Meditation app Headspace is bringing back one of its biggest annual deals this Black Friday. Through December 4, you’ll be able to get 50 percent off the regular annual subscription price, bringing a full year of guided meditations, sleep sounds and mindfulness tools down to $35 per year. If you’ve been looking to build a better daily routine, this discount makes it easier to start.
Headspace has become one of the most recognizable names in digital mindfulness. The app blends practical meditation guidance with structured courses and calming soundscapes designed to make everyday stress easier to manage. Its programs cover everything from beginner-friendly introductions to mindfulness to focused content on topics like anxiety, productivity and sleep.
Headspace
Subscribers get access to hundreds of guided sessions led by the Headspace team, including short daily practices that can be completed in a few spare minutes, plus longer courses that help build consistency. The app’s Sleepcasts and soundscapes are unique, designed to create a steady nighttime routine that promotes better rest. For mornings, there are breathing exercises and motivational mini-sessions that can help set focus for the day ahead.
Headspace also includes personalized progress tracking, mood check-ins and optional reminders that make it easier to stay consistent with your new mindfulness habits. For anyone new to meditation, the app’s clear structure is a major strength. You don’t have to know where to start, since it suggests sessions based on your goals or current mood.
This annual deal is ideal for users who want to stick with mindfulness practice over time, or anyone interested in incorporating a new habit into their lives. Paying for the year upfront typically saves money compared with the monthly plan, and the discount brings that cost down even further. Whether you’re learning the basics of meditation or refining an existing routine, the full library provides enough variety to keep things engaging throughout the year.
If you’re still comparing wellness apps, check out our guide to the best meditation apps to see how Headspace stacks up against other options. But for those ready to commit to a calmer routine, this annual offer is one of the simplest ways to start the habit at a lower cost.
Meditation app Headspace is bringing back one of its biggest annual deals this Black Friday. Through December 4, you’ll be able to get 50 percent off the regular annual subscription price, bringing a full year of guided meditations, sleep sounds and mindfulness tools down to $35 per year. If you’ve been looking to build a better daily routine, this discount makes it easier to start.
Headspace has become one of the most recognizable names in digital mindfulness. The app blends practical meditation guidance with structured courses and calming soundscapes designed to make everyday stress easier to manage. Its programs cover everything from beginner-friendly introductions to mindfulness to focused content on topics like anxiety, productivity and sleep.
Headspace
Subscribers get access to hundreds of guided sessions led by the Headspace team, including short daily practices that can be completed in a few spare minutes, plus longer courses that help build consistency. The app’s Sleepcasts and soundscapes are unique, designed to create a steady nighttime routine that promotes better rest. For mornings, there are breathing exercises and motivational mini-sessions that can help set focus for the day ahead.
Headspace also includes personalized progress tracking, mood check-ins and optional reminders that make it easier to stay consistent with your new mindfulness habits. For anyone new to meditation, the app’s clear structure is a major strength. You don’t have to know where to start, since it suggests sessions based on your goals or current mood.
This annual deal is ideal for users who want to stick with mindfulness practice over time, or anyone interested in incorporating a new habit into their lives. Paying for the year upfront typically saves money compared with the monthly plan, and the discount brings that cost down even further. Whether you’re learning the basics of meditation or refining an existing routine, the full library provides enough variety to keep things engaging throughout the year.
If you’re still comparing wellness apps, check out our guide to the best meditation apps to see how Headspace stacks up against other options. But for those ready to commit to a calmer routine, this annual offer is one of the simplest ways to start the habit at a lower cost.
Meditation app Headspace is bringing back one of its biggest annual deals this Black Friday. Through December 4, you’ll be able to get 50 percent off the regular annual subscription price, bringing a full year of guided meditations, sleep sounds and mindfulness tools down to $35 per year. If you’ve been looking to build a better daily routine, this discount makes it easier to start.
Headspace has become one of the most recognizable names in digital mindfulness. The app blends practical meditation guidance with structured courses and calming soundscapes designed to make everyday stress easier to manage. Its programs cover everything from beginner-friendly introductions to mindfulness to focused content on topics like anxiety, productivity and sleep.
Headspace
Subscribers get access to hundreds of guided sessions led by the Headspace team, including short daily practices that can be completed in a few spare minutes, plus longer courses that help build consistency. The app’s Sleepcasts and soundscapes are unique, designed to create a steady nighttime routine that promotes better rest. For mornings, there are breathing exercises and motivational mini-sessions that can help set focus for the day ahead.
Headspace also includes personalized progress tracking, mood check-ins and optional reminders that make it easier to stay consistent with your new mindfulness habits. For anyone new to meditation, the app’s clear structure is a major strength. You don’t have to know where to start, since it suggests sessions based on your goals or current mood.
This annual deal is ideal for users who want to stick with mindfulness practice over time, or anyone interested in incorporating a new habit into their lives. Paying for the year upfront typically saves money compared with the monthly plan, and the discount brings that cost down even further. Whether you’re learning the basics of meditation or refining an existing routine, the full library provides enough variety to keep things engaging throughout the year.
If you’re still comparing wellness apps, check out our guide to the best meditation apps to see how Headspace stacks up against other options. But for those ready to commit to a calmer routine, this annual offer is one of the simplest ways to start the habit at a lower cost.
Meditation app Headspace is bringing back one of its biggest annual deals this Black Friday. Through December 4, you’ll be able to get 50 percent off the regular annual subscription price, bringing a full year of guided meditations, sleep sounds and mindfulness tools down to $35 per year. If you’ve been looking to build a better daily routine, this discount makes it easier to start.
Headspace has become one of the most recognizable names in digital mindfulness. The app blends practical meditation guidance with structured courses and calming soundscapes designed to make everyday stress easier to manage. Its programs cover everything from beginner-friendly introductions to mindfulness to focused content on topics like anxiety, productivity and sleep.
Headspace
Subscribers get access to hundreds of guided sessions led by the Headspace team, including short daily practices that can be completed in a few spare minutes, plus longer courses that help build consistency. The app’s Sleepcasts and soundscapes are unique, designed to create a steady nighttime routine that promotes better rest. For mornings, there are breathing exercises and motivational mini-sessions that can help set focus for the day ahead.
Headspace also includes personalized progress tracking, mood check-ins and optional reminders that make it easier to stay consistent with your new mindfulness habits. For anyone new to meditation, the app’s clear structure is a major strength. You don’t have to know where to start, since it suggests sessions based on your goals or current mood.
This annual deal is ideal for users who want to stick with mindfulness practice over time, or anyone interested in incorporating a new habit into their lives. Paying for the year upfront typically saves money compared with the monthly plan, and the discount brings that cost down even further. Whether you’re learning the basics of meditation or refining an existing routine, the full library provides enough variety to keep things engaging throughout the year.
If you’re still comparing wellness apps, check out our guide to the best meditation apps to see how Headspace stacks up against other options. But for those ready to commit to a calmer routine, this annual offer is one of the simplest ways to start the habit at a lower cost.
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Have you ever had the type of morning when everything goes wrong from the moment you get out of bed?
Maybe you slept through your alarm, spilled your morning drink on your shirt as you rushed out the door, and then, halfway through your commute, realized that you’re wearing mismatched shoes.
These mishaps can set the tone for the rest of the day.
Here at Develop Good Habits, we believe that setting a tone of positivity the moment you wake up is critical to how successful the day will be.Research results show that positivity boosts creativity, commitment, and productivity.
So, how do you set this positive tone for your day?
Surprisingly, routine has an important role to play.
The Importance of a Morning Routine
When you examine the lives of successful people, one thing that you notice is that most of them adhere to morning routines.
The habits that comprise their morning routines build up will power, a keystone personal quality that is a strong predictor of success.
How do successful people go about their mornings? The following are the most commonmorning routine habits of those primed for success.
Take note that every individual has a different way of going about their morning, and these habits are just examples that you can include in your own daily routine.
If you want to have an awesome day and jumpstart your own success, adopting a morning routine can help you achieve this goal.
To make things effortless, we suggest that you list down the actions that make up your routine. Amorning routine chart can help keep things smooth, especially on hectic days.
If your daily routine has some permanence to it, you can use a checklist as an alternative to a chart. A checklist can come pre-printed with the activities that you’re most likely to do in the morning.
In this article, we’re sharing awesome morning routine checklist examples you can use as inspiration and for tracking the activities that bring you closer to success.
Ready? Let’s get to our list.
1. 3 Daily Routine Printable Templates and Checklists Bundle
Simplify your week with our Daily Routine Checklists. Each checklist allows you to plan and track all your daily routines from morning until nighttime, whether on a daily or weekly basis.
Stay consistent by checking off completed tasks and instantly identify which routines need more attention — all on one page.
If you’re looking for a checklist template to help streamline your daily morning routine, we’ve created one for this purpose. Our checklist features a background of the morning sky to provide a cheery vibe in the morning.
This template allows you to write the date and list up to eight steps or habits for your morning routine. The first three slots are underlined to emphasize that they are the most important.
Boxes are located next to each line on the list, which you can mark once you’re done with the habit. In another column next to each item is space dedicated for writing the time you’re going to do the habit.
Ideally, you’ll log your morning routine in chronological order. A notes section is found at the bottom of the page for you to write down ideas and other important information as they occur throughout the day.
If you’re tracking your daily routine for the whole week, here’s a template we’ve created to help you out. It comes in a blue color scheme and is quite easy to use.
The template has a dedicated section where you can list all the habits or activities of your morning routine. There is enough space for logging up to nine habits.
Next to the list is a weekly tracker, which is composed of check boxes representing each day of the week. Each item on the list gets its own row of tracking boxes, with a Monday start. The checklist also has space for writing reminders and notes.
4. Teal Checklist
Kids benefit when they have positive mornings. However, things tend to become hectic once school starts. The trick is to control what you can, and help your kids manage their mornings better with this routine checklist.
This printable list has icons for morning activities, making it a good visual tool even for kids who can’t read yet.
5. Successful School Mornings
School mornings can be a hectic affair for families. Here’s a morning routine checklist to make the time go smoother for everyone.
This checklist works like a tracker. Each line is intended for one activity in your morning routine.
Next to these spaces are five circles. Each one bears the initials for every school day (Monday to Friday). Once you’re done with an activity or habit, you can put a check mark in the respective circle and proceed to the next activity/habit.
There is space in this template to list up to 14 activities or habits that make up your morning routine.
6. 2-Page Morning Routine Checklist in Teal
This two-page checklist was designed to help you have an awesome, productive morning.
One page is dedicated to eight pre-set activities that begin the night before. For example, for a better start the next morning, the checklist recommends preparing the clothes you’ll wear the night before and ensuring that you get seven to nine hours of sleep.
Meanwhile, the other page is a template for your personal morning routine. Spaces are allocated for writing the specifics that make your morning routine go smoothly, such as:
The main goal for the week
Morning tasks (in tracker form)
7. Planning Your Morning Right
Looking for a template to help get your morning routine organized? Here’s one that comes in an efficient layout. The template lets you write down the date and day, tasks, and time for each habit/activity.
In addition, this template has a column reserved for writing down the buffer time for each task/activity/habit. For example, if it takes at least 20 minutes to prepare breakfast for your kids, allot 30 minutes in your template.
If it takes you at least 10 minutes for personal hygiene and dressing up, give yourself 20 minutes. This way, you don’t feel rushed doing your morning routine.
8. Simple Home Routine Template
If you’re looking for a simple template for establishing a solid morning routine, you might want to try this free printable from Home Storage Solutions. You can use this template for your personal morning routine or for the members of your household.
The template is in tabular form. Columns are provided for writing down the time, task, and notes related to one’s morning routine.
9. Morning Routine Worksheet
This three-page template is designed to help you set a morning routine you love. It is designed as a step-by-step guide to helping establish your morning activities.
The first page is called “My Morning To Do’s.” It consists of three columns with writing prompts:
Step 1 – Write Down Your Morning To Do’s Step 2 – Allocate a Time Step 3 – Stay on List or Go
Page two has spaces for writing down your wake-up time and your activities (in order), with a tracking system to help you track each activity for every day of the week (Monday to Sunday).
Finally, page three is dedicated to writing down your reflections about your morning routine so you can see which parts of the routine work well and which ones need improvement.
10. Stress-Free Morning Routine for Introverts
Rushing through the morning brings stress that affects you for the rest of the day. Often, we fail to see that it’s our disorganization that causes the stress, and not the morning itself.
However, once we recognize this, we can make some changes so that we can experience the first few hours of the day as a soothing prelude to everything that we’ll experience for the rest of it.
This checklist is playfully called an introvert’s checklist. However, whether you’re an introvert or extrovert, you can benefit from having a morning ritual that lets you get in touch with yourself, motivates you to take uphealthy habits, and helps you become a more organized person.
11. Morning Person Routine
Embracing a morning routine is a bit of a challenge if you’re not a morning person. However, with the right motivation, you’ll be getting out of bed the moment the alarm goes off (or even before).
If you’re not a morning person but would like to be one, this checklist helps you achieve that goal.
Here are some of the benefits you’ll reap when you wake up just before daybreak:
You have time to exercise.
You’re more likely to eat a healthy breakfast.
You’ll be able to overcome procrastination.
You’ll experience improved quality of sleep.
