28 daily habits to stay healthy
Our health is something that we have to take care of every day. Everything that we do either makes us healthier or deteriorates our health
Daily habits are can be very powerful because as we know, it is the things that we do every day that have the most impact on us.
To be successful, achieve, or develop we must have the patience and discipline to incorporate healthy corresponding habits and routines into our daily activities.
To be healthy or healthier, there are things that we must do daily, weekly, monthly to maintain our health. Being healthy is an everyday effort and it encompasses physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health.
You probably have incorporated some of these habits into your daily routines just like I have. But some of them such as having tiny daily goals and achieving them, keeping phones out of my bedroom, etc. are still things that I have to remind myself to do. They are yet to become a habit for me.
It is ok to gradually add these habits to your daily life at your own pace. If you rush, and add too many habits at once, you are probably not going to retain any of them in the long run
Now, let us begin on daily habits to be healthier physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually:
- Eat a fruit and/or vegetables everyday – Add one or both of these two food types to your diet everyday. The more you eat of them, the better.
2. Daily exercise – It can be as simple as a 10-15 minutes stretch or exercise from an online workout video. I think almost all of us can spare that much time in a day.
3. Reduce your phone usage – Gradually make it a habit to use your phone less every day until you figure out the minimum hours that will work for you. Use your freed time from social media and the like to do better, more productive things to improve yourself.
4. Walk as much as possible – Take a walk every day even if it is for 5 minutes whenever you can during your day and if it is possible, create opportunities to walk e.g. walk to the park, park away from your destination and walk.
5. Sleep before midnight – Sleeping after midnight deprives our body of the most important phase of sleep the body needs. At least, sleep 90 minutes before midnight so that your body can experience this important sleep phase that allows it to rejuvenate and replenish what was lost during the day.
6. Keep your phone away from your sleeping area – Many of us – including me – have a bad habit of using our phone last just before sleeping for many reasons such as checking the time, leisurely reading incoming messages before sleeping, etc.
Instead, buy an alarm clock and keep your phone away from your sleeping area for better sleep quality and to protect yourself from its radiations while you sleep
7. Avoid negativity-Protect your mental well-being by keeping away from the negative energy that can come from people, your environment, news, etc. It disturbs our mental health and well-being making it easier for us to get sick.
8. Maintain good hygiene – It is important that you stay clean with daily baths, wearing clean clothes, shaving regularly, etc. These habits protect you from many diseases though it is not obvious.
9. Have adequate night rest – We all know that 7-9 hours is the recommended sleeping hours for adults. But often, more than 7 hours is difficult to achieve for most adults especially parents.
This is why I recommend that you have one day in the week that you will sleep until you wake up on your own without an alarm clock to make up for the sleep you were unable to have during other days of the week.
Remember, when you keep going without making up for lost sleep, your health will deteriorate with infections, low energy, moodiness, etc.
10. Wear clothes for the weather – Dress comfortably all the time according to the weather occasion, and your mood. This will make you feel confident and comfortable in your skin. Doing otherwise can distract you, make you uncomfortable, negatively affect your confidence, etc.
11. Make a tiny goal and achieve it – Have a small goal that you want to achieve every day, weekly, etc. It can be as simple as not hitting the snooze button today, controlling your anger, not drinking your coffee before water, sleeping on time, etc.
These little things do add up eventually and will make you feel good and improve your life if you manage to achieve them
12. Make time to unwind – Practice self-care and relax after the main task of the day is over.
13. Stay Hydrated: Science tells us that men need 3.7L of water while women need 2.7 L of water every day to stay hydrated be healthy.
14. Do not skip meals – Skipping meals causes fluctuations in sugar levels, increased stress, overeating, lack of productivity, snacking, etc.
15. Read/learn something beneficial every day – For those of us that don’t like to read, try to learn about something new every day from a podcast, video, etc. Whichever means you prefer. Knowledge is power.
Learn about more your environment, country, health, universe, body, science, arts, etc. It is hard to not find any topic of interest that will not benefit you if you knew more about it
16. Do something positive for someone – A smile, a kind word, opening the door for someone, etc. These are little things that will brighten your day and others around you. Making the world a better place starts with us.
17. Plan ahead – Make physical (e.g choosing your outfit) and mental (e.g preparing your mind for a presentation) plans for the following day once you are approaching the end of the day. Write down your plans for more clarity.
18. Make time for the people you love – spending time with our family, children, close friends, and loved ones have a lot of positive impact on our mental health
19. Notice the little things about your health – Keep an eye out for what feels or looks different on your body and preferably, write it down. It might help you in the future.
20. Keep a journal – Journaling for many helps them think more clearly and is akin to a therapy session where one can dump their feeling, happiness, and frustrations for the day and move on.
21. Sit in the sun – The morning (2-3 hrs after sunrise) and evening sun (1-2hrs before sunset) are the best sources of vitamin D among other benefits of the sun. You can seat on the porch, open your windows, take a walk in the morning/evening, etc. Figure out what works best for you
22. Keep good company – Those we choose to associate with every day have a significant impact on our mental health, emotional well-being, success, etc. It is important that we choose wisely
23. Take off your makeup – Remember to do this once you are back in your safe space at home to protect your skin from the damage of makeup chemicals.
24. Early to bed, early to rise – This saying will always hold true and it is good for not just our health but also our success and to some extent, happiness.
25. Cook at home – Cooking at home and packing our meals is healthier and often cheaper than eating out. Try to have at least daily two meals out of three as home-cooked/home prepared
26. Count your blessing – Some refer to this as practicing gratitude where you write or take time to remind yourself of what you are grateful for on that day. This makes us happier and more content with our lives because we realize that we have much more than we thought.
27. No procrastinating – Procrastination is one of my big bad habits that I am still battling albeit getting rid of slowly. I am very aware of how procrastination can mess up your day and cause much stress. Try your best to not procrastinate no matter how little or big the task seems.
28. Exercise at your desk- Last but not least, It is important to move while sitting at your desk or workplace as often as you can because research has shown that sitting for more than 2 hours at a time over years leads to numerous health concerns.
You can just walk around for 5 minutes and come back or simply find online 5 minutes exercises you can do from your desk to protect your health
Final Thoughts
I believe these daily habits will help you be more organized, productive, happier, healthier, among other things.
If I have omitted an important habit that you believe should be added, let me know in the comments section below.
See you in the next post and thank you for stopping by.
