A life without smartphones nowadays is pretty much unthinkable. We use smartphones for a lot of things: news, social interaction, gaming or checking the holiday pictures of your grandma. On our planet there are almost as many phones as people. The almost 4,6 billion phones that are active, are being used on average about 2 hours a day. That’s a month per year!

Awareness

Luckily, we’re becoming more and more aware of the amount we use our phones. With different apps you can now keep track of your screen time and some shops and restaurants won’t serve you when you’re using your phone. 

It’s good to be more aware of our phone use, because it can also cause some complaints, such as wrist- and neck pain. Also mood problems, social anxiety and FOMO are not unusual. The phone use can even start to take on addiction like forms including withdrawal symptoms.

Social pressure

The pressure to use your phone is really high because of the perfect life everyone wants to have. We pay a lot of attention to social media and communicating with others. Our phone has become a central aspect of our social world. And that’s what makes it a bit dangerous. It turns out that social stress is one of the causes of the complaints that can develop. People fear a negative judgement and try everything they can to be viewed as positive as possible. This can lead to an increase of phone use.

What to do?

What can you do about your smartphone addiction? Below we share some tips

  • Put your phone away for a moment. Do you experience stress? Maybe you already feel anxious thinking about it! What’s the first thought that pops up in your mind? Do you fear not being accessible? Or do you fear that people think you’re not giving them enough attention? Do you fear missing out on important things? Write down which thought makes you feel most anxious. And try challenging that thought.
  • Do you have to do something important, but are you quickly distracted by your phone? Try putting it in another room for an hour. You will notice you are ill at ease, but after a while you will discover your concentration will increase. 
  • Try making a deal with others to not use your phone during dinner or other social occasions. Socializing in real life is much more satisfying!

Change. It’s something that everyone doesn’t like. You have to get rid of old habits and you have to quit something you’ve been doing the same for so long already. But the signals are clear: you can’t go on this way. Taking the step to change can be scary, but also really tough. How do you start actual change? And maybe even more importantly: how do you persist?

Make a plan

Usually, everything is perfectly lined up in our head and we know exactly what to do. It’s just taking that first step. To make this change a lot more real, you should write everything down. 

Write down the thing(s) you want to change. Maybe you want to be more positive. Or start exercising again. Or you want to save money for a trip around the world! Write down your personal goal. When would you have reached it? What do you need to reach it? What do you have to do to reach it? 

And what steps would it take? Create a realistic road map towards your goal, because doing everything in one big step is pretty much impossible!

Motivate yourself

Now comes the tough part: you have to actually do it. Try motivating yourself by writing down all the things how it will benefit you. You could for example create a list of pros and cons for both the short and the long term. Write everything down that comes to mind and especially remember why you should maintain this change! By writing everything down, you make it tangible, which is important for the process.

You could also externally motivate yourself. You can for example tell it to your mother/best friend/grandma, whoever you want. And ask for a little bit of support. Someone that supports you can be a really good push in the right direction.

On top of that you can make a deal with yourself. For example, buy a new phone when you’ve reached your goal. Or maybe a nice trip to a country far away for the weekend!

Remind and reward yourself

You’ve put everything in your power into reaching your goals. It costs a lot of energy and sometimes it can happen everything is not going that well anymore. Giving up seems to be close. Try reminding yourself why you are doing this constantly, because during the whole process you can lose your goal out of sight. Grab your list of pros and cons and call your mother for some mental support! Don’t forget to reward yourself for the effort you’ve put in all the hard work. It shouldn’t only cost blood, sweat and tears! Give yourself a nice treat, buy yourself a little gift or do something fun with some friends. You should compliment yourself for all the steps you’re taking. You would do the same for someone else right?

Monitor your progress

Your goal always seems to be in a far distance, until you’ve finally reached it. Why wouldn’t your keep track of your steps? At the start you should write down you’re on 0%. During the process you can keep track of your progress. The final 100% will become closer and closer and you’ll also know the steps you still have to take. Reaching your goal is amazing, but it’s the road towards it that makes it worth it!

NiceDay

Write down your plan of change in a diary registration in the NiceDay app. Also create a list of pros and cons and write down what you can do to motivate yourself. Keep track of when you will monitor your progress. You can even connect some rewards to certain points of progress!