12. Kickass Morning Routine
Wanna have a kickass morning? This checklist shows you how. You’re prompted to do activities that infuse your morning with positivity. The prompts form the acronym HEALTH, which stands for:
H – Hydrate
E – Engage
A – Affirm
L – Listen
T – Tiger Pose
H – Handwrite
There are suggested activities for each letter of the acronym so you can easily follow this daily positive routine.
Final Thoughts on Morning Routine Checklist Ideas
Starting the day on a positive note paves the way for good health and a better life. The checklists we shared with you today are wonderful tools for jumpstarting a positive morning.
When you start the day right, you can then cap it successfully. With constant use, checklists help strengthen the habits that make you more productive, keep your energy up, and improve your health and well-being.
If you need more resources about morning routines, you might want to check out the following posts:
A new study finds that a “Science of Happiness” university course, designed to teach students a variety of happiness hacks, provides the most long-term benefits when participants stick with the tools and exercises after completion.
There have been many experiments showing the short-term benefits of positive psychological interventions like gratitude, meditation, kindness, and journaling, but not many studies have looked into these effects on a longer timeline.
At the University of Bristol, there’s a popular course known as “The Science of Happiness” that aims to teach students how to use various happiness hacks to improve their mental health and well-being. This course has been running since 2019 and has been offered both online and in-person.
The program balances practical advice with important information on topics such as: the nature of happiness, the role of biology and environment, cognitive biases, brain mechanisms, problem-solving, and the importance of social connection. At the end of each week, students are instructed to try evidence-based activities or “happiness hacks,” as a way of fostering positive mental well-being.
In previous years, individuals who took the course reported significantly increased mental well-being from the first week to the final week, as shown by a 10-15% increase in their scores on the Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale. Participants also reported reduced loneliness and anxiety. A follow-up after six weeks continued to show sustained benefits, but it was unclear how long these positive effects lasted.
In a new study published in the journal Higher Education, researchers analyzed 228 undergraduate students from various disciplines who had completed the positive psychology course either 1 or 2 years ago. Interestingly, while most students reported short-term benefits, later group analysis revealed that these benefits did not persist uniformly across all participants during the long term follow-up period.
A deeper look at the data revealed a crucial factor behind the program’s success: continued engagement. Approximately 51% of the students who actively practiced the recommended activities taught during the course maintained their increased mental well-being over the follow-up period. These students consistently applied positive psychology principles in their daily lives at least a year after they completed the class.
Here’s a chart from the study illustrating the findings:
As you can see, those who continued to follow the “happiness hacks” maintained their gains in subjective well-being during the long term follow-up.
The most commonly reported technique that students continued to use was gratitude (37.17%), including writing letters of gratitude to others and making lists of things that they were grateful for (“three good things”). Other commonly reported techniques were mindfulness/meditation (33.63%), exercise (21.24%), journaling (17.70%) and kindness (10.62%).
How to Create Sustained Positive Change
The study recommends that schools and institutions consider the long-term impact of psychoeducational courses. While initial benefits are essential, sustained effects depend on prolonged engagement and commitment.
Course designs should incorporate mechanisms to encourage continued practice:
The goal of psychology – whether it’s with a course, book, article, therapist, or coach – is always to take what you learn and integrate it into your real world living.
In the moment, learning about these tools and exercises can provide a nice temporary boost of relief, but then we quickly get bored, forget about them, stop applying them, and lose out on their benefits over time.
Much like a diet or exercise regimen, you need to create a mental health system in your life that works for you and is sustainable into the future. Quick fixes are a myth. You’ll always snap back to your old ways if you don’t choose a course of action you can follow continuously and indefinitely.
In theory, choose habits you can do for the rest of your life. That’s the mindset you need for continuous growth, happiness, and well-being. Gratitude, kindness, meditation, exercise, and journaling can become habits that are just as second-nature to you as tying your shoes or driving a car. Make self-care an everyday occurence.
Ultimately, if you want to build a happy life, you have to be in it for the long haul.
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What does the daily life of a legendary philosopher look like? Learn about Arthur Schopenhauer’s unique routine that he consistently followed for over 27 years.
Arthur Schopenhauer was a major figure in German philosophy throughout the 19th century along with Friedrich Nietzsche and Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel.
While he’s known for his pessimism and negative outlook on life, there’s no denying that Schopenhauer was an intellectual powerhouse of his time who influenced many great thinkers, philosophers, and artists long after his death.
His book Essays and Aphorisms is a great introduction and overview of his philosophical ideas. It explains his core metaphysical belief of “world as appearance,” continuing the legacy of other idealist philosophers like Plato, Kant, and Indian philosophy, which warn about viewing the world strictly through a materialist lens.
The beginning of the book provides a nice biography of Schopenhauer’s family background, education, and life history. There’s one interesting section on his daily routine that caught my attention and wanted to share; it’s always fascinating to gain insights into the habits and lifestyles of influential figures, especially potential role models we can emulate and borrow from.
This specific routine characterizes the last third of Schopenhauer’s life:
“From the age of 45 until his death 27 years later Schopenhauer lived in Frankfurt-am-Main. He lived alone… every day for 27 years he followed an identical routine.”
Keep in mind, I’m only sharing this for educational purposes. I don’t necessarily recommend this way of living, but there are interesting lessons to takeaway from it, including how some of these habits relate to Schopenhauer’s overall philosophy.
Arthur Schopenhauer’s Daily Routine
Here’s a breakdown of Schopenhauer’s daily routine for the last 27 years of his life:
“He rose every morning at seven and had a bath but no breakfast;
He drank a cup of strong coffee before sitting down at his desk and writing until noon.
At noon he ceased work for the day and spent half-an-hour practicing the flute, on which he became quite a skilled performer.
Then he went out to lunch at the Englischer Hof.
After lunch he returned home and read until four, when he left for his daily walk:
He walked for two hours no matter what the weather.
At six o’clock, he visited the reading room of the library and read The Times.
In the evening he attended the theatre or a concert, after which he had dinner at a hotel or restaurant.
He got back home between nine and ten and went early to bed.”
While Schopenhauer mostly kept to this strict routine unwaveringly, he was willing to make exceptions under specials circumstances such as if he had friends or visitors in town.
Key Lessons and Takeaways
This daily routine seems fitting for a solitary and introspective philosopher, but there are key lessons that fit with conventional self-improvement wisdom:
Early Rising: Schopenhauer started his day at 7 a.m., which aligns with the common advice of many successful individuals who advocate for early rising. This morning ritual is often associated with increased productivity and a sense of discipline.
No Breakfast: Skipping breakfast was part of Schopenhauer’s routine. While not everyone agrees with this approach, it resonates with intermittent fasting principles that some find beneficial for health and mental clarity.
Work Routine: Schopenhauer dedicated his mornings to work, writing until noon. This emphasizes the importance of having a focused and dedicated period for intellectual or creative work, especially early in the day.
Creative Break: Taking a break to practice the flute for half an hour after work highlights the value of incorporating creative or leisure activities into one’s routine. It can serve as a refreshing break and contribute to overall well-being.
Outdoor Exercise: Schopenhauer’s daily two-hour walk, regardless of the weather, emphasizes the significance of outdoor exercise for both physical and mental health. This practice aligns with contemporary views on the benefits of regular physical activity and spending time in nature.
Reading Habit: Schopenhauer spent time reading each day, reflecting his commitment to continuous learning and intellectual stimulation.
News Consumption: Reading The Times at the library suggests Schopenhauer valued staying informed about current events. It’s worth noting that he limited his news consumption to a specific time of day (but it was easier to restrict your information diet before the internet).
Cultural Engagement: Attending the theater or a concert in the evening indicates a commitment to cultural engagement and a balanced lifestyle.
Regular Bedtime: Going to bed early reflects an understanding of the importance of sufficient sleep for overall health and well-being.
While Schopenhauer’s routine may not be suitable for everyone, there are elements of discipline, balance, and engagement with various aspects of life that individuals may find inspiring or applicable to their own lifestyles.
The Immovable Mind
Schopenhauer was known for his persistence and stubbornness – his consistent daily routine is just one manifestation of this.
He wrote his magnum opus The World as Will and Representation in 1818 when he was only 28 years old, and he never fundamentally changed his views despite continuing to write and publish until his death at 72.
Schopenhauer has been described as an “immovable mind,” never letting himself deviate from the course he was set out on.
His two hour walk routine in any weather is one of the most popular examples of this. From the biography in the book:
“Consider the daily two-hour walk. Among Schopenhauer’s disciples of the late nineteenth century this walk was celebrated fact of his biography, and it was so because of its regularity. There was speculation as to why he insisted on going out and staying out for two hours no matter what the weather. It suggests health fanaticism, but there is no other evidence that Schopenhauer was a health fanatic or crank. In my view the reason was simply obstinacy: he would go out and nothing would stop him.”
While this immovability has its disadvantages, you have to admire the monk-like discipline.
Schopenhauer was a proponent of ascetism, a life without pleasure-seeking and mindless indulgence. A lot of his philosophy centers around a type of “denouncement of the material world,” so it’s not surprising that a little rain and wind wouldn’t stop his daily walk.
This way of living is reminiscent of the documentary Into Great Silence, which follows the daily lives of Carthusian monks living in the French mountains while they eat, clean, pray, and fulfill their chores and duties in quiet solitude.
One of the hallmarks of a great routine is that it’s a sustainable system. The fact that Schopenhauer was able to follow this regimen for the rest of his life is a testament to its strength and efficacy, and something worth admiring even if it’s not a lifestyle we’d want to replicate for ourselves.
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What are the six aspects of a balanced person? Physical, mental, emotional, social, work/financial, and meaning/spiritual. Learn more about each one and how to improve it!
In life, there isn’t one single area that we need to focus on that is going to magically fix all of our problems.
Instead there are multiple dimensions behind every “good life.” Each dimension requires our attention and each contributes to our overall happiness and well-being.
Here are six aspects of life that come together to create a “balanced person.” By being more aware of these different dimensions in life, we can determine which areas we need to focus on more and work to improve.
The different aspects of a balanced person include: 1) Physical, 2) Mental, 3) Emotional, 4) Social, 5) Work/Financial and 6) Meaning/Spiritual.
If we focus too much on any one area, then we risk neglecting another one. For example, if you become solely focused on just work and money, you may end up spending less time taking care of your physical and mental health, or less quality time with family and friends.
This is a common trap people fall into. They focus all of their energy and effort into one area in life while completely ignoring another. Often they need to reconfigure their core values and priorities before making a meaningful change.
This is why practicing balance in all things is so important.
Each of these areas is one piece of a much larger puzzle, and only when you have all of these areas working together harmoniously can you finally build a complete life that serves all of your needs.
Here’s a detailed breakdown of each aspect of a “balanced person,” along with tips, tools, and practical advice on how you can start improving each one.
While reading ask yourself, “Which aspect do I need to focus on the most right now? What’s one small change I can make to improve that area?”
Now let’s dive in…
1. PHYSICAL WELL-BEING
The “physical” aspect of life is all about taking care of our health, especially exercise, diet, and sleep.
This includes what types of foods and drinks we consume on a daily basis, how often we exercise and keep our bodies moving, personal hygiene and cleanliness, as well as minimizing alcohol, smoking, and other harmful habits to our physical health.
Our body is one of the most precious gifts we have – and without it we can’t exist. If we don’t stay healthy, we often can’t fully enjoy all the other aspects of life such as family, work, traveling, or leisure.
Our health can often have a spillover effect into all the other aspects of our lives – for that reason, taking care of our physical health is often an essential first step on any road to self-improvement.
No matter what the current state of our health is, it’s never too late to start changing our habits, even if it’s something small like stretching in the morning, taking daily walks outside, or starting an active hobby like Yoga, marathon running, or playing sports.
A healthy body is a healthy mind. When we take better care of our bodies, we also feel more confident, motivated, and energized overall. That’s the beginning of bringing out your best self.
Things to do:
Identify small ways to be more physically active. Often our days are filled with opportunities to be more active, we just need to take advantage of them. Try to cultivate an “everything counts” mindset when it comes to exercise, even if it just means taking a walk around the block, or stretching in the morning, or doing push-ups before lunch. Any physical activity is better than none at all – so seek out small and convenient ways to keep your body moving throughout the day. If you find yourself sitting for long periods of time, get up and do chores, take a walk around the office, or make a phone call while standing up. A sedentary lifestyle is one of the biggest risk factors when it comes to poor health, so finding any reason to stand up more is better than sitting.
Find exercise that “clicks” with you and your personality. Different things work for different people. Some people need to commit themselves to a gym membership to get themselves off the couch, while others prefer to work out in the comfort of their own homes. Your personality shapes what exercise you like, so it’s important you find activities that resonate and “click” with you, rather than trying to force yourself to do something you really don’t enjoy. All you need is that one hobby to take your fitness to the next level, whether it be finding an enjoyable sport (like Tennis, or Baseball, or Basketball), or even exercising through video games (such as Wii Fit or Dance Dance Revolution). Try to think of physical activities you enjoyed as a kid, that can often be a good place to rekindle motivation.
