Five Habits You Need to Break to Be Healthy

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We all have habits we’re a bit ashamed of – that fifth cup of coffee every day or never being able to keep our desk tidy. Most of these habits are harmless (although five cups of coffee every day might not be!), while some are really very harmful to your health and mental wellbeing.

Here are five habits you should break to increase your quality of life:

 

Not getting enough sleep

This one is obvious, but most of us fall prey to the Netflix binge that keeps us up a couple of extra hours, or in-bed email checks that set off an extra half hour of work. But not getting enough sleep affects basically everything else in your life – from how well you function at work, to motivating yourself to exercise and eat well, to your relationships with other people. It’s time to make getting enough sleep a daily non-negotiable.

 

Over-snacking

Obviously, we’re all for snacks here! But snacking too frequently (and on highly processed sugary treats) will affect your metabolism and regular eating pattern. Ever find you don’t feel hungry enough for dinner, and then you’re starving by the time you go to bed? Over snacking is most likely the culprit. Sure, keep some (healthy) snacks in your desk drawer for afternoon slumps, but don’t make them meal replacements.

 

Ignoring your finances

Stress can hit us in ways we don’t always notice, and financial stress is definitely one of those ways. Do you have credit card debt you’re pretending doesn’t exist? A car loan you’re struggling to service? A holiday you’ve said you’ll go on even though you can’t really afford it? All these things seep into your life as a form of stress. It’s important you face them head-on in order to deal with them. Make a point of sitting down with a financial advisor or a good friend and come up with a plan.

 

Not taking time for yourself

One of the reasons people say yes to everything is because they want to feel needed. Another one is simple FOMO. But going to every event, taking on every extra assignment and being your friends’ therapist whenever they need you is incredibly draining. Make sure you take some time out just for yourself every week, even if it means swapping Friday night happy hour for that Netflix doco you’ve been meaning to watch.

 

Making excuses

There’s always going to be a reason not to do something. You’re too busy. You’ve been a bit sick recently. Work is really stressful. But cutting excuses out of your vocabulary will work wonders in your life – you’ll have in incredibly experiences, be in better shape, and get further ahead than ever before. You’ve been meaning to go on that hike for about eight months now. Why not just do it this weekend?

Mark Tobin