GYLIO – Get Your Life In Order

Time to Get Your Life In Order? From the endless personal commitments to the long list of professional obligations, it can be pretty overwhelming for many of us to go through each day without losing our minds!

Worse still, our days seem barely long enough, meaning we occasionally resort to spilling our daily obligations over to the next day.

While the pressure to get everything done never ceases, it is worthwhile to strive for a work-life balance continually. Below are a few tips to successfully Get Your Life In Order:

Breathe

Take a breath: Given the relentless stimulus of today’s realities, regularly pausing to take a breath can be vital to getting your thoughts together and remaining in the present moment. By taking a breath, you’re able to refocus, spur yourself into motion, and eliminate excuses. It is also an excellent opportunity to look after your mental health and pay attention to the little things you often ignore.

Pause: Give yourself regular breaks even short ones. You can use such this time to tidy your work or living areas, clean your house, do your laundry, go for a run, or even take yourself on a date. The main idea is to get yourself away from the endless hustling and bustle of life.

Reset: At least once every month, consider pausing your busy schedule to reflect on and, to possibly reset your priorities.

Focus

Focus on one task at a time: It may seem appealing, and time-effective to take on many tasks at once, but it only sets you up for greater stress and reduced productivity. Rather than doing this, consider focusing on one task at a time.

Doing this will allow you to reduce “attention residue”; having several tasks and obligations on your mind divides your attention in a way that lowers overall productivity.

Get clear

Don’t crowd your to–do list: Picking the right day for each task on your to-do list can sometimes be a hassle, especially if other events and deadlines are equally competing for your attention. Most people try to overcome this hassle by overcrowding the list, but it only makes it more daunting. An overcrowded list can also put you at risk of attention residue. The key is to set up a modest list that gives focus and clarity to your goals.

Life Admin

Mundane chores take up our time and headspace. Bundling life admin into specific time slots – known as GYLIO – might be the ultimate act of self-care.

BBC Worklife

So, GYLIO is about bundling tasks into a single morning, day or week in order to clear your mind; learning to prioritise and find focus so that you can enjoy guilt-free downtime. You could also choose to have a Power Hour once a week to clear these life admin tasks from your headspace.

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However, while following the above-listed tips, you must avoid certain pitfalls, including giving yourself the illusion that you can singlehandedly decide what happens to you every day, putting off onerous tasks to prevent overcrowding your to-do list and more. The idea is to make self-care a priority while realizing that putting your life in order is more about eliminating to-dos from your life and less about carving out time to relax amid chaos.