Keep a healthy and consistent sleep schedule. Sleep is one of the most important habits when it comes to your overall physical and mental health. Research shows that those who don’t get sufficient sleep (between 6-10 hours every night) often suffer worse health outcomes like a weaker immune system, higher risk of obesity, lower energy and stamina, and more stress and anxiety. If your sleep habits aren’t healthy or consistent, it will likely have a negative “ripple effect” on almost every other aspect of your day. When you’re tired and fatigued, you’re more likely to make mistakes at work or argue with your spouse. It’s important not only to get between 6-10 hours of sleep each night, but also to maintain a consistent schedule. If you don’t sleep much on the weekends, it’s difficult to “catch up” on those lost hours throughout the week. Try to go to bed and wake up around the same time each day if possible. Here are more important lessons behind a good night’s sleep, including recognizing that some people are natural “early birds” or “night owls,” and that’s something you need to recognize and work with.
Pay attention to your food and diet. There are many different diets out there to choose from – and people can have long debates about which one is better – but the most important thing is to not eat too much, especially junk food, fast food, soda, sweets, and lots of processed food. Use your commonsense. Experiment with different diet changes and see what works best for you. Different diets work better for different people – so there’s no “one size fits all” solution to what exactly you should eat or not eat. One simple diet change is to substitute all your soda/juice/sugary drinks with water instead. Drinking plenty of water is never a bad place to start – most people don’t recognize how dehydrated they can be throughout the day and how it effects them. If you’re trying to lose weight, one popular option you can consider is intermittent fasting where you allow yourself to eat for an 8 hour window each day and fast for the remaining 16 hours. You can also try the “One Meal A Day” approach, where you restrict yourself to just one big meal (with minimal snacking). In general, pay attention to how your body responds to the things you eat: What foods leave you tired and feeling like crap? What foods make you energized and feeling good?
Take care of personal hygiene and cleanliness. Proper hygiene is another important aspect of physical health. While it can seem like commonsense, basic habits like taking a shower, brushing your teeth, getting a haircut, trimming your nails, and washing your face are are all important things not to neglect. Not only does cleanliness prevent you from catching germs and getting sick, you also feel better about yourself when you present yourself in the best way possible (and smell good). Often we are surprised by how much better we feel after a fresh new haircut, or clean new clothes, or new cologne/perfume. When mental health is low, we sometimes neglect these basic habits out of laziness or apathy, which is why they are a crucial first step in self-improvement if we aren’t paying enough attention to them.
Minimize your bad habits. No one is 100% perfect and we all have a couple bad habits, whether it be eating too many sweets, or drinking alcohol, or staying up late, or smoking cigarettes. In general, it’s important to quit (or minimize) our unhealthy habits as much as possible. “Choose your crutches wisely.” Keep in mind the long-term consequences of your habits – while it may not feel like they are hurting you right now, their effects can often catch up to you in the future. When trying to quit any bad habit, identify your triggers and work from there to change to change your patterns. Often by creating more boundaries between you and your bad habits, you can overcome your urge to do them (until it’s no longer an automatic habit anymore). If you find that you have a serious problem with addiction or drug abuse, consider professional help (such as a therapist, psychologist, or counselor) – there are often local resources available in your area if you do a quick search.
Please don’t underestimate the importance of keeping your body in the best shape possible. As Socrates famously said, “No man has the right to be an amateur in the matter of physical training. It is a shame for a man to grow old without seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable.”
Physical health is about much more than just looking and feeling good about yourself – it’s about living a life of vitality and longevity. You can have everything else in your life figured out, but if you don’t maintain your health you won’t be around very long to use or enjoy it.
2. MENTAL WELL-BEING
If you don’t take care of your body then it will slowly deteriorate – and the same is true for your mind.
Just because you don’t have to go to school anymore doesn’t mean you can’t keep learning new things, keeping your brain sharp, and challenging your intellect.
Reading books. Learning about new topics. Having deep conversations. Attending lectures and workshops. Following the news. These are all commonsense ways to keep our minds active and continue to update our knowledge and belief system as we move through life.
Learning is a lifelong endeavor. Balanced people are always seeking new things to dig into and learn more about like a new hobby, new game, or new skill such as painting, chess, learning a new language, or playing a musical instrument.
In addition, research shows that continuing to challenge our brain is an important way to prevent cognitive decline as we get older, including lower the risk of dementia and memory loss.
Things to do:
Read more books. Reading is one of the best ways to keep your mind sharp and learn new things. Nonfiction books about science, history, philosophy, or self help can grow your knowledge and broaden your perspective on life; and reading fiction has been shown to have many cognitive benefits such as boosting empathy, creative thinking, and expanding your vocabulary. If you haven’t read a book in awhile, try to make it a goal to read at least one book this year. You can start with a book you already own but never got a chance to read, or ask a friend for a book recommendation, or get a card from your local library and explore countless books for free. Find a topic or subject that interests you and start there!
Learn a new skill. Learning multiple skills is a hallmark of being a balanced and well-rounded person. It’s never too late in life to dive into something completely new, such as playing a musical instrument, learning a new language, writing poetry, painting, or playing chess. A jack of all trades mindset can make you stand-out from others in unique ways. Many people have a talent or passion for at least one thing, but when you start combining talents and cultivating multiple interests it shows your range and flexibility as a person. Don’t limit yourself. There’s no pressure to become a “professional” or “expert” in everything you do, just stay on a learning path, have fun while doing it, and enjoy seeing the growth as you go.
Watch documentaries. Documentaries are a fun and easy way to explore new topics and learn about interesting things you otherwise wouldn’t experience. Depending on what you like, there are many different subjects to choose from: history, sports, biographies, science, inspirational stories, or nature documentaries (which have also been shown to boost positive emotions like joy, gratitude, and awe). I’ve made a lengthy list of recommended documentaries which I try to keep updated as I discover new ones. Check it out and choose one that catches your eye!
Monitor your information diet. Our current world is overloaded with information, including a lot that is wrong, misleading, or straight up lies and propaganda. Now more than ever we need to pay close attention to the information we consume on a daily basis. Try to find trustworthy news and educational sites where you can easily verify what they are saying from other sources. Beware of going down esoteric “rabbit holes” where people only confirm their own biases and beliefs. Actively seek out information from multiple sides so you’re at least aware of different perspectives and counter-arguments. The information pyramid is a great guide on how you should prioritize certain sources over others. In general, a peer-reviewed scientific study should be given more weight than some random influencer on social media. Keep in mind it’s also possible to consume too much and become an information junkie, where you’re addicted to learning new things, but you never act on it or put it into practice.
Spend time in active reflection. Give yourself time to think and digest, even if it’s just for 10 minutes while sitting with your first cup of coffee in the morning. You don’t always need to be filling your brain with facts to be a smarter person, you also need to know how to step back and contemplate what you know. Active and engaged minds are always taking advantage of opportunities for everyday reflection when sitting on the bus, taking a shower, or walking the dog. Often your best ideas and insights come in moments when you’re not trying to solve a problem directly but just mulling it over in your mind. Schedule time for solitude every now and then and don’t be afraid to sit alone with your thoughts.
Learn how your mind works. One essential component to being a more intelligent thinker is knowing how your mind works. We naturally believe we understand ourselves best, but psychology and neuroscience can sometimes reveal counter-intuitive facts and tendencies. To start, our minds are very susceptible to cognitive biases and logical fallacies that can muddy our thinking and understanding of reality. One of the most common errors is black and white thinking, where we believe a situation needs to be either “A” or “B,” but a third perspective, “C,” is the more accurate view. Our minds like to over-simplify things when reality can often be more nuanced and complex. Show intellectual humility. Be open to being wrong and be open to changing your mind in the face of new evidence and experience.
Take your education seriously. Maintain a healthy and active brain. Even if you were never a good student in school, that doesn’t mean you can’t improve your knowledge and intelligence, especially once you find subjects you are deeply passionate about. Benjamin Franklin once said, “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.”
3. EMOTIONAL WELL-BEING
In the “Mental” section we covered how to keep our brains active and be more intelligent thinkers, but there’s also a whole other side of our psychology that we need to pay attention to as well: our “Emotional” side.
Emotions can often seem like something that we have limited power over, but being a more emotionally intelligent person means becoming more self-aware and learning how to better respond to our emotions in the moment.
We can’t ignore our emotions or push them aside forever, they are a necessary facet of life and we must learn to navigate our emotional world effectively if we want to live the best life possible.
Remember that emotions are a resource, not a crutch. Every emotion serves a function or purpose, and if we channel our emotions in a constructive direction we can make great things happen.
One important lesson is that even negative emotions like sadness, anger, guilt, or fear are helpful to a better life if we approach them from the right perspective.
Things to do:
Learn the basics of emotional intelligence. There are 4 fundamental pillars of emotional intelligence that we need to cultivate: 1) Self-awareness (recognizing our emotions when they happen), 2) Self-regulation (knowing how to respond to our emotions and channel them in a positive direction, 3) Empathy (being aware of other people’s emotions and internal states), and 4) Social Skills (knowing how to respond to other people’s emotions in a healthy and constructive way). Certain people may be strong at some of these and not for others. For example, someone may be really empathetic and caring, but not know how to regulate their own mood and emotions, leading to burnout and emotional fatigue. An emotionally intelligent person must work on all four of these pillars.
Improve body awareness. All emotions have a physical component to them. When you learn how to identify the physical sensations behind each emotion, you’ll be much more attuned to your feelings in the moment as you’re experiencing them. This helps you to be more aware of your feelings before acting on them, and to recognize how emotions often want to push or pull you in a certain direction (“do this” vs. “don’t do that”). Every feeling serves a different function depending on its emotional valence (“positive” vs. “negative”) and arousal level (“high energy” vs. “low energy”). With practice, this improved body awareness can also boost your intuition, making you a better reader of your “gut feelings” and what they are telling you.
Learn to channel negative emotions. Negative emotions can serve a positive function if you know how to respond to them in a constructive way. If you struggle with any specific negative emotion (sadness, fear, guilt, or anger), then create a plan for how you will respond to it the next time it arises. For example, “If I’m angry, then I’ll go exercise,” or “If I’m sad, then I’ll write in my journal.” Emotions are energy that can be channeled in multiple directions. Write a list of the many ways you can respond to any negative emotion. Remind yourself you have a choice, and you don’t have to keep following the same pattern between negative emotion → negative behavior. One popular technique is opposite action, where you intentionally do the opposite of what a feeling is telling you to do (to reverse the cycle of negativity).
Practice meditation and daily mindfulness. Meditation is a great avenue for better understanding and regulating your emotions. It teaches you how to step back and just observe your thoughts and feelings without needing to immediately react to them. This space between “feelings” and “actions” is crucial for being a more emotionally intelligent person; it’s the main principle behind discipline, willpower, and self-control. Never forget that just because you feel a certain way doesn’t mean you need to act on it. If you’re completely new to meditation, start with the 100 breaths meditation – a simple exercise where you just focus on your breathing. It’s also helpful to learn grounding techniques for when you feel overwhelmed, such as mindful stretching or a 5 senses meditation.
Embrace creative expression. It’s difficult to describe many emotions with only words so it’s important to embrace other ways of expressing yourself, such as through music, photography, dance, painting, drawing, acting, or film. Often when I meet people who don’t feel fully connected to their emotional self, they usually lack ways of expressing themselves through art and creativity. A creative outlet is often a prerequisite to better understanding and navigating your emotional world, even if you don’t typically think of yourself as a “creative person.”
Savor all of your positive experiences. Life is filled with many joys and pleasures throughout the day and we should try to savor them as much as possible. We have many positive emotions to choose from – joy, gratitude, peace, awe, excitement, laughter, and wonder – and there are a variety of activities that can lead to more positive emodiversity in our lives. Don’t just chase after the same positive experiences over and over again, seek new experiences, new hobbies, and new ways of enjoying life. Learn how to savor happiness as much as possible by being more present in the moment, creating positive memories, and reminiscing on good times.
Relax and manage daily stress. Last but not least, it’s necessary we cover stress management as an essential component to mental health and emotional intelligence. Stress is a normal part of everyday life, but if you don’t know how to manage it in a healthy way it can often have a negative influence on your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors by making you more sensitive, irritable, angry, and bothered (even by little things that don’t really matter). Recognize when to push yourself vs. when to step back and recharge. In the complete guide on daily stress, you’ll find a great framework for reframing your “fight, flight, or freeze” response by viewing stress as a signal to pay attention to and guide you throughout the day. Don’t underestimate the importance of your comfort zone and use it as a place to recharge after a challenging or overwhelming day.
Emotions can “make us” or “break us” depending on how emotionally intelligent we are. They are a fundamental part of life, but we often have more power over them than we realize. Learn how to channel your emotions in a healthy and constructive way – become a master of them, not a slave to them.
4. SOCIAL WELL-BEING
Healthy and positive relationships are an essential ingredient to happiness and well-being.
No matter who you are, you crave some type of social connection; even the most introverted person on the planet will have a tough time finding happiness all by themselves.
There used to be a time when I believed “I don’t need people to be happy, all I need is myself.” But over the years I’ve learned more and more that having social support and a sense of belonging is a basic human need that can’t be avoided.
How strong is your current social circle? Here’s advice to get you started.
