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Nine to Thrive

26 Work-Life Balance Tips for Business & Personal Savings

Maximize Your Weekend (and Avoid Sunday Scaries) with These 10 Tips

Sunday sadness, also known as the Sunday scaries, is a harsh reality for many. As the last day of the weekend comes to a close, you start to feel a little (or a lot) anxious about the start of a new week and all the responsibilities that come with it. No matter how much you hate the end of the weekend, the following tips can help you reclaim the free time you do have and better prepare for the return to the world of responsibility on Monday.

Reduce Stress Overall

The simplest explanation for Sunday scaries is that folks let their stress get the best of them. With less stress, you can keep a clear head for the approaching Monday.

  • Practice deep breathing (every day, not just on the weekends).
  • Find something funny to watch or listen to; laughter has many positive benefits.

Prepare Your Body

The weekend is known for being a refreshing and relaxing time. Try out these ideas for prepping your body for the demands of the week to come.

  • Resist junk food; eating healthy over the weekend energizes you for the week.
  • Amp up your motivation for physical fitness with a new set of headphones.
  • Prioritize hydration while you’re at home (and near a restroom).
  • Sleep in a little to make up for your weeknight deficit.

Get Your Home Ready

Part of prepping for Monday is ensuring your home is in good shape to start off the week. A clean, calm space is crucial for avoiding Sunday Scaries.

  • Try a quick-clean session mid-weekend to avoid Sunday panic.
  • Meal prep your lunches for the week to streamline weeknights (and mornings).
  • Pick flowers or light a candle to freshen up your home.

There’s no true way to avoid that sense of panic that often sets in on Sundays. But with these tips, you can help stave off the Sunday scaries and enjoy more of your weekend. 

Photo via Unsplash

Stop the Clock with Wellness Tips to Feel Younger

There’s nothing wrong with aging, but it can feel disconcerting when your mind or body doesn’t match your chronological age. Ultimately, you want to continue feeling like yourself, and it can be hard to do that when it feels like youth is slipping away.

But not to worry – there are ways to help revitalize your mind, body, and spirit so that you can embrace your actual age. Check out these ideas, then start overhauling your lifestyle, one step at a time.

Start from Within

Just like there’s no magic serum to remove your smile lines or forehead wrinkles (and really, they give you personality!), there’s no magic superfood that can cure whatever ails you. But your diet can impact how you feel and your perceptions of aging from the inside out. A cleaner diet – with plenty of vitamins and minerals and yes, antioxidants – helps you stay healthy and youthful. But studies suggest that antioxidants, vitamins, some proteins, and fatty acids can help prevent visible signs of aging, too.

Move Your Body

Being physically active is not only crucial for staying healthy, but it’s a tried and true way to stop the clock and feel younger. With regular workouts, you’ll notice you have more energy, better sleep, a better mood and reduced stress. When starting or switching your workout routine, remember that it’s ideal to choose an activity you enjoy and that’s easy for you to start. For example, if you love dancing, LaBlast Fitness is the perfect choice. You get an array of partner-free dance styles to choose from, including Jive, Lindy Hop, Salsa, Samba, Merengue, Viennese Waltz, Foxtrot, Tango, Disco, and Quickstep. What’s more, you can work up a sweat when it fits your schedule through on demand classes. 

Stop Sacrificing Style

Being comfortable is a priority – we get it. But there’s a fine line between comfy and frumpy, and the latter can make you feel much older than your chronological age. Even if you’re not dressing up to go out, primping a bit can help you feel more confident and youthful. Choose clothing staples that help you look and feel your best whether you’re working from home, working out or heading out for a lunch with friends. When you do go out, you’ll feel confident rather than concerned about who might spot you.

Tame Your Mane

Grey hairs aren’t the only thing that can make you feel older than your years. Dry hair with split ends – or a lack of volume – can make you feel dull despite an otherwise youthful appearance. But by adopting a hair wellness routine, you can achieve healthier hair that defies age (and outgrown roots). A smart haircare routine helps you feel good about yourself, too – and that’s part of the battle when it comes to preserving those youthful sentiments.

