. The customisation of your planner can be one of the most fun things about it! But there is a drawback. Stationary can get expensive! Stickers, markers, highlighters, and decorative tape can all add up! Not to mention the cost of ink and paper of printing any pictures you want to add, or even the cost of the planner itself! If cost is an issue, physical planning may not be for you. 

The Pros and Cons of Digital Planning 

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Consider the pros and cons of digital planning and if they suit your lifestyle.

While physical planning is undeniably fantastic, digital planning also has a lot of positive factors. Some of these include: 

Accessibility. This is one of the biggest draws to digital planning. There is a level of constancy and ease of access of planning directly on a digital device. For example, if you consistently use an app like Google calendar, and your phone, computer, and tablet are linked up, you can create a plan on one device and it will appear across all of them. 

You can stay up to date at all times, and it becomes easier to rearrange and repeat tasks from anywhere. There is less bulk and headache because you don’t need to carry around a full journal – everything you need is already on a device you carry around every day!  

Minimalist Planning. Some people don’t need the ‘full’ experience that physical planning provides. They might only need to remember important meetings or appointments – like a future dentist appointment or meeting. Digital planning offers you that minimalism! 

If this sounds like you, an app like Google calendar would be enough of a planner. There’s no need for the minutiae of something more in depth! You get the dual benefit of receiving reminders at a set time to keep you on schedule. This ensures you won’t forget your plans no matter where you are! 

Easier to Navigate. Digital planning makes it easier to retroactively find specific notes. You don’t have to worry about losing something, as most digital planners also comes with hyperlinks so you don’t have to endlessly scroll through to get to the page you need. Digital planning can be far less time consuming than its physical counterparts through little elements like this. 

Collective Planning. The digital aspect of this form of planning means that not only can you access your plans from anywhere, but other people also have the potential to as well. Services such as Notion allow for team planning – anyone can add tasks and people can see what you’re working on, but there are also options to keep your plans private! 

There are some cons to digital planning that may turn some people away from it. These can include: 

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Consider how both digital and physical planning can help manage your lifestyle.

Less Customisable. Digital planning apps or websites can be less customisable. A few apps like Notion are becoming more customisable, but this is usually more in an aesthetic way rather than a functional way. For some apps, the organisation they offer is usually set by the developer and can’t be changed. 

Some apps may limit you to list planning; whereas some, like Google Calendar, are just for scheduling (quite rigid scheduling at that!). So, you may not be able to do all your planning in one place. You may need to use more than one app to meet your needs. 

Cost. Some planning apps can be a paid for service. Keep this in mind before you take out an account. A good idea would be to look for apps with free trial periods. Therefore, you aren’t putting yourself out of pocket on apps that might not work for you! 

Conclusion 

The battle between physical and digital planning fundamentally comes down to a matter of personal preference. Remember, there is no right or wrong way to plan! Planning is highly personal, and it can take some trial and error to find the right method for you. You may even want to use a combination of both physical and digital planning to really maximise your productivity! 

Whatever you choose, don’t hesitate to contact us here at Ceed for any help with planning your life. We have professional life coaches ready and willing to help you become your best self! 

The Importance of Planning Ahead

Let’s say you’re finding yourself having to do a large task; or maybe, you’ve got several large things that need to be accomplished or carried out all at once. This feels overwhelming, doesn’t it? To make things easier for yourself, you decide to just go about what you need to do without any forethought. In other words, you’re “winging it”. However, this is a big mistake. 

If you don’t have a plan for what you’re doing, you’re potentially not just placing yourself in danger, but others as well. Planning ahead is absolutely vital, no matter what it is you’re planning ahead for. If anything, it’s essential and demonstrates professionalism, something you’ll need with your career no matter what field it may be. Here are five reasons why planning ahead is unquestionably important in both your professional and daily life, and how it can help relieve stress in the long-run. 

1) It reduces stress 

Knowing that you need to achieve multiple goals is undoubtedly stress inducing. With a distinct rise in stress and anxiety levels during 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, stressful situations can quickly snowball into feelings of panic or unease. You’re most likely to be stressed over an event that is going to take place, a deadline that is drawing near, or maybe you feel as though you could do something wrong. 

Planning ahead will reduce stress, as you’ll know how to approach the issues you might be facing instead of going headlong into it without knowing what to expect or how to adapt. Careful planning will allow you to analyse the situation and determine the right path for success. It does not matter whether you’re planning in advance for something days or even months away, you’ll feel satisfied knowing that everything will be under control and you won’t be worrying about that day when it comes, allowing you to live in the moment once all the planning is done. 