Things to do:
Stay connected with friends and family. You should try your best to stay in touch with people who you already have a strong relationship with, especially family and old friends. There’s a simple power in checking in on people and preserving social connections you’ve already established. It doesn’t take much time or effort to show you’re thinking about someone: a simple text, email, or phone call is all you need to let people know you still care and value your relationship with them. You’d be surprised by how much other people appreciate you reaching out to them, even if you haven’t spoken to them in a really long time.
Embrace small social interactions. Every time you leave your home, there is opportunity for social interaction. To build your social muscles, embrace the power of 10 second relationships, such as saying “Hi,” to a neighbor or coworker, small talk with a cashier or cab driver, or sparking up a quick conversation while waiting for the train or bus. Research shows even super tiny social interactions can boost positive emotions and feelings of social connectedness. This can also be a great exercise for people who are very introverted (or have a lot of social anxiety) and want to start being a more social person. Make a plan to have a pleasant interaction with at least one new person every day.
Learn how to have endless conversations. One big concern for people when it comes to meeting new people is, “What do I say? What if I run out of things to talk about?” One popular technique known as conversation threading provides an excellent framework so that you never run out of topics to talk about. The basic idea is that every sentence contains multiple “threads” we can go down, and often the art of good conversation is being able to 1) Listen to what people say, and 2) Choose a thread to talk more about. Rinse and repeat and a conversation can go on forever. Also consider improvisation exercises so that you can be a faster and more creative thinker in the moment.
Improve communication and conflict resolution. It’s a cliché, but communication is everything in relationships. If you don’t know how to express your thoughts and feelings in an honest and constructive way, you’ll have trouble building genuine and healthy connections with others at home, work, or wherever you need to cooperate and work together with people. In romantic relationships, it’s important to know how to communicate your feelings without manipulating or being dramatic. In family and work environments, it’s important to know how to defuse heated arguments before they spiral out of control. The truth is people can be difficult and you’re not going to like everyone’s company. That’s natural. Conflicts have the potential to arise in any social situation, because people have different beliefs, values, and personalities that may be incompatible with each other. What’s most important is to teach yourself the best methods for conflict resolution so you can better navigate the complexities of your social world.
Find opportunities to meet new people. Most people make friends through work or school. Once we get older, it can become more difficult to find new connections or become a part of new social circles. Recent research shows that most adults claim to have “less than 5 close friends.” If you’re looking to expand your circle, there are many opportunities available to you. Depending on your likes, hobbies, and interests, consider going out more to music shows, bars, coffee shops, workshops, church/religious services, bowling leagues, adult education classes, sports events, or book clubs. Seek out local groups in your area or volunteer somewhere. You can also take advantage of websites like Meet Up to connect with like-minded people who live close-by. All it takes is one new friend to introduce you to an entirely new social circle. Be patient and don’t worry if you don’t initially hit it off with the first couple people you meet. Finding the right relationships that fit into our lives can take time.
Use social media and the internet to connect. The internet can be a great place to connect with like-minded people who we’d never meet in the real world. Online communities on social media, message boards, or video games can often provide a valuable source of social interaction, especially for people who don’t have many “real life” friends. The internet can be particularly helpful for connecting with others who have rare or eccentric hobbies, such as fans of a specific author, athlete, music genre, or comic book franchise. Unfortunately, many online communities can also become negative, competitive, and toxic (see the online disinhibition effect), so it’s necessary you build a positive digital environment that works for you. That doesn’t mean hiding in your own “echo chamber,” but it does mean cultivating a feed and followers who ultimately add value to your life and don’t subtract it. First focus on topics you’re naturally interested in such as science, technology, sports, or movies. Try not to be a passive consumer of information, actively enter conversations by asking questions or sharing knowledge with others. Often times we can build meaningful connections with people online that are just as important as those we find in the real world. However, while online relationships can have many benefits, we shouldn’t see them as a substitute for real world “face to face” interactions.
Always remember that quality of relationships > quantity of relationships.
You don’t need to be super popular or the life of the party to have a healthy social life. All you need is a couple really close friends who support you, trust you, and enjoy your presence. That’s everything you need to be socially satisfied.
Healthy relationships are a fundamental aspect of happiness and well-being for everyone. Our need to belong to a “tribe” or group is hardwired into our brain, biology, and evolution. Like every other aspect of a balanced person, it can’t be ignored.
Are your daily social needs being fulfilled?
5. WORK / FINANCIAL WELL-BEING
Another fundamental aspect of a balanced person is work, money, and material concerns.
At the most basic level, we depend on food, clothing, shelter, healthcare, and other necessities so we can live a healthy and dignified life.
People that struggle to make a living can often hurt in many other areas: physical health (can’t afford good foods, healthcare, or medicine), relationships (can’t support family, no money for dating), as well as our mental and emotional well-being (stress, anxiety, and low self-esteem).
Unless you win the lottery or have someone else to provide for you, finding a steady job or career is often one of the most focused on areas in life. From childhood up until we finish high school or college, we are constantly asked, “What do you want to do for a living?”
A few people find jobs they love, many find jobs they like, and most find jobs they can at least tolerate. Balancing psychological needs with financial needs can be a difficult task depending on your current situation.
While we don’t always get a choice in what we do for a living, there are important ways to give ourselves more power over our work life and financial life. Here are important guidelines to keep in mind.
Things to do:
Focus on your strengths. Everyone has a place in this world where they add value. Before you decide what type of work you’d like to do for a living, it’s important to know what your natural strengths, skills, and talents are. If you’re friendly and good with people, you may excel at managing, customer service, or human resources type jobs. If you’re more introverted and creative, you may want to focus on writing, graphic design, computer programming, or freelance work. What type of activities are you typically good at (or at least above average)? What were your best subjects in school? What do you enjoy doing and why? Complete the strengths worksheet to discover more about your natural skillset. Ultimately, knowing your strengths will influence what types of jobs or career choices will suit you best – including where you contribute the most value.
Value education and experience. No matter what your job is, there are always new ways to learn and improve. The best workers in life are those who are always growing and mastering their craft. College is still an important part of education, but what’s even more important is to stay self-motivated and continue learning after school. Many people I know have landed successful jobs that had virtually nothing to do with what they studied in college. In several cases, they were people who taught themselves coding/programming, built a portfolio to show their work to potential employers, and climbed their way up the company ladder from there. All self-taught. You can also consider going to trade schools, workshops, mentorships, internships, and other forms of gaining knowledge and experience that are outside of the traditional college model. Any work experience is better than none at all – you just need to start somewhere and begin building yourself up.
Make the most of your job. While it’s rare for any of us to get our “dream job,” we can always make the most of our work life by being a good employee and doing our best. Use nudges to keep yourself motivated and productive throughout the day, learn mental strategies for getting things done that you normally “don’t like” doing, and make friends at work with bosses, coworkers, clients, or customers, because those are the people you’re going to be spending a lot of time with and it’s crucial you have healthy and functioning relationships with them. No matter what your job is try to see the underlying purpose or meaning behind it. What value does it add to the world? Are you proud of the work you do?
Live within your means. Regardless of how much money you make, one of the most commonsense rules for financial well-being is living within your means. This includes keeping a budget that you can maintain (for food, rent/mortgage, bills, gas, clothes, and leisure expenses), and not buying too much stuff you can’t immediately afford. Debt can be common at some point in our lives (due to student loans, credit card debt, medical emergencies, etc.), but try to be mindful to not put yourself in a hole that you can’t climb out of. Avoid luxury expenses that put you at financial risk. We sometimes over-extend ourselves due to social comparison and a “keeping up with the Joneses” mentality. We think if our friend or neighbor gets a brand new car or goes on an expensive trip, then we need to “one-up” them with a similar purchase. Many times people fall into massive debt because they are trying to chase status, fame, luxury, or exorbitant pleasures. In general, keep track of all your monthly expenses and find ways to cut back on spending that isn’t necessary. Learn about spending biases that can lead to overconsumption (like the allure of “FREE!,” the “Relativity Trap,” and “One Click” purchases). Big corporations are masters of psychology and persuasion. If we aren’t vigilant about our spending habits (especially if you enjoy retail therapy), then we’ll often fall for tricks that cause us to spend more money than we should.
Create a healthy relationship with material things. This article is about being a balanced person. Work and money are very important aspects of life, but materialistic beliefs can also backfire to hurt us. No one lays down on their deathbed wishing they spent more time in the office. Work-a-holics can end up focusing so much on their career that they neglect giving enough attention to their family, health, and well-being. Never forget that there is a lot more to a good life than just money and material things, despite what you may see glamorized in movies, TV shows, or commercials. Psychology research shows that after a certain point, increased wealth and income has very little effect on our overall happiness and life satisfaction. Being rich sounds awesome, but it won’t necessarily make you any happier than if you earned less with a stable and secure life. Take the materialism quiz to see if you have a healthy relationship with money and stuff.
Remember, money is important but it isn’t everything.
Financial well-being will often look radically different depending on the person. Certain people may be content with modest and minimal living, while others crave more luxury, adventure, and pleasure. Whichever lifestyle you choose, it’s necessary that money finds the proper role in your life without being completely consumed by it.
One succinct way to define true financial well-being is “not needing to think about money all the time.”
6. MEANINGFUL / SPIRITUAL WELL-BEING
The meaningful or spiritual aspects of life can often be overlooked.
We may occasionally ask ourselves big questions like, “Who am I?” “Why am I here?” or “What’s my purpose?” but we rarely translate these questions into our daily lives through action.
For many people, religion is their main source of spirituality and meaning. Attending church, being part of a local community, prayer, and volunteering or giving to charities are common ways people boost meaning in their daily lives. Religion has been shown to improve happiness and well-being by creating a strong sense of purpose and community.
However, we don’t need religion to have a meaningful life. There are many other sources of meaning, including art, culture, philosophy, literature, music, relationships, activism, introspection, and creativity.
Where do you get your meaning in life?
Things to do:
Learn the pillars of a meaningful life. One excellent guide on how to live a meaningful life outlines five different pillars to focus on, including 1) A sense of belonging (having healthy relationships with those around you), 2) A sense of purpose (feeling that you contribute to a larger whole), 3) Storytelling (the life story we tell about ourselves, as well as stories and myths about the world we live in), 4) Transcendence (experiencing “awe” and “inspiration” in the presence of great things), 5) Growth (having a sense that you are evolving and moving forward as a person). All five pillars contribute to a rich and meaningful existence.
Spend more time in nature. Nature reminds us that we are part of something larger than ourselves, a whole process known as “life.” Nature is a fantastic source of meaning because it continuously inspires positive emotions like joy, amazement, gratitude, and awe. The best part is that nature is all around us – we don’t need to plan a weekend camping trip to experience it – instead just pay attention to everyday nature that is all around you: trees on the drive to work, birdwatching in your backyard, or spending time in your garden over the summer. Having pets to care for is another easy and wonderful source of nature and connection, even if it’s just a small fish tank to maintain. Nature also includes enjoying the beauty of a nice view such as sunrises, sunsets, mountaintops, storm watching, and star-gazing.
Take a complete picture perspective. Finding meaning requires being able to look at things from a big picture perspective. What influence do your actions have in the long-term? What type of impact will you leave on the world after you die? When you keep the complete picture in mind, you recognize that even super small actions can add up and have big results in the future. Your life doesn’t begin at birth nor end at death, you are part of an intergenerational chain of cause-and-effect that has stretched thousands of years. That’s a powerful thought if you can see the true significance behind it.
Embrace art, music, and culture. Artists are the creators of new meanings, especially famous painters, musicians, filmmakers, photographers, authors, playwrights, and dancers. Pursuing a creative hobby of your own is one fantastic way to infuse new meaning into your life. You can also embrace art and culture more by going to museums, art galleries, music concerts, and theaters. A lot of beautiful art is archived in online art and cultural exhibits, so you can discover a lot of new inspiration by just sitting in the comfort of your own home. Artists of all forms teach us how universal the human condition is. It’s a huge inspirational boost when you realize a book written over a hundred years ago resonates exactly with how you feel today. One of my strongest memories is attending a music concert of my favorite band with thousands of others listening and singing along. Creativity is one of humanity’s greatest gifts and there’s a lot of wisdom, beauty, and feelings of universal connection it can offer us.
Signs, symbols, and synchronicity. A meaningful life can be more about feeling inspiration and empowerment rather than thinking only logically and factually about the world. Embrace things you can’t always explain. If you feel like you’re getting a “sign” from the universe, accept it. Our minds often think unconsciously through the power of symbols, especially through reoccurring dreams or nightmares that may be trying to tell you something important. Meaning can be created anywhere if you have the right perspective. Many of my favorite moments in life are when I experience synchronicity, which is finding a connection between two things that seem completely unrelated at first. For example, if I start reading a book and then someone brings up the same book randomly the next day, I try to see that as a sign that I’m on the right path. It may or may not be true, but it is a simple and easy way to add more meaning to the little things in life.
Have faith that life is good. Faith may not have any role in science, but it does play an important role in good living. At the end of the day, one of the most important beliefs we can have is that “life is good” and things will generally work out in the end. One of my personal favorite quotes is, “Pray to God, but row to shore.” It shows us to have hope and faith in life, but still take action and try our best in the moment. Both faith and action are necessary ingredients to a happy and fulfilling life. A belief in God or a higher power can make this whole process easier. However, even if you can’t bring yourself to accept “metaphysical” or “supernatural” ideas, at least try to sense the oneness and interconnectedness of all things. These ideas are an endless source of power, strength, and resilience, even in the face of incredible hardships and tribulations.