Give Your Finances a Boost

Nothing can stress us out more than the state of our finances. If you’re in debt or constantly trying to figure out how you’re going to pay your bills, look for ways you can trim expenses. This could mean practicing yoga from home instead of joining a studio, signing up for streaming services instead of cable, and doing your own household chores instead of hiring professionals. If you’re a homeowner, you can also reduce financial-related stress by refinancing your home. A home refinance will allow you to lower your monthly mortgage payments or can give you a cash infusion to help pay off your bills. 

Queue Up Self-Care

It’s a buzzword for a reason: caring for yourself physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually can help preserve your health and promote wellness. Whether you’re enjoying your favorite hobby, spending time chatting with friends, or connecting to your spiritual side through meditation, there are countless ways to use self-care to feel absolutely ageless. Not sure where to start? Well + Good recommends calming crystals to manifest calm and stop stressing. Then, you can drift away for self-care and me-time, whatever it looks like for you.

Let Travel Take You Near

You can’t escape the stress of life, but you can take a temporary vacation from it. Relaxing somewhere new can help you break out of the rut that’s impacting how you perceive your physical and mental age. Think about choosing a vacation rental that’s not too far off from your regular path, but that offers a relaxing experience and a new perspective. 

Whatever your chronological age, caring for yourself from the inside out is an essential part of your path to wellness. No gimmicks or “hacks” can get you there faster when it comes to preventing those feelings of early aging. But putting in the effort can help you revitalize your body and mind.

Image via Unsplash

Look Good And Feel Great… Naturally

We all want to look and feel our very best. However, with all of the mixed messages coming at us from the media, it can be difficult to get in a groove of keeping ourselves at our personal peak. How do we know which products are best, which exercise regimens work, and which diets actually keep us healthy? Here are some tips:

The Answer Isn’t On Television

For optimum health, it’s best to ignore the vast majority of what you see on TV or on “influencer” pages. The truth is that your best health is waiting inside of you right now, all you have to do is find the right ways to bring it out. From making the decision to use natural skin care products to simply getting enough sleep, the following tips are here to help you help yourself, no fad diets or toxic chemicals required.

Looking Great

Looking your best doesn’t mean slathering on a pound of makeup each morning. Instead, it’s how you allow your natural beauty to shine through. One of the best ways to do this is to take care of your skin. Shea butter, cocoa butter, and even homemade scrubs made with sugar and essential oils are far better than the artificially scented products that you would find on a store shelf.

Work Day Stress

If you’re already thinking about that TGIF feeling by midweek, you likely know that a toxic workplace is bad for your overall wellness. Although being happy in your career isn’t the only influencing factor of a happy life, it certainly helps to love what you do. If your professional passion has started to wane, it’s never too late to earn your degree and change your career path. There are plenty of degree options out there, from psychology and business to criminal justice and information technology, that will let you earn your academic credentials without sacrificing your current income. A quick word of advice here: Do your research and choose a school that is both accredited and competitively priced. After all, you don’t want to work toward a degree that won’t be accepted, and you don’t need to be saddled with student debt.

Eating Right

The food you eat builds your body and mind from the inside out. Make sure to choose the right foods. If what you eat now doesn’t give you energy and vitality, consider going to a strictly plant-based diet. Registered dietitian Alina Petre explains that a vegan diet can give you access to a wide variety of nutrients, keep your weight down, lower your blood sugar levels, reduce your chances of heart disease, and even protect against some types of cancers.

Other Ways To Get Right With Yourself

There are plenty of other ways to keep yourself in top shape. A few additional tips include:

  • Meditate
  • Exercise every day
  • Spend time with people you love
  • Acknowledge the good things in life
  • Declutter your home to promote positivity
  • Get enough sleep
  • Turn your phone off at dinner
  • Take a vacation
  • Spend time alone
  • Use high-quality hair care products
  • Don’t smoke
  • Drink only in moderation
  • Talk to a therapist if you experience depression or chronic anxiety

Following the above advice won’t guarantee that your life will be perfect. But, the more things that you can do to promote health and happiness from within, the better off you’ll be. Remember, you can’t compare yourself to the airbrushed images you see in your newsfeed, and most Instagrams don’t reflect reality either. Your life is your own, and what you do with it is your choice.

Image via Pexels