We breathe throughout the whole day. A lot of times we don’t pay a lot of attention to our breathe, while it’s an important that confronts us with ourselves. For example, fast and shallow breathing is often a sign of stress and tension. Shallow breathing is the drawing of minimal breath into the lungs, usually by drawing air into the chest area using the intercostal muscles rather than throughout the lungs via the diaphragm. 

Are you currently experiencing work stress? The following breathing exercises help reduce stress. By delaying your breathing a little more, you increase your lung capacity and you feel less stressed. 

4-7-8 breathing or ‘relaxing breath’ 

When: you notice that your breathing is superficial or accelerated, when you worry a lot or experience acute (work) stress. 

How to do it? 

  1. Begin by laying down or sitting in a comfortable position. 
  2. Rest your arms along your body with your palms facing up. 
  3. Take a deep breath and sigh or exhale through your mouth. Try to relax your face and jaw. 
  4. Breathe in 4 seconds as deeply as possible (feel your rib cage widen), hold your breath for 7 seconds and then exhale in 8 seconds.
  5. Repeat this 4 times. 
  6. Take a deep breath and sigh out. 

Equal breathing 

When: in preparation for a complex tasks, a meditation exercise or if you feel restless. 

How to do it? 

  1. Begin by sitting or standing comfortably. 
  2. Take a deep breath and sigh. 
  3. Breath in through the nose for 6 seconds. 
  4. Hold the breath for 6 seconds; your lungs are full. 
  5. Exhale through the nose for 6 seconds. 
  6. Hold the breath for 6 seconds; your lungs are empty. 
  7. Repeat this about 4 times or for a few minutes. 
  8. Take a deep breath and sigh out. 

Warning: People with heart problems and/or high blood pressure should be careful with this exercise. Holding these breaths may be too stressful for them. In that case, listen carefully to your body and explore how many counts are possible for you. 

The belly breathing

When: this is an exercise that you can do at any time. It can help you relax if you experience stress, anger or anxiety. You can even do it before going to sleep. 

How to do it? 

  1. Begin by laying down in a comfortable position. Place 1 or both hand palms on your lower abdomen. Relax your face and jaw.
  2. Bring your attention to your hand(s) and breathe in gently. Feel your belly expand. Then breathe out again and feel your hand move back. 
  3. Breathe in 4 seconds and exhale 4 seconds. Do this about 25 times (approximately 5 minutes). Take your time and don’t force anything. 

Warning: Are you pregnant? Hold your breath no longer than 2 seconds. 

Tips 

Be patient with yourself. Are you unable to master the exercise the first time? Then try again. 

Try these exercises at home. This makes it more easy to do them when you’re at work. We hope you can breathe your stress away!

NiceDay actions 

Set up some reminders for yourself to do an exercise during work in the NiceDay app. Are you still experiencing (a lot of) stress? Ask your coach for help. And don’t forget: as with many things in life, it’s all about practicing. 

Psychological complaints such as stress, sleep problems, anxiety complaints and gloominess may cause you to lose the overview of your finances. It can get in the way of solving or tackling the money problems, which often causes feelings of shame, anger, sadness or loneliness.

People with psychological complaints often depend on benefits, because they are (temporarily) unable to work. Your income that you are used to changes and you will have to make adjustments quickly. But what adjustments do you make? How do you get balance in your bank account and keep that balance?

Step 1: Organize your administration

The first step is that you make yourself a cup of coffee or tea, sit quietly at the table with all your financial records. Grab a notebook and list all your monthly income and expenses in columns. Keeping track of your income and expenses in a notebook is also known as a housekeeping book.

You can think of income as: salary, 13th month, holiday pay, tax refund, allowances, alimony, cost of living in persons or monthly or annual allowance from family. Add up all this income. At the bottom of the column you get one amount for your income.

After you have all the income, you create a column with all your expenses per month: fixed monthly charges, such as mortgage / rent, insurance, gas, water and electricity. Then the monthly costs, such as clothing, gifts, outings, meals, groceries and other expenses. Add up all expenses and you will get an amount for your expenses at the bottom of the column.

You now have two final amounts: 1 for income and 1 for expenses. Try to keep track of this for a few months. This way you get a clear overview of your income and expenses.

Step 2: Overview of income and expenses

Take the overview of your income and expenses. What do you notice? Ask yourself the following questions;

  • Are the income and expenses in balance?
  • How much can you set aside each month to save?
  • How much are you short of each month?
  • What do you spend more or less on than you thought?
  • On what could you save on?

