Join the growing wave of people taking a “back to basics” approach to life. More and more people are living below their means to reduce their dependence on material items and focus on inner happiness. The pursuit of the material is being displaced by a commitment to the simple life, or downsizing in order to focus on what is truly important. A form of positive psychology, people do adopt this approach to achieve overall mental wellness instead of treating the forms of mental illness in their lives, such as stress, anxiety, and depression. Here are some ways to change the course you’re on:

1. Ditch your car. Walk or ride a bike to work. The exercise and more relaxing mode of transport will leave you feeling fresh. Saving money is not the ultimate goal here, but with the skyrocketing cost of gas it is a great incentive. You’ll also be doing right by the environment.
2. Turn off the TV. If this seems impossible then imagine how free you’ll feel if you’re no longer a slave to the remote control and the TV Guide.
3. Shed some weight. Instead of talking about losing weight and getting in shape, do it. The vicious cycle of poor eating habits and lack of exercise leads to depression and various health problems. Change up your diet and go for a run to feel better.
4. Write a letter, not an e-mail. Feel like you have to be in the loop with your e-mail or blackberry? Don’t be helpless if electronic communication lets you down, write an old-fashioned letter and feel closer to your recipient.
5. Forget multi-tasking. Concern yourself with one task at a time. Restrict outside distractions while performing this task, turn off the TV or ignore your cell phone and see your productivity soar.
6. Lighten up your “to do” list. If your “to do” list seems to be endless then take a closer look at what actually must be done and eliminate frivolous tasks or tasks that be delegated.
7. Create more free time. Get rid of a commitment that you can’t stand attending to, wake up earlier, eat lunch at your desk or simply take a personal day. If you limit free time then you are adding to the huge amount of stress you already carry.
8. Go away. Take a day trip or get away for a weekend. Use your vacation days because you earned them. Instead of worrying about what you should or could be doing for someone else, go ahead and do something for yourself.
9. Turn off your cell phone. This task sounds simple, but it conjures nightmares for most of us. Turn it off for even just one hour and see if you feel more at ease. Better yet, get rid of it altogether.
10. Make a fun “to do” list. You’ve always wanted to go cross country, see a rainforest or ski the Swiss Alps. Make it happen.

Heather Johnson is a freelance business, finance and economics writer, as well as a regular contributor at Business Credit Cards, a site for best business credit cards and best business credit cards offers. Heather welcomes comments and freelancing job inquiries at her email address heatherjohnson2323@gmail.com.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 27th, 2008 at 3:36 am and is filed under Happiness. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.