Do This If You Want To Have a Quick Life Overhaul

It won’t cost you that much

What I love about the Philippines is we have a lot of holidays in a year.

I had a long holiday last week for the week of October 30 to November 3 due to community elections (we call it barangay elections), the usual All Saints Day and All Souls Day, plus work from from home benefits in between.

This setup allowed me to spend time with my mom away from the busy city in our ancestral home, around 21 miles from where I live.

Lock up yourself to a happy community.

My province is pretty close, but it is enough to avoid the busyness of our usual routine.

I still had to work since it was our usual month-end closing activity (if you are an accountant, you know what I mean), but the stress was a lot easier to manage, especially when you looked out the window and were surrounded by some trees and greeneries.

The place where I spent almost a week was my Dad’s hometown ever since he was a kid.

If you drop by a local store and the owner starts a random talk and asks and initiates a discussion about anything — they can immediately name who your relatives are upon hearing your last name.

Here in the Philippines, families are closely knitted. It is easy to connect with people and make friends with them.

No wonder many Americans visit and eventually decide to retire here because they feel that they’ve got family, and of course, their pension can go a long way when they spend it here.

Holidays do not mean there must always be a happening.

Some of my friends decided to go for local vacation sprees.

For me, it could have been an excellent decision because everyone working in the city went to the beach.

It is why I go to the beach during non-holidays when most people are working — it is a good thing we have that benefit called annual leaves.

My wife and I decided to stay home and just spend the time to lay flat on our beds until 9 a.m.

In the middle of the day, we would watch Netflix and drive to a nearby place to breathe some fresh air while I drank coffee and my wife got a smoothie.

Choose meaningful time over screen time.

I mentioned several times in my previous articles that I was on social media fast.

At first, I deactivated my Facebook during the first week but spent time on Instagram, so I shut it down in my second week.

I have been social media-free for three months (except for LinkedIn).

The great thing about removing social media accounts from my phone is that it freed me up some time.

And since I have free time, I am forced most of the time to ask myself, what productive thing should I do this time?

It was very timely also that my son entered my office room last week and requested me to play tic tac toe with him.

There was no reason to say, “I am busy, or maybe next time,” because my mind was not occupied. I am thankful for what I have become today!

Get an online mentor in no time.

Speaking of time, I am happy that I have used time wisely.

I became more consistent in attending our family movie night and initiating conversation during dinner.

Since I had a lot of “what I can do this time” moments last week, I looked around, and I saw a lot of stuff.

I switched my mobile phone on, went to YouTube, then went straight to the search bar, and I typed decluttering and minimalism.

A trending TED talk prompted my feed, so I clicked it to listen and, at the same time, organized stuff inside our cabinet, staying there for years.

Most of them went straight to the garbage while others were boxed for donation so that others could enjoy value from it rather than have things sleeping inside our old school cabinet.

Learn to love things that you are too lazy to perform.

If there is one thing I am not driven to do, it is cooking food.

Believe it or not, I love to watch local mukbang. But with the thought of preparing it, I said there was lots of work; I would instead outsource it to my lovely wife or let others do the job.

And I recall preparing the sauce for fish.

It was nothing sexy, but I was into doing something that I do not usually do when I am in the city.

I minced garlic, onion, and chilis and mixed salt and pepper with it, And I poured apple cider vinegar to enjoy my meal with the rest of the family.

My nephew wanted some of it, which I happily shared with him.

Doing things that you find boring can leave you with a feeling of achievement by enjoying the moment and sharing it with others who appreciate it.

Never forget to feed your body, mind, and soul.

Life in the city is pressuring.

Demands to satisfy and requirements to deliver here and there.

Since I was isolated and outside my usual work routine (and that applies to my spouse as well).

The moment was more intimate since I had quiet time to focus on prayer and spend time with my Creator.

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