2) It enables better risk versus reward situational analysis 

As mentioned in the previous reason, planning allows us to analyse the situation so we can then decide what to do next. If we rush into the problem without any precognition, then things may go awry and escalate even further than before. The principal thing here is to take a step back and look at what is present. 

You’ll need to consider what risks are going to be created. Are they very likely to happen? Are the chances very low? If consequences do occur, will they be large or small? Just because there are going to be risks, especially if they’re sizable ones, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t still go ahead with the plan if it’s the only course of action you can think of. It’s a gamble but taking risks is a part of life as it helps us grow by learning where things went wrong. Failure is never a terrible thing. 

3) You’ll learn to be proactive 

Whenever we find ourselves confronted with an event that may be daunting or stressful, it can trigger a physiological response in us. This is referred to as the fight-or-flight response which, despite its name, actually has three different possible manners of reacting to an occurrence. These three reactions are fight (you’ll immediately respond to the situation without thinking of a course of action), fright (you’ll freeze up and not be able to do anything because you don’t know how to handle the situation), and flight (you avoid the situation entirely and, in some cases, get as far away from it as you can). 

Such behaviour is an example of being reactive, but what you need to learn is how to be proactive. Tying in to the two previous reasons, this means you’ll carefully figure out what to do before you execute your idea. Once you learn how to do this, you’ll eventually pick it up as a habit and use it as a replacement for your old reactive one, making it second nature. 

4) You’ll leave room for changes and updates 

While it’s certainly good to have a meticulous and detailed plan of action, not everything can always be maintained. Nine times out of ten, you’ll be finding that your course of action is going to change, whether that’s in the leadup to the execution of the plan or as it commences. By formulating a plan during the beginning stage of a task, you can think of alternate paths to take if your primary idea has started to go askew. It doesn’t matter if these changes are only little ones; as long as you know how to bounce back, then everything will be fine. Remember – expect the unexpected! 

However, you might find that you’re changing the plan even though nothing has gone wrong. This is also perfectly acceptable, especially since you know what your alternate route (or routes) will be. 

5) You’ll know exactly how to reach your goals 

Of course, you know what your goal is. It’s only a case of how you’re going to get to it, and this isn’t something you can easily do by rushing into things. By incorporating and understanding the previous four reasons, you’ll know precisely how to achieve what you set out to do. 

Summary 

Nobody should act without a proper plan. The thought of having to carry out a large task, if not several of them at once, can be a great cause of stress, which can be heavily reduced if you know exactly what you’re doing. With a plan implemented, it gives you a chance to analyse the various paths you could eventually take and consider the possibilities of where things could go wrong. Even if the likelihood is high that things do go wrong, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t go ahead with what you had mapped out as things might turn out better than you expect them to.  

Planning also gives the benefit of learning how to be proactive instead of reactive and running into the tasks without any forethought. You’ll additionally contemplate any possible changes or updates to what you have decided whether or not it has disrupted your original plans, allowing you to calculate how you’ll reach the goal set out for yourself. 

This article covered just five reasons why planning ahead is an important practice that must be used. If you would like to know how Ceed can help you live a more proactive and productive lifestyle, contact us today! 

How to Practice Active Listening

How to Stay Engaged and Attentive During Conversation with Active Listening Techniques  

Active listening is an important skill to have when building relationships!

What is Active Listening? 

Being good at listening is vital to everyday life. People spend 70-80% of their day engaged in some form of communication, and 55% of that time is devoted to listening. Active listening is the practice of making a conscious effort to remain present in a conversation, to not only hear the words the other person is saying, but to process them fully, and understand them. Active listening involves applying certain techniques in order to stay focused and demonstrate your attention to the other person. 

Active listening not only benefits the speaker, who feels valued and respected by your genuine interest and attention, but it also benefits you, the listener, who will be more equipped to build relationships and answer their queries. Furthermore, active listening is a vital skill in the workplace, where it will help to decrease errors, problem solve, resolve conflicts and boost the likelihood of good workplace relationships.  

Used in every conversation, active listening will help you strengthen your relationships in all facets of your life and help you become a more considerate, approachable person. 

Benefits of Active Listening 

Work 

Actively listening to your superiors and colleagues at work will likely result in you becoming a better employee. When they set tasks and allocate work, utilising this method of listening will allow you to more accurately fulfil their brief and complete your work to a better standard.  