A “meaningful life” can be one of the most difficult areas of life to improve, especially while living in a world that is filled with nihilism, hedonism, and materialism.
However, once you build a strong spiritual core you can withstand almost any difficulty or hardship. It can empower you to a whole new level that non-spiritual people don’t usually have access to.
CONCLUSION
To sum things up we must invest time and energy in all six of these aspects if we want to live a happy and balanced life.
Once again, these six aspects of a balanced life include: 1) Physical, 2) Mental, 3) Emotional, 4) Social, 5) Work/Financial, and 6) Meaningful/Spiritual.
Which area are you the strongest in? Which area are you the weakest in?
Keep this framework in mind as you embark on a lifetime of self-improvement. Try the Daily Routine (PDF) exercise and use this resource as a guideline.
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We are what we repeatedly do. Complete the “Daily Routine” worksheet to get a clear idea of what an average day looks like for you. Is there room for small changes?
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Technology has become so integrated into our everyday lives that our phones, tablets… even fitness trackers are now able to send and receive text messages and emails, make calls and keep us on task with calendar reminders and alarms.
But I am here to offer a friendly warning.
Before you are tempted to use your smartphone as an alarm clock, consider all of the negative ramifications that doing so can have.
Rethinking the Phone Alarm Clock
In fact, you could think of it as being forced to entertain an annoying house guest. Someone that tries to distract you, puts negative thoughts in your head and messes with your daily routine and quality of sleep.
Using your phone as an alarm is not only unnecessary, but can actually be detrimental to your personal growth, romantic relationships and even your health.
If you’re one of the many people already using your phone for this, the good news is that it’s never too late to quit.
In this article, I’m going to give you 5 good reasons to stop (or never start) using your phone as an alarm.
If you learn better through watching videos instead of reading articles, here’s the Youtube version of blog post:
Reason #1: You ignore your partner.
The phone alarm makes it hard to resist phubbing your partner.
Ok… before we delve into this one, you may be wondering what phubbing is?
Don’t feel bad. I hadn’t heard of it myself until recently.
Simply put, phubbing was a phrase coined in Australia to describe the act of “snubbing” someone while using your phone. Snubbing + phone = phubbing.
Now that you’re all caught up, let’s do a quick gut check.
Ask yourself, “Have I ever been guilty of phubbing my partner?”.
More than likely, the answer is yes.
In fact, I’d say that every person with a smartphone has been guilty of staring at it while sitting or laying next to their partner…. not because we don’t want to talk with them, but because it’s easy to get distracted when those different sounds go off or alerts pop up.
After all, if you put your phone down, you may miss something. But would that be the end of the world? Are there that many things that can’t wait?
If you use your phone as an alarm, you are essentially giving yourself permission to phub your partner the very moment you wake up.
Let’s play this out.
Alarm goes off.
You reach for the phone to dismiss it… and then you see some of those shiny notification alerts just waiting to be read.
You contemplate putting the phone down and ignoring them, but you’re only human. Besides, reading just one short work email or text from your sister never hurt anyone.
Did it?
Well, maybe not literally… but every second spent disengaging with your partner is one too many.
Life is short and relationships are fragile. If you love your partner, let them know by putting them first.
This means keeping the phone out of the bedroom so that the romance stays in it.
Reason #2: You waste your time.
You will immediately grab your phone in the morning and get lost in the world wide web of lies, gossip, news and social media propaganda.
We touched upon the temptation of checking messages first thing in the morning after the phone alarm goes off… but does it ever really stop there?
Work emails, texts… check.
Wait! What’s this? A comment on my Facebook post? An alert that my fantasy football team is projected to lose this week? Someone tested a cure for Covid-19 on a dog?
Smartphones are called that for a reason, as their algorithms make it possible for the phone to know what interests you.
In fact, it does this so well that your phone will bait you into spending more time on a certain page… while leaving you coming back for more.
Without even realizing it, you’ve just added another 30 minutes to the 10 already spent reading emails and texts.
And that’s 30 minutes of your day you’re not getting back.
Reason #3: You expose yourself to negativity.
Ok. Let’s be real.
Very little of what we read in the news is positive. In fact, it can be a downright bummer.
I stopped watching the nightly news on television shortly after our second child was born. And, yes, that was an actual thing before today’s news started popping up in our email, web browser and phone.
For me, it was downright depressing some days to think about raising children in this world. Rarely was any of the news happy… because happiness doesn’t sell as well. It was filled with controversy and loss. Devastation and despair. Corruption and scandals.
If I didn’t like watching the news on tv, why would I want to have it pop up first thing in the morning when I reach for my phone?
It would be a different story if the first thing that you saw was a positive affirmation or daily mindfulness quote… but Debbie Downer will find her way in.
Trust me.
And it’s not just the media spewing negativity… many times it’s your “friends” on Facebook and Twitter. Reddit or Instagram.
It’s everywhere.
But you don’t have to let it be.
STOP using your phone as an alarm and take back control of your mindset in the morning.
Reason #4: It affects your sleep.
EMFs from Wi-Fi and Bluetooth can impact sleep and contribute to insomnia.
We all know that getting enough sleep is so important when it comes to our mental and physical health.
To ensure this, you’ll need to take a good look at your daily routine… and pinpoint what, if anything, may be impeding our slumber.
Things like caffeine, poor diet, lack of exercise or fresh air, work or life stress… technology overload. Experts say these things need to be avoided close to bedtime.
In addition to the obvious distraction risk, smartphones and tablets using WiFi or Bluetooth actually produce electromagnetic fields (EMFs)… which some researchers believe can influence brain activity during sleep.
As a matter of fact, more and more people are jumping onto the harmful EMF bandwagon… opening the door for companies to capitalize on the potentially adverse effects by selling EMF blocking sleep masks, sleeping bags, smartphone cases and copper shields.
Yes, copper shields.
If you STOP using your phone as an alarm, it won’t have to be next to your bed. And if it isn’t next to your bed, then you aren’t risking exposure to EMFs.
Whether you buy into the hype or not, keeping your bedroom an EMF-free zone gives you one less thing to potentially have to worry about… and less worry means fewer restless nights.
Reason #5: It could disrupt your daily routine.
Many of us depend on a calendar to keep our days, weeks and months straight.
Life moves fast and the more involved you are in things, the busier it gets.
Between work, social obligations, family commitments, hobbies and activities… establishing a routine is vital in order to ensure things don’t fall through the cracks.
For instance, my current daily routine goes something like this:
6:00am
wake up, have coffee, put kid’s lunches together
6:30am
check my work emails
7:00am
wake kids, make them breakfast
7:6
through in a load of laundry, make sure kids get dressed for school
8:00am
check (4) teacher emails for the daily agenda and last minute items
8:30am
get kids to school
8:30-12:30am
household chores, to-do list items, assist with virtual school
12:30-1:30pm
workout and shower
1:30pm
make kids lunch, maybe eat a bite myself
2-00pm-2:30pm
homework assistance
2:30pm – 4:30pm
work on my articles
4:30-6pm
afterschool activities, prep dinner
6:00pm
dinner
7:00pm
get kids cleaned up and into pajamas
7:30-8:30pm
bedtime routine with kids, family time
8:30-10pm
free time
10:00pm
bed
As you can see, my day is pretty structured. It doesn’t always run smoothly, being a mom of four, but it gives me a nice outline to work with.
It makes me feel as if I’m getting what I want and need to get done each day.
My phone is not my alarm. It is not even in my bedroom.
Now what would happen if I changed that? If I used my phone as an alarm?
More than likely, I’d wake up at 6am and check my text messages. My emails. Facebook. The weather. ESPN.
And before I even realized it, it would be 6:45 and I’m now behind schedule.
Something would have to give so as not to ruin the rest of the day… but what? The kids will be up in 15 minutes!
If you STOP using your phone as an alarm, you will be less likely to disrupt your morning routine… which would create a domino effect on the rest of your day.
Final Thoughts on Using Your Phone as an Alarm
Don’t get me wrong… technology is a many splendored thing.
But it can also be our downfall if we are not careful.
As with anything in life, technology should be utilized in moderation… so if you STOP using your phone as an alarm, you are already cutting back usage.
Fortunately, I have some tips for wearing yourself off this bad habit, such as:
Buying an old fashioned clock radio or windup alarm
There are many great things that our phone can do for us, but waking us up should not be one of them. It’s not necessary and there are many alternatives.
A positive start to the day paves the way for productivity… so it would be silly to let something as trivial as phone alerts and text messages stand in the way of that.
And if you’re looking for more resources to help you balance your real and digital life, here are some articles to check out:
Nicole Krause has been writing both personally and professionally for over 20 years. She holds a dual B.A. in English and Film Studies. Her work has appeared in some of the country’s top publications, major news outlets, online publications, and blogs. As a happily married (and extremely busy) mother of four… her articles primarily focus on parenting, marriage, family, finance, organization, and product reviews.
There might be affiliate links on this page, which means we get a small commission of anything you buy. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Please do your own research before making any online purchase.
Before I had a child, there was one thing that I really didn’t like about going on vacation–my morning routine had to be improvised.
Post-child, my whole life seems to be improvised for the time being, but I remember those days where I valued my morning routine so much that I would do whatever I could to make do with what I had during times when I wasn’t in my everyday environment.
And things certainly got creative, because if I didn’t do my morning routine, the entire day felt off.
Once school starts and life gets back on track, I’m really looking forward to getting back into the swing of things so I can start my days focused, energized, and grateful for “normalcy” (whatever that is).
In this article, we are going to talk about the benefits of having a morning routine for peak performance, and then go through a step-by-step guide that you can follow to create a routine that works for you.
And if you’re used to having pretty busy days, your mornings may be your only daily constant and the only thing you can maintain complete control over.
You can designate this time for your own needs and self-care, regardless of what you have going on in your life.
When you’re able to wake up and do things that you’ve decided to do in advance because you really want to do them, you’re granting yourself the ability to start your day with intention. This positive sense of purpose will have a strong ripple effect on your mood and focus for the rest of the day.
In fact, a study completed by the American Psychological Association revealed that following a morning routine helps reduce one’s stress, anxiety, and symptoms of depression, while increasing levels of overall life satisfaction.
Chances are, once you have your morning routine down pat, you will notice an increased sense of motivation to get your everyday tasks done, plus, it will also help improve your physical health.
In fact, the world’s millionaires and billionaires complete a series of habits that start their day on the right foot. The video below talks about the 12 best morning habits you can use to increase your focus, motivation, and energy for the rest of the day.
Many people incorporate some type of physical exercise into their morning routine, whether that’s an intense workout or just doing some light stretching–but either way, your body will benefit.
Furthermore, according to research done by Northwestern University, people who are able to get up and go in the morning tend to eat fewer calories and more fruits and vegetables when compared with those who drag their feet when their alarm goes off.
Also, late risers tend to eat more fast food, which increases one’s risk of obesity and the health conditions that are associated with it.
Your morning routine will help you start off in a positive state of mind, which you can carry with you for the rest of the day.
Why Your Morning Routine Needs to Be Unique to You
When it comes to your morning routine, consider the examples that you come across to be à la carte options, not a menu from which you need to choose just one in its entirety.
You can pick and choose which elements of the routines that you come across are valuable to you, depending on what your goals are and what you want more of in your life.
You will only gain the benefits of having a morning routine if yours aligns with what’s important to you.
What Does Every Morning Routine Entail?
While your morning routine needs to be personalized to your life and goals, there are some things that all morning routines should have in common.
Researchers have found that one of the most common components of a successful morning routine is its ability to be simple and straightforward. Aside from its simplicity, your morning routine will be most effective if it:
Keeping these things in mind, let’s look at 7 steps you can take to develop a morning routine that works for you.
A Step-by-Step Guide to Developing a Morning Routine That Works for You
For example, if you have a daily goal to spend ten minutes stretching, go ahead and get that out of the way during your morning routine. Doing so will help you ensure that you’re successful in meeting these smaller goals each day that compound to ultimately help you achieve your bigger goals.
Maybe this is talking to your best friend on the phone or spending time in the backyard throwing a ball to your dog–or maybe enjoying an energy-boosting breakfast with your partner is something that you always look forward to doing. This component should be something relatively small that has a big impact on your mood.
Remember, the goal here is not to cover everything that is meaningful to you, as that would take much more time than you likely have before you need to get started with your day. Rather, try to address your keystone habits or those that focus on more than one of your goals.
2. Start the Night Before by Getting a Full Night’s Sleep
You want to be well-rested to prepare yourself to tackle any day. So, in addition to having a morning routine, create a night routine that helps calm your mind and prepare your body for sleep.
If you’re already on a good sleep schedule, that’s great–but if not, there are things you can do to fix this problem. Once you get in a routine, you will start to naturally fall asleep and wake up at the same time each day without even needing an alarm clock to wake you up in the morning.
You can also help yourself out by doing some prep each night for the next morning. Lay out your workout clothes and whatever you’re planning on wearing the next day, pack your lunch and everything you need for work, and tidy up the house so you don’t get sidetracked cleaning dishes from the night before when you’re trying to get out the door the next morning.
