7 Self-Care Habits to Boost Your Morale and Productivity

It is okay to be overwhelmed by life from time to time. After all, you are living in a world that has evils like stress and anxiety always knocking at the door just waiting for you to turn the knob. With everyone having a busy schedule, it is a part of adult life to look after yourself, by yourself. In other words, you are all on your own. No one has the time to serve what you want or to look after you as an obligation. This is why it is important to make your well-being a priority for yourself and not be over-indulged in everyday stress and anxiety. One of the simplest ways to cope with whatever dirt this life throws at you is to keep your morale high and focus on your productivity. Yes, we understand, easier said than done, right?

But what if it’s not? What if it’s just as easy to do as it is to say? If you don’t believe us then you are going to have a really good time reading the rest of this article. We have taken our time to perform in-depth research into picking the most effective and easier to follow self-care habits which are a surefire way to keep that flame of morale burning and the flag of productivity held up high. Are you ready to make it a habit for yourself to treat you the best that you can and feel the best from within every day? Then let’s walk you through our list of 7 self-care habits that you can implement today and change your life.

1. Meditate

Let’s start with the simplest and the most time efficient. Meditation and mindfulness are like a healthy meal for the human brain. Mindfulness practices can help a great deal in bringing your entire focus to the present moment. It enables you to pay attention to what you are doing right now. By removing your thoughts of the past and panic of the future, it kindles a fire in you to seize the day, to relish this moment, to live to the fullest. A few minutes of deep, slow, rhythmic breathing is effective in making your mind calm and peaceful. Practices like mindful listening or body scan can sharpen your focus almost instantly. Once you regain control of your mind with these traditional exercises, you will be in charge of directing your morale and productivity.

2. Practice Positivity

Failure is an inevitable part of life. Regardless of how good you are at something, there is always going to be someone better, or perhaps you’ll just end up having an off day. Whatever the reason may be, you will have to accept defeat from time to time. Under such circumstances, putting yourself at the mercy of the negative thoughts or being lost in the sense of shame, embarrassment, guilt, etc. is something that we have all done. Our mind has a tendency to be easily distracted and wander in the unnecessary thoughts. The good news, however, is that you can regain its focus and restore the mood just as easily as well. The next time you are having one of these moments, find a silent corner away from the noise. Sit in a comfortable position and take a few deep breaths. Now create a personal mantra, a positive statement about yourself. Make multiple if you want. Create a whole list of things that you are good, things that you are grateful for in your life. Keep breathing, close your eyes, and repeat the list in your mind. It is okay to be distracted by troubling thoughts. Push them away gently and focus back on your list of positivity in your life. Continue the exercise for a few minutes and you would almost feel the sensory experience of your worries and negativity leaving your body and a rush of calmness, peace, and positivity finding its home in you. Once you are back into the arms of positivity, your morale will instantly skyrocket and you’d be prepared to the next show of optimum productivity.

3. Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate

Hydration – you’ve heard of it. It has been years that everyone has been telling you about the benefits of hydration. But did you ever take it seriously? When was the last time you actually drank 8 glasses of water through the day? Keeping yourself well hydrated is a simple yet highly effective trick that protects you against the harms of exhaustion, irritability, and headaches; all of which are the known foes for productivity and morale. Try to imagine any scenario in your head where you felt any of the former three while feeling prepared for the latter two? It just doesn’t work that way. As long as you are exhausted, irritated, or have a headache, your morale will keep flaccid and there will be no juice in your productivity.

4. Hush The Social Media

Without a doubt, social media is a dominant part of our lives. Regardless of where we are or what we are doing, having a craving for a constant feed of what your friends are doing or why some random people are whining about mundane things, is an experience common for all of us. But let’s face it; social media is a distraction. Like any other part of your body, your mind needs to rest as well. Half a decade ago, taking a nap actually meant resting, your eyes, your mind, your body as a whole. Nowadays, even the naps are filled with lying on the bed but with eyes on a smartphone as you scroll through the social media feed. You are essentially overworking your brain. Here’s a small trick for you. Take a weekend off of social media. Can’t handle a weekend? Start with a day. A day sounds too much? Start with an hour, but start somewhere. At the end of it, if you don’t find it helpful for your morale and productivity, we’ll never ask you to play this dangerous stunt ever again.

5. Sleep At A Reasonable Time

You can take this habit as part two of letting your brain get the proper rest that it needs. It is highly likely that you have a habit of taking your smartphone or perhaps the laptop with you to the bed. Using any device with excessive blue light is known to disrupt the sleep cycle and make it harder for you to fall asleep and have a sound sleep in the night. It’s time to switch it with an alternative. Instead of your smartphone, take a book with you to bed. Read a couple of pages in a peaceful environment before trying to sleep. Studies have shown that reading before sleeping is effective in inducing a deep, sound sleep in the night that consequently, refreshes the mind properly and activates it again with optimum morale and productivity the next morning.

6. Remember Nature?

It is understandable for the majority of us to be so engulfed in the busy life and hectic schedules that we fail to find some time and reconnect with the “Mother Nature”. Remember that the whole reason why you can’t keep your morale high and maximize your productivity is that you don’t feel good from within. Therefore, if you haven’t done so in a long time, it may be time for you to take a walk in a park nearby. It would be recommended to remove your shoes and walk bare feet on grass if you can. During this time, remove all other thoughts and focus on your surroundings. Get a sense of how the grass feels like against your feet, the children playing on the swings, couples having a conversation, and families having a picnic. Connecting with nature is known to stimulate the production of happy hormones like endorphins, serotonin, and dopamine. With elevated levels of these hormones, your mood is restored that translates directly into higher morale and better productivity.

7. The Screen Of Happiness

As mentioned earlier, your morale and productivity are dependent on whether or not you feel content from within. A simple trick that can help to constantly fill you up with satisfaction is making a collage of people and things that you love. A picture from the trip that you took with your family last summer, a random compliment that you received from your date, an award that you won, anything that can make you happy. Put that collage as a wallpaper on your computer screen while you are working. Getting just a glimpse of it after every few minutes can help a great deal in stabilizing your mood and fueling your morale and productivity.

Conclusion

Life has a way of testing our morale and productivity. There’s so much in the battleground to put you down. But you are not left in it without a guard. These simple to follow self-care habits that we have mentioned above are your sword to protect yourself against whatever comes in the way of your productivity. You don’t need an instructor or a coach to help you practice these habits. You can start with them right away all by yourself. Take it slow if you want. Start with only one habit for a week. As you experience the good it has to offer, you will be automatically be motivated to adopt the rest.