For instance, actively listening to feedback given about your work will enable you to quickly and responsively adapt your working practices to correct mistakes or improve productivity. Actively listening to colleagues will help build better working relationships, making everything in the office run that bit more smoothly. 

Furthermore, active listening will benefit you in job interviews, too. It will best prepare you to answer any questions posed in an intelligent, thoughtful way. Active listening is a skill your interviewer will be looking for, as it shows that you are an engaged, receptive employee. 

What are the day-to-day benefits of active listening?

Friendships and Romantic Relationships 

When meeting new people, active listening can be a valuable technique to employ. Showing the other person that you are engaged with their speaking can prompt them to speak more, or open up further, and foster a deeper connection. Due to this outcome, active listening can be a huge help in strengthening your relationships. It validates the speaker; your genuine engagement with them proves that they, and their words, have worth, and that you personally value them. This approach will go a long way to help in times of difficulty in a relationship. Problems will be easier to solve if you better understand the other person’s thoughts and feelings, and better understanding comes with better listening.  

Not only can active listening help generate better solutions to relationship problems, but it can itself be a solution; sometimes what the other person needs is to talk through their issues with a person they feel is genuinely listening and cares for them. 

Key Active Listening Techniques 

  • Look at the speaker directly. Not only will this demonstrate to the speaker that you are listening, but it will aid in focusing your attention on the speaker. This decreases the threat of visual distractions elsewhere. 
  • Don’t interrupt. This may seem obvious, but is often tempting if you feel like you have a valuable or necessary response. Particularly in the case of a disagreement, you may feel the need to interrupt to defend yourself, but waiting to respond until after the other person has finished a thought can go a long way in de-escalating conflict, and encourages them to be more receptive to your responses. 
  • Paraphrase and ask questions. Re-stating what the other person has just said demonstrates to them that you were listening, and hearing their own thoughts back can prompt them to clarify or correct anything they miscommunicated, avoiding future miscommunication issues. Asking open ended questions also verifies to them that you are genuinely interested in what they have to say, and in answering them they can help clarify points for you. 
  • Use non-verbal behaviour. Observing the speaker’s non-verbal behaviour (e.g. tone of voice, body language, facial expressions) can give further insight into their true feelings, and prompt you on how to respond appropriately. Practicing good non-verbal behaviour like nodding to show agreement or not crossing your arms to show openness also go a long way in demonstrating active listening. Something as simple as smiling at something funny is proof and validation to the speaker that you are actively listening. 
Understanding the ways to communicate active listening to others is vital.

Things to Avoid 

Some bad listening practices, and things to avoid when trying to actively listen, are: 

  • Rushing the speaker to the conclusion of a thought. Rushing the speaker will not only invalidate them, and cause them to believe you aren’t interested in their side of the conversation, but may also cause them to become frustrated, and close down or become distant as a result. 
  • ’Story topping’, in which you try to one-up or outdo the speaker by insinuating your related experiences are more important or more extreme, or flipping the conversational focus to yourself when this is inappropriate. For example, saying things like ‘that reminds me of the time when I…’ before acknowledging the speaker’s experiences or ‘that’s not as bad as when I…’, which disregards or diminishes the speaker’s own problems. 
  • Asking the questions about unimportant, minor details, rather than focusing on the big picture of what the speaker is trying to convey. It devalues what the speaker is saying and detracts from the point/s they are making. 
  • Fidgeting. Fidgeting in any capacity may cause the speaker to believe you aren’t giving them your full attention, and it may even actively distract you from listening as well as you could. 

Encouraging Active Listening 

What about when you’re the one speaking? Everyone wants to feel like they’re being heard, so how can you promote the active listening in your conversational partner? 
 

Being an active listener yourself, and leading by example, is the best method of encouragement. Showing the other person your genuine interest, and making them feel they are being genuinely heard will encourage them to do the same for you. Active listening fosters a better relationship between conversational partners, and believing yourself to be in a good relationship will foster a genuine interest in the other person and their thoughts.  

In cases when the other person isn’t actively listening to you, despite your own efforts, it can help to introduce topics of shared interest. The other person will more likely actively listen to you if they are engaged in the topic of conversation.  

Actively listening to others encourages them to do the same for you!

Summary 

Active listening is vital to healthy, useful and interesting conversations. Employing active listening in your everyday conversations; be it at home, at work, or out and about, can encourage a deepening of your relationships, and a better understanding of those you come into contact with.  