I used to make my water bottle to take to the gym in the morning before I went to bed so I could just grab it and go (I start every day by drinking water, regardless of anything else I do–which I always include a few slices of lemon in), and I would mix my green juice powder at night as well so I could quickly re-stir it and enjoy it after the gym.
What you do the night before will be tailored to what your morning routine involves, but think about the things you can get done ahead of time (no matter how small it seems)–you will thank yourself in the morning.
3. Wake Up On Time and Energized
If you know about ego depletion, you know that we all wake up with the most motivation and willpower that we will have all day.
This is why being intentional about being productive in the morning can lead to so much success–the morning is the perfect time to really focus on the tasks that are important to you and be proactive about doing things to better your life (and this is only one of the benefits of waking up early).
As your motivation and self-control starts to run low, you become tired and tasks become increasingly cumbersome as your mood starts to go downhill.
This exhaustion of willpower kills your rate of productivity, which makes the morning, when your self-control is at its peak, the most critical hours of the day.
But the point here isn’t that you should get to work first thing in the morning–rather, it’s to do the right things during these productive hours that will help your motivation last as long as it can.
If you need some help at first getting an early start, here are 13 steps to help you wake up early. But, once you get into your routine, you will naturally wake up without having to rely on your alarm clock. And, the days of hitting the snooze button will be long gone, as you will wake up and be ready to roll.
Once you’ve conquered your basic need of getting the sleep that your body requires to work at its optimal level, you can start getting down to the nitty gritty of building your morning routine.
4. How to Build This Habit
What do your mornings look like right now? Are there some habits you want to keep doing? What are the things that you do that are holding you back from starting off the day on the right foot?
Get an idea of your dos and don’ts by reviewing your current behaviors and separating the good habits from the bad.
If you’re among the 57% of people who hit the snooze button each morning, you’re literally starting your day off by procrastinating. So, this would be an example of a bad habit that you’re probably not trying to carry over into your new morning routine.
Or, maybe your alarm goes off and you roll over, pick up your phone, and start checking your email. Or–you go straight for social media. These are both good ways to start your day off with the priorities and lives of other people instead of yourself.
If you’re like me, you can easily get lost in your phone, spending half an hour scrolling aimlessly and wasting time. When you eliminate things such as this from your morning routine, you give yourself so much time back to do more productive things.
What do your mornings look like right now? Are there some habits you want to keep doing?
For example, when I was in the swing of my most recent morning routine, I would wake up at 4:40 to be at the gym by 4:50 with the rest of the morning crew, waiting for the employees to unlock the doors at 5:00.
And, depending on who was working, we may get lucky and be let in at 4:56…which doesn’t seem like a big deal, but it could add another half mile to my run. So, it was.
This means that just 30 minutes after waking up, I would have driven to the gym and I would be about a mile (or mile and a half) into my run.
Alternatively, I could have spent that same 30 minutes scrolling through my phone before looking up at the clock, wondering where the time went.
Now, you may feel super motivated right now to get started with this and revamp your entire morning, starting tomorrow. However, I would caution against doing this. Set aside your “all or nothing” attitude and take a gradual route in small, manageable increments of change.
Start replacing one or two of your current habits with new habits that you want to be a part of your morning routine. You don’t want to do a sudden overhaul of your routine in one day, as doing so could quickly overwhelm you and make you want to go back to your old ways.
Working slowly into your new routine will also help you tweak your plans, if needed.
You may find that you have to rush to get everything that you initially wanted to accomplish finished in the time you have, and the last thing you want is to feel rushed during your routine or struggle to get out of the door on time.
You want your routine to be relaxed to set the tone for a laid back mindset for the rest of the day.
Once a habit starts to come naturally, add in another that makes sense. Creating your morning routine one step at a time will also help ensure that it ends up being a perfect fit in the end.
To do this, refer back to the practice of habit stacking, which will help you turn your new positive morning habits into a sequence of actions that’s easy to carry out.
6. Plan the Timing of Your Routine
With the activities that you want to include in your daily routine defined, you’ll want to consider the logistics of it next. Is your work schedule the same every day or do you start working at different times, depending on what day it is?
If your schedule is varied, focus on your sequence of events instead of exactly what time each activity needs to be done.
When you add in times to your morning to-do list, your routine will become exponentially more effective. Doing this will prevent you from procrastinating or rushing through things to complete everything within the time that you’ve allotted. Having a timeframe also shows you what is and isn’t feasible so you can prioritize your mornings accordingly.
When I had a strict morning routine, I had the “luxury” (in this case) to start work at the exact same time every day, so I would wake up at the same time every day and get started on my routine, all the while knowing about what time it was (depending on where I was in my routine).
This also made it really easy to tell if I was running behind and needed to pick up the pace a bit. For example, if I was just getting back from walking the dog at 8:10, I knew I had spent too long on something.
If you work a varied schedule, you can go through your routine at whatever pace works best for you, depending on the day. But either way, your routine should only take you about one to two hours to complete.
Remember, you’re trying to fit all of this in before even leaving for work, so it shouldn’t be a burden of any kind.
7. How to Be Consistent
The first step to being consistent with your routine is to make sure it’s one that you can manage and it clearly benefits you in some way.
If you feel rushed in the morning or your routine stresses you out (even a little), you’re not likely to stick to it.
Staying consistent in your morning routine is vital, but an occasional interruption to your morning routine can be healthy.
However, over time, the things that are really important to you will naturally change. Your goals will evolve, as will your responsibilities and possibly even your values as you grow and go through the various seasons of life.
Your morning routine will be effective as long as it grows and evolves along with you, continuing to support your goals and success. As soon as something doesn’t make sense anymore, stop doing it. Try out some new habits until you find one that fits well into whatever your life looks like at the time.
It may help you to stay consistent on an everyday basis if you break the rules once in a while. If you’ve followed a routine for the entire month, don’t stress yourself out too much if you decide to take a weekend morning off to sleep in, splurge on a big breakfast, and do almost nothing productive at all.
An occasional interruption to your morning routine can be healthy–and chances are, you’ll be eager to get back to the structure that you’ve created and become accustomed to, which will help you further recognize how your routine is benefitting you.
Final Thoughts on a Morning Routine
The best morning routine is one that empowers you to feel ready to take on the rest of the day. Your morning routine won’t be identical to that of your spouse or best friend, because you each have unique goals, schedules, and preferences.
It will take some trial and error to perfect your morning routine, but once you figure out what works best for you, you will look forward to the time that you’ve set aside in the morning to focus solely on yourself and your needs.
You can gain some inspiration from other people’s morning routines–but, seeing as your needs aren’t identical to anyone else’s, make sure to tweak the ideas as needed.
Now that you’re equipped with the tools to set yourself up every day for success, give the steps in this guide a try, and remember to enact your changes gradually. And, before you know it, you will transform your mornings, which will overflow to benefit every other area of your life.
Ultimately, it’s important to recognize that if you want a more successful life–whatever that means to you–then you need to take the appropriate steps to get there, which could very well involve constructing a good morning routine.
Here are some more resources to help you craft the perfect morning routine:
Connie Mathers is a professional editor and freelance writer. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and a Master’s Degree in Social Work. When she is not writing, Connie is either spending time with her daughter and two dogs, running, or working at her full-time job as a social worker in Richmond, VA.
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If you want to achieve maximum efficiency and productivity, a checklist can be one of your strongest allies.
Today’s article features some of the best examples of daily checklist templates to organize your day.
First, let’s quickly discuss some of the advantages of using a checklist or to-do list.
The Importance of a Checklist
These are a number of the things that you’ll likely appreciate when you start using a checklist or to-do list for managing your day-to-day tasks:
Minimizes mistakes when you’re doing repetitive tasks.
Makes it easier to determine activities or tasks you can delegate.
Increases your productivity.
Keeps you motivated. Nothing beats the sense of satisfaction after you’ve crossed an item off your checklist. This usually encourages you to accomplish even more.
Increases creativity by clearing up headspace to allow you to focus on the more important stuff.
Here are the examples we’ve collected for you. These printables are free to download. Some are editable, and all are designed to help you accomplish more each day.
We’ve designed this checklist to make it easy for you to keep track of your daily routine and other to-dos. It has space for writing up to 12 tasks or activities.
Tick boxes are found at the beginning of each line, and a “notes” box at the bottom of the page allows you to write down important reminders or even unexpected insights.
This bulleted to-do list is quite useful for listing and keeping track of all your tasks for the day. In case you need a reminder of the day’s priorities, there is a dedicated space for writing down the goals of the day.
The images of the sun and coffee cup found at the top of the page are visual reminders to keep a cheerful attitude while attending to your daily tasks.
This template features a section for writing the activities in your daily routine, as well as stuff you need to take care of. The schedule is divided into three main sections: morning, afternoon, and evening.
There are columns for each day of the week, and you can put a checkmark in the appropriate box to signify that you’ve accomplished a certain task.
Spaces are also allocated for writing your weekly routine and keeping notes available at a glance.
Looking for a no-frills checklist? If so, you might be interested in the example above from Puffin Pages Co.
This minimalistic template helps you focus on the things you’re meant to get done for the day.
Because it is unlabeled, this can serve as an all-purpose checklist. Monitor your daily routines, use it for creating a streamline process for your work, or use it as a habit tracker.
A checklist ensures that you get things done in a timely manner, regardless of how busy your day is going. This next example is ideal for those who want a straightforward template that allows them to write down everything they need to do in stream-of-consciousness form.
The template comes with pink checkboxes so you can tick off items from your list when they are done. You might also want to celebrate this accomplishment by rewarding yourself accordingly. (Here are some reward suggestions for completing your tasks.)
With a checklist such as this one, you can easily take note of everything you need to accomplish for the day. It has a minimalist design that you can embellish or customize according to your preferences.
This charming template has space for listing down your schedule for the day in one-hour blocks.
In addition, it features a slot for writing down three daily goals. A block of space is also reserved for “things to do.”
Finally, there is a space for writing down dinner plans.
8. Editable Routine Checklist
This printable routine checklist is great for those looking for an editable template. It gives you complete control of the management of the information that you keep in your checklist.
In addition to being editable, in can be downloaded in three different sizes:
These different sizes can fit as an insert into your daily planner or be printed out and placed on the fridge door.
9. My Daily Routines
If the tasks or routines you do each day need to be categorized based on when you do them, then this colorful template may be perfect for you.
This template has provisions for listing your morning and evening routines. Similar to the two previous examples, it also has boxes representing each day of the week. This makes it easier to monitor the tasks you’ve already accomplished and those that still need your attention.
10. It’s All in the Details To Do List
This template has provisions for different categories of tasks and activities that you might do throughout the day.
There are spaces provided where the user of this checklist can easily identify:
What to do today
Where they need to go
What to pick up
Which appointments they have and at what time
What groceries to buy
What to clean
What to cook
Whom to email, call, and/or text
This template is incredibly detailed, so you will feel super productive when you check off all the items on the list.
11. Pastel Themed Daily To Do
If you are looking for something colorful, this pastel-themed checklist might be the call.
It has spaces for priorities and other daily tasks. It also has spaces where you can list down calls you need to make, appointments for the day, and morning and pre-bedtime tasks.
This template stands out because of a couple of unique features, including the water tracker (ensures you are meeting the day’s quota for water intake) and the “I’m Thankful For” section (encourages a habit of gratitude despite your hectic schedule).
12. 4-Section To-Do List
This template for your daily routine checklist is divided into four blocks. It allows you to assign each of your tasks to a specific category (e.g., shopping, work, chores, self, etc.).
As a template from On:Planners, you can print this template in several sizes, including A4, Letter, A5 Filofax, and Happy Planner Mini.
13. Daily Self-Care Checklist
We cannot emphasize enough how important it is to have a daily self-care routine. This checklist template ensures that you’re carving out time to care for yourself every day.
It has a pre-filled list of activities or habits that comprise your self-care routine. The template also features checkboxes for every day of the week. All you have to do is put a check by an activity or habit if you’ve done it for the day.
Some of the self-care habits listed on this template include:
Practice positive affirmation
Wake up early
Hydrate
Get a good night’s sleep
14. Stylish To-Do List
If you’re looking for a stylish template to keep track of your daily activities, here’s one from Birkley Lane Interiors. This pink template has two styles, one of which features a list template with checkboxes for each list item. The template has provisions for up to 28 items or daily to-dos.
15. Floral Day Planner
This template is from a set of printables inspired by the month of September. It features a floral theme and several sections meant to organize your daily tasks and keep track of what needs to be done for the day.
16. You Shall Not Cram To-Do List
Here is a collection of cute templates for your daily routines and to-dos. You can choose from several eye-catching color schemes, such as lavender, pumpkin, and sky blue.
This template allows you to note up to 13 items. A funny motivational quote is found at the bottom of the page, which says, “You shall not cram.”
17. Simple Daily Planners
This set of printables was designed to help you stay productive and organized even on the busiest days.
There are different layouts to choose from, but each printable template allows you to list down your daily tasks or to-dos and easily access them for quick reference.
18. A Very Simple Template
Keep track of your activities, tasks, and appointments for the day with this simple template. You can also use it to set your daily priorities, plan out a project, and keep life organized.
