Jules Acree

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5 Healthy Habits To Live Your Best Life

liveyourbestlife copy

Photo by Victoria Morris

We've all heard the phrase, "live your best life". I love this sentiment, so I wanted to piggy back off of that and help turn this saying into something actionable. There are 5 healthy habits I've recently picked up, and I must share with you how life-changing it has been. They say it takes 3-4 weeks to make a habit stick, so let's take these steps together into a happier, healthier, and more productive life!

My 5 Weekly Habits

1. Meal prep on Sundays.

Making food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner is exhausting (especially if you're an indecisive Libra like moi). By utilizing Sunday as a day of rest and a day of prep, you're setting yourself up for a week full of healthy decisions.

HOW TO DO IT: Cook your grains, veggies, and proteins in bulk, and mince your garlic and herbs all at once. Store everything separately in containers. You'll cut down your time significantly, and all you'll need to do is throw it all in and heat it up in a few minutes.

*Andrew and I are actually looking to join a food co-op in our neighborhood, so we can support local farmers, volunteer in the community, and get fresh and healthy foods at an affordable cost! We are taking a tour of the place this weekend!

meal prep

2. Focus on one thing at a time.

I took pride in being a pro multi-tasker. However, I realized overtime that if I just focused all of my energy into one task, I'd be much faster and more productive. So recently, I re-started handwriting my to-do lists and physically checking off each task as it is completed.

I used to be in the process of five different tasks, but none of them would be fully finished until the end of the day. I'd feel this immense pressure and anxiety with all of the things I had left to do. If I just performed one task at a time, I would see that true progress has been made throughout my day. It's much easier to swallow than 5 half-finished tasks. Ya feel me?

3. Plan your workouts in advance.

Game-changer. If you want to make exercise a priority, go ahead and sign up for all of your classes ahead of time. I do this on Sundays. I schedule it in my calendar like I would a very important meeting that I wouldn't miss. Also, there is usually a cancellation fee if you don't cancel within 24 hours, so that's a great way to stick to it.

flip the dog

Photo by Victoria Morris

4. Unsubscribe from retail marketing emails.

Declutter your inbox (I used Unroll.me), and you'll feel lighter on the inside. I actually LOVE getting emails, because it feels like a new opportunity in my inbox. However, what I DON'T love is getting ten million emails about a 70% off sale from a company I haven't shopped at in years. Clear the virtual clutter, and instead subscribe to websites that will fill your brain with new ideas, skills, and aspirations.

Websites I subscribe to and read on the daily: For all things wellness: mindbodygreen.com To keep up with the tech world: digiday.com To always keep learning: medium.com

5. Don't keep your phone on your desk.

How are we expected to get anything done if our phone is lighting up with notifications all day long? Unless you have outstanding self-control, flipping your phone over will not keep you from checking it every 5 minutes. If you're working on a Mac, you probably get iMessage anyways, so don't worry about missing an important text. But, do you really need to refresh Instagram all day long? Nooo freaking way. I actually turned off my Instagram notifications (thanks for the pro tip, Minna).

If you really have to put pedal to the metal and get shiz done, turn your phone on silent, put it in your bag, and don't look at it until you take a break. If you miss a call, so what. Call them back when you see it. If it was truly an important call, it would have been scheduled in advance on your calendar as a meeting.

live your best life

Now, go on out there and LIVE YOUR BEST LIFE.

Love you to the moon + back,

P.S. In case you missed it, I recently launched my very own YOUTUBE CHANNEL! Check it out here >>> youtube.com/omandthecityClick below to watch the latest video below!