As highlighted in this article, some active listening techniques include good eye contact, open body language, patience, paraphrasing, and the asking of questions. Bad active listening practices include fidgeting, ‘story topping’ and rushing the speaker to a conclusion. Practicing active listening encourages your conversational partners to do the same, further enriching your relationships and interactions. Actively listening during disagreements can help in finding solutions, and in itself can be part of a solution, as it demonstrates empathy and understanding. It better equips you to answer questions and complete set tasks. 


For further advice from our professional lifestyle coaches, contact us at Ceed! 

5 Essential Habits to Help You Stay Organised

Almost everyone wants to improve their lifestyle and become more organised, but are unsure where to start.

Do you feel stressed and disorganised but unsure how to improve yourself? Most people tend to be reactive as opposed to reactive when they identify things that require reorganisation in their lives. To break this cycle and become an organised person, you must first develop healthier habits. 

So even if you believe that you are a very messy person, you can learn to be organised. From noting things down, to discarding unnecessary clutter and organising things based on their importance, as long as you’re willing to learn and practice, you will become an organised person. In this guide, we will share with you six habits on how to organise your life to increase productivity and success so that you can live peacefully without stress and chaos. 

1. Create Schedules and Deadlines 

Keeping things organised is closely related to remaining productive. It’s best for you to establish and maintain a daily and weekly schedule. Set deadlines and goals and most importantly, stick to them!  

If you live a chaotic lifestyle, you will not have the time or space to meet your deadlines and thus achieve your goals. As an exercise, you could look at your wish list or create one and write what you want to achieve this year or later in your life. Then write down what you need to do to achieve them. There are unpredictable twists and turns in life. By scheduling everything on a calendar and adding all your tasks to a list, you can work within the boundaries of your week and focus on everything that is important to you. 

Scheduling your day can help you achieve your goals!

2. Declutter on a Regular Basis 

If you want to be a highly organised person, you need to make some time every week or more to organise your affairs. Things will not organise themselves; they must be reorganised continuously and consistently.  

The best way to stay organised is to allocate specific times of the day for tidying and cleaning. You don’t have to spend a lot of time doing this either, 15 to 30 minutes a day is enough. Doing this every week will help in reducing stress and keep you more productive.

3. Get Enough Sleep 

Getting enough sleep is crucial. While this can seem counterintuitive or that it has nothing to do with living an organised life, lack of sleep can affect your mood and eventually lead to problems with keeping your life running smoothly.  

For example, if you want to organise your finances by saving or investing, you will probably procrastinate on that decision due to lack of sleep. When you feel tired and exhausted, it affects your ability to make better decisions. You will end up making unnecessary purchases, rather than saving or investing your money. Additionally, lack of sleep affects all other aspects of your life. You cannot get organised, be productive, or achieve exceptional success, if you cannot think clearly due to constant fatigue. 

Never underestimate the power of a good night’s sleep.

4. Delegate Tasks 

Delegating and outsourcing tasks that can cause you problems to others is another important tip to help you organise your life. For example, if you find it challenging to look after your garden, and you constantly procrastinate doing it, then just ask someone else to do it for you. If you have a budget, you can always outsource your work to others to maintain your productivity.  

Many of us want to do too many things every day. And we can’t just stuff everything into our day and try to do it ourselves. If you look at successful entrepreneurs, they certainly don’t do everything by themselves. They formed a team and hired professionals to help them complete their journey. Likewise, you have to think in the same way as you spend a lot of time working every day, and then catering to daily needs and routines. Therefore, the best way is to outsource and delegate your tasks. Start by identifying tasks which can be a nuisance, and delegate them to people specialised in these fields; as it can not only save you time but also get the job done well. 

5. Take Time Off and Rejuvenate 

One of the biggest mistakes most people make when trying to live an organised life is that they only focus on decluttering and organising and forget that they need to rest and recharge. Not only do you want your space to be organised, but you’d also want your mental space to be equally organised. The best way to manage your mental space is by spending some time relaxing and rejuvenating.  

When you are in a relaxed state, your thinking becomes sharp, allowing you to make better decisions. Similarly, when you’re fully charged, you can continue to follow through on your plan. Whether you are planning to clean up and organise your life, or work on a project that you have worked on for many years. The key is to maintain balance to avoid exhaustion. 

Self care is important when it comes to living a more organised lifestyle.

To Wrap Up 

Now that you’ve discovered these five tips on how to organise your life, one thing to remember is that living an organised life isn’t simply about delegating tasks or decluttering your home. Being organised is a principle, a way of life.  

If you’re looking to improve your productivity and organisational skills, Ceed is here to help you unleash your full potential! Speak to one of our life coaches to find out more. 

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