The template has check-off boxes next to each blank. It lets you list up to 16 different items in a single page.
19. Everything To-Do List
This template, with the header My Everlasting Non-Stop Eternal Never Ending To Do List,is ideal for those who love making lists for everything.
It has two columns, allowing you to list down 32 things that need your attention for the day. Instead of regular checkboxes, there are stars before each blank for you to keep track of your daily tasks.
20. Colorful Checklist
This colorful template gives off cheery vibes, even when you’re faced with challenging tasks on your daily checklist.
You can choose between a single-page check-off sheet (26 items) and a 2-column checklist (52 items). Checkboxes are located before each blank.
21. Lined To-Do List
This lined checklist allows you to keep track of your daily tasks quite easily. Lines are provided for listing up to 24 tasks.
Next to every line is a check-off space for you to mark the task as “Done.” The template is available in green, blue, purple, and pink.
22. Master Checklist Template
This template is ideal if you need a checklist where you can write practically every task you need to take care of. It’s quite useful if you are organizing or planning on a large-scale basis.
You can use this template to group tasks according to category or priority. Your list provides an at-a-glance view of what you need to take care of, eliminating the hassle of flipping through a number of pages.
23. Goal To-Do List
This template provides a consolidated place for writing your plans for achieving a specific goal. It has a spot where you can write the exact goal you want to achieve.
There are 27 blank spaces for writing specific tasks andshort-term goals that bring you closer to fulfilling your main goal.
24. The Packing List
Traveling soon? Here’s a checklist to make sure that you’ve got everything you need for a trip.
You can write your travel info and the date of travel near the upper portion of the page.
The template is divided into 4 sections, allowing you to organize your list according to categories. You can list down 10 items in each section. Checkboxes ensure that progress of tasks and items to bring can be easily tracked.
25. A Straightforward Checklist
Here’s another template with a simple design to help keep your day running smoothly. This template has 33 spaces, with respective checkboxes by every line.
With this checklist, you can increase your productivity, streamline your work process, or simply keep track of items and tasks you need to accomplish toward a bigger long-term goal.
26. Cleaning Checklist
Keeping your house or personal space clean can be a challenge, but there’s hope with this template.
It gives you the opportunity to create a routine for de-cluttering and deep cleaning your space. This checklist helps you plan the cleaning tasks you need to accomplish on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis.
The template comes in several designs, such as a basic black-and-white and a pink-and-blue theme.
27. The Ultimate List
If you constantly have a busy schedule or days filled with different activities and commitments, you might want to try this template, which helps you stay on top of your schedule.
The template provides prompts for managing your day, keeping you on top of the following:
What you need to do
Where you must go (and what to pick up/do there)
Appointments to keep
Things you need (whether to get or buy)
Stuff to fix
What to cook
Final Thoughts on Daily Checklist Templates
There you have it—27 examples of a daily routine template that helps you stay organized and productive.
We hope you enjoyed browsing through this collection of daily checklists, and that you’ve found a great template that will work for the purpose you have in mind.
For more information about time-management and productivity tools, you might want to visit the following posts:
There might be affiliate links on this page, which means we get a small commission of anything you buy. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Please do your own research before making any online purchase.
There are a ton of benefits to taking up a hobby that you enjoy. These extra-curricular activities that you choose to fill your free time will boost your individuality and increase your sense of satisfaction with life.
You can choose hobbies that fit your personality and lifestyle, and there are a lot of hobbies that you can enjoy from childhood all the way into retirement.
In this article, we will explore 55 hobbies for men and look at resources for each to help get you started.
If you think that running just isn’t really your thing, I urge you to give it a chance. Like many others, you may find your runs to be relaxing and a part of your day or week that you look forward to.
And, with more muscle strength, more endurance, and a lower number on the scale, you won’t regret picking up this hobby.
Finally, with heart disease being the leading cause of death in the U.S., you may even be prolonging your life by running.
So grab a friend or join a group…or take on running as an individual hobby to give yourself some time to do some reflection and get some peace away from the outside world.
This may be a hobby you tried to put away years ago, but playing video games doesn’t have to feel like a waste of time. In fact, many video games offer educational and cognitive benefits for adults and children alike, including:
Giving your brain a workout
Increasing problem-solving skills
Reducing stress
Enhancing spatial-reasoning skills
And even if you just have fun playing video games, that’s enough to justify it as being a legitimate hobby. The benefits that come along with it will occur whether you’re aware of them or not.
Taking classes online is the easiest way to become a lifelong learner, and while online schooling was once seen as being illegitimate, it’s now a common way to learn.
There are online classes in almost every subject you may be interested in, and becoming familiar with websites such as Coursera, Skillshare, and Udemy is especially helpful because they offer instruction from professionals who can help clarify things for you if you have any questions.
Finally, online instructors typically offer extra resources to their students that aren’t accessible to the public. These current materials can help you stay on top of emerging professional trends.
Whether you want to continue your learning for personal or professional reasons, using the internet as a learning tool is a practical hobby that offers many benefits.
You can enjoy playing chess whether you have a chess board and a partner or not, as this classic game is readily available online and through apps, so it’s easy to play under any circumstances. And, no matter how you play, you will be giving your brain a workout.
Playing chess is a fun and challenging hobby in which you can always advance your skills. And, along with the sense of friendly competition you will have, you will be improving your cognitive function in the areas of your brain that control your ability to focus, solve problems, think analytically, remember things, and make decisions.
Resource: This video is a great tool for beginners who are just starting out with learning how to play.
5. Go Camping
You can go camping with your friends or your family, but either way, you’ll have a blast and get the perks of being out in nature. There are so many health benefits that you can get from spending time outdoors being active.
Going camping lets you get some exercise into your day in an environment that’s completely unrelated to your professional life, which can actually reduce symptoms of clinical depression. Just pick up some camping and hiking gear and you will be ready to go on an outside adventure.
Resource: This article gives great advice for beginner hikers.
6. Learn to Play the Guitar
Learning to play the guitar isn’t as hard as it looks, and it’s something that both you and those around you can benefit from.
Whether you gather friends for a sing along or you write your own original song, this hobby is something that you can enjoy for years to come. Plus, it’s relatively inexpensive, and once you have a guitar, there are no additional fees!
Being able to take a piece of plain wood and make something useful out of it is a practical and creative craft that is also very impressive. Think of how cool it would be to point out the furniture in your house that you’ve made by hand.
Many who have taken up woodworking as a hobby report having reduced stress and an increased level of patience. Also, woodworking is a “whole brain” activity, as you’re:
Using hand-eye coordination
Using your senses of touch and sound
Being creative in thinking about the design and finish of your product
Using your spatial reasoning skills to figure out how all of the pieces fit together.
You’re also measuring and converting fractions in your head, so you’ll definitely be using both the left and right sides of your brain and activating the wiring in between.
The freedom you get from feeling the wind on your face as you’re gliding down the road is a sensation that you probably loved as a kid. But, once you got your driver’s license, your bike may have started to gather some dust.
But you don’t need to abandon this activity that you loved so much while you were growing up.
Biking has seen a huge gain in popularity since the coronavirus hit, and if you really get into it, you can start participating in races, or you can just go for joy rides around town using the power of your own body to propel you.
You can also get into mountain biking, which gives you the extra perk of spending time in nature. Mountain biking has a pretty short learning curve, and once you get the hang of it, there are plenty of fun ways to keep progressing your craft.
Mountain biking is a low-impact sport that’s both engaging and exciting. You’ll find it to be rewarding to explore new areas and gain unique experiences as you’re exploring the trails in your area. Plus, compared to other hobbies, mountain biking isn’t hugely expensive.
Resource: This video will show you ten tips for beginners.
10. Join a Sports League
Find other people in your area who enjoy the same sports that you do and start a league! Or, find an existing league and see how you can get involved. This is a great way to make new friends, add some activity into your day, and have fun with some friendly competition.
Softball and kickball leagues are popular, but you may also be interested in tennis, pool, bowling, basketball, or any other type of league you can find or put together.
Coupling socializing with being active makes for a pretty ideal hobby.
Resource: This website allows you to put in your city to find a nearby sports league of your choice.
11. Gardening
Cultivating your own land and providing for your family’s needs by growing fresh food is a very powerful skill to have.
All you need is a little bit of space in your yard to be self-reliant and grow fruits and vegetables. And, eating produce that’s straight from your own soil is the best way to get natural vitamins and minerals into your diet.
Getting outside in the fresh air will give you some exercise and sunlight, which will benefit your health as well, and watching your seedlings turn into crops will give you a sense of accomplishment and pride.
Resource: These ten tips will help you start off your garden on the right foot.
12. Kayaking
This hobby is not only relaxing, it’s a great way to get some upper body exercise into your routine. It takes some skill to captain a kayak, so you will need some practice to get the hang of it if you’re a beginner. You will learn about various strokes and where the best places to kayak in your area are.
Start by looking into a local rental, and if you love it, you can buy yourself a kayak. This versatile sport can be done alone or in groups, and engaging in this activity on the water will help you connect with nature, appreciate the great outdoors, get in a good workout, and adopt an exciting new hobby.
Resource: This link will provide you with places you can kayak near your home.
13. Barbeque
Learning how to smoke meat or barbeque on a charcoal grill is fun and will result in a finished creation that will be satisfying to your mind and stomach. There is a low barrier to entry for this hobby, as you only need a grill and some meat.
As you get used to working with the tools and different cuts of meat, you can experiment with new methods, spices, and working with foods other than meat. Creating meals for your friends and family on the grill can also be a social hobby as you stand around the grill talking with your buddies.
Resource: This video will show you how to barbeque meat just right.
14. Marksmanship
Taking up a shooting sport as a hobby can lead to becoming an expert marksman. This craft requires a steady hand and complete focus, so if you feel like you’re good at those things, this may be a good hobby for you.
There are nationwide shooting clubs that specialize in a variety of gun sports. You can do clay pigeon shooting, rifle shooting, and some places even offer Cowboy action shooting.
This hobby can add up financially, as ammo doesn’t come cheap and guns are certainly a costly up front expense. You’ll also need to pay to rent space at a gun range, so it’s important to keep these factors in mind.
This is a classic hobby for men–creating an intricate ship inside of a glass bottle. Your final product will amaze adults and kids alike as they try to figure out how in the world you got that ship through the tiny opening of the bottle.
Creating a ship in a bottle requires dedication, focus, and a steady hand. In addition to creating ships in bottles, you can also make “impossible bottles” with other things such as tennis balls or cards.
If you’re interested in the model building part but don’t want to mess with the bottle, that’s a great hobby too! You can create replicas of cars, ships, trains–anything that you’re interested in.
Building models helps you focus on detail and will probably prompt you to look into the history of what you’re making. And, your end result will be a neat replica that will certainly be impressive to others.
Getting started with model building isn’t hard– just go to a hobby shop or look online for a kit, which will provide you with the supplies and instructions you need.
Resource: This video will help you get into model building.
17. Weightlifting
Gaining muscle is a practical benefit to weightlifting, but you will also improve your health by engaging in this hobby.
Once you start getting into weightlifting, you’ll no longer dread working out. Rather, you’ll start to structure your day around your exercise regime.
You will feel a huge sense of accomplishment as you progress with your weightlifting, and you will be amazed in a few months when you look back at how far you’ve come.
Resource: This video will help you with your technique when you’re lifting.
18. Bowling
Seventy years ago, men would gather together in bowling alleys to congregate in league teams. This was a great way for men to hang out, drink beer, and smoke cigars. Bowling alleys were a masculine escape from home life.
Today, bowling is a hobby that you can easily share with friends, so it’s a perfect hobby to take up if you want to be social. Call up your friends and form a league that meets weekly.
While doomsday preppers have been mocked through reality TV, this can be an enjoyable–and potentially useful–activity for those who want to have a solid plan in case the apocalypse truly is upon us.
Prepping doesn’t just involve gathering supplies for emergencies, it also requires learning skills and survival strategies. You can practice much of this in your backyard, and you’ll probably feel like a badass once you’re completely prepared.
Many people associate fishing with living a happy and healthy life. When you think about fishing, your mind may turn to images of endless horizons of calm, serene water that help take your mind off of any stressors you have in your everyday life.
Fishing was once one of few ways for humans to survive before we had everything available to us at the touch of a button. But many people still enjoy this hobby for its ability to reduce stress, get out on the open water, and bond with other fishermen.
Fishing also helps you feel a sense of fulfillment. When you’re fishing, you will be learning skills, patience, and practicing goal setting, which will help you feel a sense of accomplishment.
Fishing is about the process more than the end result, so even if you don’t catch anything, the pleasure of baiting your hooks, casting your rod, and feeling fish tug on your pole are all spectacular feelings.
Golf is a gentleman’s game, as the process of swinging a club is (or should be) graceful, you play on manicured lawns, and you wear suitable attire.
Spending a few hours on the course, whether it’s for personal or professional reasons, will always offer you a game of friendly competition against others and yourself.
In other sports, you typically have to be better than your opponent, but one of the unique things about playing golf is that you will constantly be working to improve your own game.
Resource: This video will show you the basics to getting into this sport.
