Our routines are usually pretty dull, aren’t they? We perform so many small actions every day that we almost never ask ourselves if there’s a right or wrong way to do them. We think it would be a great idea to pay more attention to these things to make small but positive changes in your life.
1. Using too much soap in the shower
Our skin becomes drier as we age, and soap, being an astringent, only makes it worse. Try to use the minimum amount of soap and only on necessary areas such as skin folds. The soapy water running down your body is more than enough to stay clean.
2. Working without planning your rest breaks
We all have our most productive work time. During those hours it seems easier to concentrate, to feel alert and inspired, and, as a consequence, achieve great results. The problem is that we don’t try to find our productive hours, and we don’t take advantage of them.
If you feel motivated and focused from 11 to 1, don’t take a break at 12. Plan your rest breaks so they don’t kill your productivity.
3. Answering your boss’s WhatsApp messages
It’s important to set boundaries between work and private life. Psychologists say we should never discuss work problems or bring professional relationships into instant messaging apps like WhatsApp because we consider them as something personal.
Plus, if you use WhatsApp in your relationships with your superiors at work, they can see if you’ve received and read their last message but chose to ignore them.
4. Adding oil to the pasta water
Adding oil to your pasta cooking water will prevent the sauce from sticking to the pasta. To cook the perfect pasta and prevent it from sticking together, you just have to use the right amount of water: 1 liter per 100 grams of dry pasta and 1.5 liters for 100 grams of fresh pasta.
5. Drying your hands using paper towels
Have you ever wondered how much paper we use to dry our hands in public toilets? Millions of pounds. There is a simple thing we all can do if we care about our planet: just shake your hands thoroughly before drying them with paper towels. It may be obvious, but it does help save the world.
6. Breathing with your chest
Concentrate on breathing using the diaphragm, not the chest. Proper oxygenation has positive effects on your nervous system, helps lower blood pressure, reduces inflammation and pain, improves overall physical health, and keeps stress away.
If you learn to breathe correctly, it’ll also help you manage your emotions.
7. Brushing your teeth with only horizontal brush movements
Brushing your teeth with horizontal movements only and forgetting to floss are probably the most common but most serious mistakes. Proper brushing of the teeth involves short vertical movements, always performed from the gums to the edge of the tooth. It doesn’t mean though that brushing teeth horizontally is not necessary at all.
And one more thing: proper brushing should take 2-3 minutes, but unfortunately the vast majority of us ignore this simple rule.
8. Starting to exercise without preparation
Remember: exercising too hard and skipping warm-ups and short breaks can be harmful to your body.
It’s important to include warm-up and flexibility exercises in your workout and to gradually increase its intensity. And if you want to avoid injuries, don’t forget those stretching exercises at the end of your workout.
9. Leaving a bag of chips open
Some people use clips to seal those half-eaten bags of chips, while others just leave them folded in half, hoping that the bag won’t open. But here’s another way to deal with those bags.
This smart method was inspired by origami, a Japanese art and technique of folding paper to create different objects.
