Simple tips to refresh your daily routine

MANILA – Philippines – Do you find yourself counting down to the weekend as early as Monday?

The French have a word for it: ennui, which translates to a feeling of weariness and dissatisfaction. It’s normal to feel ennui when you’ve been doing a routine for so long that everything starts to seem boring and repetitive. This can hamper your productivity at work – and your ability to enjoy your life.

If you feel like you’re suffering ennui, fret not – you can make instant, simple decisions to inject inspiration and excitement back into your life. Try these fresh moves to refresh your daily routine.

Wake up before you have to. There’s no shortage of motivational online content about CEOs who start the day before sunrise to catch up on emails, read their newspapers, or open the office. The theory is that really successful people win in the race of life by making a good headstart – literally.

There are practical benefits to setting your alarm an hour or so before you need to get ready and leave for work. You can map out your day, decide on what to prioritize, and be less frazzled. You can do something you enjoy, like reading or working out. Or at the very least, you can devote the time to figuring out big changes you need to make in your life – how to budget better, what steps you need to take in your career, and so on. Spend your mornings for yourself, and you’ll feel more in control for the rest of the day.

Listen to new music. Just for fun, why don’t you ditch your tried-and-tested playlist and listen to a completely different genre or artist during work or workout? It’s the easiest way to inject something new into your daily routine. It can shake up your pace, help you focus, or even inspire you to be more creative

Instead of saying no or over-committing, delegate or collaborate. If job orders and deliverables are starting to launch you into mini panic attacks on a regular basis, step back and assess: is it because of the nature of the task, or simply how you’re handling it? If you’re a supervisor, consider assigning some of your workload to your team – as a manager, you need enough leeway to be able to zoom out and keep the ship running. If you’re worried about whether you can finish an assigned project on your own, don’t hesitate to request for assistance from your colleagues. It’s not a crime to ask for help when you truly need it. Freeing up your workload also enables you to assess better what you do best on the job – so you can focus on that.

Spend half a day to do nothing. Is your knee-jerk reaction to a stressful work week shopping or heading out of town? Being a weekend warrior is good for the mind and the body – but so is getting some good old rest (and it’s cheaper, too). Ironically, slowing down is also a good way to recharge – again, giving your mind a break is the key in all of this. Don’t be afraid to have nothing planned on your free time – it’s called a “day off” for a reason. Chill out at home, have a drink, and thank yourself for being awesome.

Have an after-work drink – on a weeknight. Sometimes, all it takes to break the monotony of your day is some great food and drink. Bring along your best friends and unpack what’s bothering your chest over a bottle of ice cold San Mig Super Dry for smoot conversations. Why wait until it’s Friday? Getting through Hump Day (Wednesday) is a huge accomplishment in itself. Sometimes, giving yourself a small reward can keep you going further. Just make sure to do this in moderation – the goal isn’t to be smashed in the middle of the week.

How do you recharge your mental batteries in the middle of the week? Share your own fresh moves with us!  – Rappler.com