22. Sailing
Sailing is a hobby that many dream of doing, and it incorporates some ancient disciplines such as weather forecasting, navigation, and advanced rope skills. Sailing will give you a literal breath of fresh air, while also providing you with physical and mental activity.
Sailing can be expensive, but costs can be cut by taking classes, renting boats, etc., so don’t think you need to run out and buy a sailboat right away. Sailing is also something that you can share with your whole family as you go out on day trips with the group.
You can stay on top of the seas with sailing, or you can go down below to take a tour of the deep oceans. You need to take classes to start doing this hobby and become certified before taking a dive.
This may limit those of you who live in a place without a lot of surrounding water, but even inland areas offer classes and scuba shops.
You can even become scuba certified inland and then transfer your skills once you’re on a vacation in the clear waters of the Keys.
Whether you have a goal of riding your motorcycle across the entire country or you prefer to spend most of your time messing with it in your garage, lots of men enjoy this hobby. Riding a motorcycle offers a lot of mental benefits beyond just having fun.
When you’re driving in a car, you’re passively observing your surroundings, but when you’re riding a motorcycle, you’re in complete contact with the scenery.
Plus, riding a motorcycle instead of driving a car can help you save some major money. Not only will you save money in gas, you’ll also save in expensive car maintenance and repairs.
No matter what your personality is, having a team sport in your life can help you feel a sense of comradery and give you a chance to get some physical activity into your routine.
Participating in intramural sports will help boost your testosterone level, keep you in shape, fight symptoms of depression, and reduce stress.
Giving your competitive spirit an outlet is a great way to incite feelings of motivation and inspire you to set some goals for yourself. Plus, you can make new friends with people who enjoy playing the same sport that you do.
If you go out of your way to get the good coffee at high-priced cafes every day before work, consider roasting your own at home to get that rich taste you’ve become accustomed to.
Sure, mass-produced stuff can taste alright, and it’s much easier to make…roasting your own coffee will be worth it in the end as soon as you taste it.
This hobby will also save you money because your home-roasted coffee will average about $6.50 per pound, while the average cost from a grocery store is $8.50 per pound. You can either get a coffee roasting machine, or you can roast your coffee on the grill or in the oven.
Your final product will also make a great gift for friends, or you could sell your beans at a local farmer’s market. Discover all of the methods of brewing coffee that you can, and soon enough you will be a coffee aficionado.
There are a lot of benefits to practicing martial arts such as gaining discipline, focus, and the ability to defend yourself. Practicing martial arts can also help improve your health, help you connect with a manly sport, and help you feel like a warrior.
There are a variety of different types of martial arts to choose from, so just do your research to find which discipline feels right for you. Whether you choose karate, kickboxing, Judo, or mixed martial arts, this hobby will benefit you in many ways.
This may seem like an old-timey activity, but there’s nothing wrong with getting back to the basics. Archery is a primitive sport that works on manpower. While it used to be used for combat and hunting, today, archery is more of a competitive sport and hobby.
This focused, repetitive activity requires precision and determination. And, once you get into it, it can help settle your mind as you try to get a bullseye.
Beginner bows are inexpensive, so you can get into this hobby pretty quickly. You can even go to archery parks that have 3D targets that resemble animals in the woods, which is pretty cool.
Resource: This website has all of the information on doing archery as a recreational activity that you may need.
29. Hunt For Gold
Searching for gold can be a fun thing to do that may even result in some pocket money if you find something good. While gold mining was once a commercial endeavor, it’s now an outdoor activity that even kids can enjoy.
You will probably start hunting for gold on a small creek, and you will soon find out that a lot of the fun of this hobby is in the research–finding out where people have found gold before, how it travels, and where it tends to end up.
Once you get to that point, your chances of finding something good will be much greater.
Historically, hunting has been a way to welcome boys into manhood, providing them the chance to bond with others in a male setting.
Today, most men get their meat packaged from the grocery store, and they get the added hormones and antibiotics along with it. This has created quite a disconnect between men, food, and the outdoors.
If you want to reconnect with nature, going hunting is a good way to do so. It will allow you to give your family a source of high-quality meat and you will be supporting wildlife conservation, because the money you spend on your hunting license helps fund wildlife agencies.
Plus, you’ll get to bond with others who are also engaging in this hobby.
Resource: This website is the biggest database for hunting knowledge.
31. Start a Collection
Men’s brains love to focus on one thing at a time, so zeroing in on something and creating a collection out of it can be a great pastime for men. Furthermore, with men’s ancient desire to go on a hunt, looking for things to add to your collection will never get old.
You can spend years trying to find that last piece to complete your collection, but the thrill is in the hunt. Whether it’s baseball cards, stamps, coins, or whatever, having a collection can be a really fun hobby.
Metalworking involves heating and manipulating metals to create both small and large-scale projects. You can make everything from car parts to jewellery to garden archways.
There are a ton of processes, skills, and techniques you can learn depending on the kind of metalworking you choose to do. Some techniques include cutting, forming, and joining various metals.
Metalworking is an ancient skill that has come a long way over thousands of years. Working with metal offers the same benefits of woodworking, but rather than being surrounded by sawdust, you’ll be working with fire and melted metal.
Having this hobby can result in some amazing creations that can be passed on for generations to come.
Cars have come a long way in terms of sophistication and technology, making DIY car mechanics increasingly difficult. However, if you still have the urge to put your inner mechanic to use, taking up classic car restoration might be the right hobby for you.
Learning this hobby will help you sharpen your problem-solving skills, learn about engineering, and give you a huge sense of reward when you rebuild an engine that works like a charm.
Restoring classic cars can be expensive, however, the cost can pay off in the end because you can sell your fully-restored car for a good amount of money–if you’re willing to part with it.
One study recently looked at how creating art impacts your brain differently than simply looking at it. The researchers split participants into two groups, one that participated in a 10-week art appreciation class, and another who took a 10-week art class in which they made their own work.
The researchers looked at brain MRIs of the participants and found that those who actively did art had more overall brain activity and connectedness than those who only looked at it.
The researchers also discovered that the increased brain activity had a direct correlation with one’s resilience–meaning their ability to deal with stress and bounce back from adverse circumstances.
So whether you choose to paint, draw, or even do some clay molding, this stress-relieving hobby can have practical benefits to your long-term health.
If you like treasure hunts, you will love geocaching. This outdoor hobby takes you on a hunt with a GPS to find and hide treasures (“geocaches”) in areas that are marked by coordinates located all over the world. Here is how the process goes:
Once you’ve found it, sign the logbook and return the cache to where you found it
Share your treasures and experience online with other geocachers!
Most caches come in a waterproof container and include a logbook for all geocachers to sign. There will also be a little treasure in each one.
This is a fun hobby because it gives you the opportunity to explore your city, meet others who enjoy this hobby, spend some time outdoors, and find a hidden treasure.
Taking control of your financial wellbeing is a good idea at any age, so this is always a great hobby to take up. Learning about how to invest your money will have great long-term benefits, so if you find it to be an enjoyable hobby, you’ll be in luck.
Once you start to learn how to take control of your finances, you will find it to be both satisfying and empowering. Investing will help ensure your future financial security, as it can provide you with a second stream of income in addition to your salary.
Resource: Here are some podcasts about personal finance that you may find to be more approachable than researching through reading.
44. Learn a New Language
Learning a new language is a fun and challenging hobby that will assert your brain in new ways while also teaching you about a diverse culture.
Learning a new language can help you both personally and professionally, as we live in a global economy where businesses look for employees who are multilingual.
You can take your time when learning a new language, and in the end, you will be able to communicate with an entire population that you weren’t able to in the past.
Not only will you become more conscious of cultural customs, you will also become more aware of grammar, patterns of pronunciation, and your vocabulary. This benefit of learning a foreign language can help improve your listening, reading, and writing skills as well.
Volunteering is a great way for men to give back to the community and make a difference in this world. And science says doing so will also make you feel really good! Volunteering can also give you a sense of purpose and make you feel like you’re living a more fulfilling life.
Volunteering for a cause that you’re passionate about will also introduce you to like-minded people and it may even open some doors for future job opportunities.
Resource: This website will show you volunteer opportunities in your area.
46. Write a Book
Gone are the days where you have to rely on a publishing company in order to become a known author. You can write a book that will end up in a tangible format to pass down by publishing a book yourself.
What topic really interests you or what do you consider yourself to be an expert at doing that you could teach others about? Or, you may believe you’re an expert at storytelling and you want to write a fictional book.
You don’t have to put yourself on a time limit when you’re self-publishing a book, you can wait until you feel it is just right.
Resource: This website will walk you through publishing your own book.
47. Learn Your Genealogy
Learning the roots of your family is a hobby that can benefit both you and the rest of your family. There are a lot of reasons to learn about your family’s history, many of which are practical. They include:
Uncovering the truth about stories of your ancestors
Finding out if you’re related to any famous people
Locating your birth parents if you’re adopted
Learning about your family’s medical history
Tracing family heirlooms or inheritance
Learning about your family’s history will help you understand your origins, and all you need to get started is the desire to know and some research skills. From there, just stay organized and you can research as far back into history as you want.
Resource: Here is a beginner’s guide to studying your genealogy.
48. Practice Doing Stand-Up Comedy
Engaging with a happy audience is a great way to lighten your spirits, and making a hobby out of it means that you get to practice being funny on any everyday basis during your interactions with others.
You can use your living room as a stage and try to turn some of your real life situations into stories with a comedic effect. Even if you don’t end up performing for an audience, you will definitely boost your own mood as you start looking at things going on in your life from a comedic standpoint.
I’m sure at some point you’ve wondered what the purpose of your life is or why you were born… you. If so, a great hobby to take up is studying philosophy, as this will help you determine what you believe is the truth about why we are all here.
Learning about philosophy requires you to use both logic and reasoning skills to analyze the different perceptions that people have about the origins of life.
If you want to work with wood in a different way other than woodworking, wood burning might be right for you. Wood burning consists of burning a pattern or design onto wood using a searing tool that’s similar to a pen.
The pen is easy to hold, which will help ensure precision, and you can start this hobby in under $50. Wood burning requires an eye for detail, patience, and a mastery of your tools to get really advanced.
Resource: Here is a video for beginners.
51. Jigsaw Puzzles
There are still plenty of games to play that aren’t online, and sometimes we all need to step away from the screens and give our eyes a rest. Plus, there are cognitive benefits to doing jigsaw puzzles as well, such as:
Exercising both sides of your brain, giving your brain a workout that will help improve your focus and problem-solving skills
Reinforcing neural connections and improving short-term memory
Increasing processing speed
Relieving stress by reducing your blood pressure and heart rate
Escaping the neverending stimuli of our tech lifestyle
If you enjoy going to flea markets or thrift stores, you know sometimes it’s hard to pass up a deal. Well, if you start doing some resale, you won’t have to!
When you come across something that you really wish you had a need for because it’s a great find, but you just don’t…buy it and then try to sell it online for a higher price.
And, while you’re at it, list some items online that you already own but no longer have a use for. This will help you declutter your living space.
Documentaries offer you entertainment and learning together in one activity and will widen your base of knowledge. They will also keep your brain active and give you more things to talk about with other people.
YouTube offers a ton of free options and you can also find good documentaries on HBO, Netflix, or whatever streaming service you subscribe to. Watching documentaries is a great way to introduce yourself to and learn about new topics and gain a better understanding of topics you may already know about.
Resource: Here is a list of some of the best documentaries out there.
54. Learn Self-Defense
If you don’t already know self-defense techniques, now is the time to learn! You want to know how to defend yourself during these troubling times, and to ensure your safety, you should be familiar with the skills you need to escape a threat.
Learning self-defense will help improve your confidence and awareness of your surroundings. Knowing about the most effective striking practices and precision when it comes to personal protection will afford you the best possible outcome in the case of an attack.
Learning self-defense will also help reduce your chances of becoming a victim because it will teach you how to make smart choices regarding the situations you put yourself in.
You’re already familiar with the benefits of reading from older posts on DGH, but many of us don’t have the time we wish we did to spend on this hobby.
In fact, since 2004, the number of people in our country who have the time to read for pleasure has plummeted, going to 19% of the population from 28%. What’s more, the average amount of time people read per day is 15 minutes, not the hours on end that you may dream of doing on the beach.
But reading is a great hobby because you can easily pick it up and put it down as needed and you can take your book on-the-go so you will always have it by your side.
Of course, this list of “Hobbies for Men” does not mean that many women will not also love these hobbies. They will! It is just that some of these hobbies tend to be more male oriented.
More traditional female hobbies are on this list: Hobbies for Women. But both lists are really gender neutral (and contain some of the same hobbies). So if you enjoy this “Hobbies for Men” post, I encourage you to check out my list “for women”, as well.
You have a lot of hobbies to choose from here, so I hope you feel like some of these ideas resonated with you. One of the best things about taking up a hobby is that if you end up not loving it, you can easily move on to the next one. Give some of these ideas a shot and see how they can benefit your life.
And if you’re still on the lookout for more hobbies to try, be sure to check out these articles:
Connie Mathers is a professional editor and freelance writer. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and a Master’s Degree in Social Work. When she is not writing, Connie is either spending time with her daughter and two dogs, running, or working at her full-time job as a social worker in Richmond, VA.