By asking yourself such questions, you can also adjust your expenses. Write this on your household book! Make adjustments to your expenses and view the results in the following months. Maybe you can save more than you think.

Step 3: Make a money box

You can create a digital “money box” on most savings accounts. I call this a buffer. With a buffer you can overcome unexpected major expenses, such as a washing machine that breaks or a refrigerator that suddenly fails. This will prepare you for unexpected expenses and you will experience less stress.

Step 4: Savings goal(s)

Make different saving goals for yourself with the amount of money you need for that. For example: I want a vacation with my children and husband to a resort in Egypt at the end of next year. Therefore I need € 4,000. I also want to get my driver’s license in two years and therefore I need € 3,000. Divide the amount over the months and see what is realistic to set aside each month.

Is it a realistic and achievable goal? Then you can start saving. Is it not realistic? Then ask yourself the question; what is a realistic feasible time frame for achieving this goal? 

Success in getting balance on your bank account!

Do you need help with setting goals or do you have money problems? Talk about it with your online professional.

Maybe you will recognize this: it’s Monday morning and you open your mail. You read a message, you think about how you want to answer the email, and then you pick up your phone. You check the news, social media and before you know it, 10 minutes flew by. 

Why is it important to do everything step for step?

If you keep changing tasks, your brain will become increasingly fragmented. The problem is not the loss of time, but the loss of brain capacity.  Your brain has to switch constantly between your tasks. Part of our brain sticks to what we were doing before. The result is that with both activities you are not completely there with your attention.

Train your attention 

The solution is fairly simple: stop switching tasks and bring yourself back to what you were doing. We would like to share some practical tips to train your attention muscle.

Tip 1: put your telephone in a different room

It sounds very simple and yet this can help you to get rid of continuous distraction and temptation. If you need a phone at hand for your work, turn off as many notifications as possible. The chance that you will be distracted from an incoming message is less likely.

Tip 2: start working differently

Bundle your tasks. That gives peace and increases your productivity. An example of a working day: picking up writing tasks in the morning, handling phone calls in the afternoon and a meeting at the end of the afternoon.

Tip 3: don’t keep tasks in your head, write them down

Remove all major and minor tasks by putting them all on paper or on a digital task list. Checking your mail is also part of this. Don’t do it “in between”. The advantage of writing down your tasks: you don’t have to keep all your thoughts cramped in your head.

Tip 4: schedule blocks for your email

Often you are inclined to check your email during the day. Try to bundle this by making time in your agenda when you view your mail. For example at the end of your workday. This way you create more peace for yourself.

Tip 5: go for a walk during your breaks

Try to put away your phone as much as possible during your break and allow yourself some exercise. Or really try to enjoy your lunch instead of scrolling through instagram. Give your brain some rest from all the stimuli.

Advantages of one task at a time

Working on one task at a time has many advantages. It not only ensures a better concentration. Worrying and feelings of sadness can also decrease by doing things with more attention. This allows you to increase your sense of happiness.

NiceDay actions

Do you want to get started with improving your concentration? Download the NiceDay app and schedule tasks in your daily planner. Register how the day went.

Do you want to read more about this topic? Then look at this blog for more information. Good luck!

We don’t think a lot about it, but we all do it daily and many times a day: breathing. Our breathing is fully automatic and on average we breathe 23,000 times a day and process approximately 10,000 litres of oxygen. But what is breathing exactly and can you do more with it? In this blog you will learn surprising facts about breathing and how to use it for your advantage in daily life.

What is breathing? 

When you breathe, you transport oxygen to the cells of the body, while also cleaning the system from the carbon dioxide t. How can we perform this crucial and complex task without even thinking about it? This TedX video by Emma Bryce shows how our lungs keep us alive. 

Breathing and stress

There is a strong connection between breathing and stress. When we are relaxed, we breathe in the most natural way towards the abdomen. With abdominal breathing, the body is able to function optimally. As soon as stress comes into play, this has an immediate effect. We become short of breath. The breathing is high at the chest. The longer a chest breath lasts and the more it occurs the harder it is for the body to function optimally. 

Not breathing well for a longer period increases the risk of depression and anxiety. The World Health Organization indicates that by 2020, depression and anxiety will be the number one disease worldwide.

Max Strom, breath coach, explains how good breathing can contribute positively to physical and mental health. View his TedX talk here: 

Good posture 

A correct sitting posture is not only important to be able to do your work well, but also to breathe properly. Do you spend a lot of time at your desk? Then you can feel it in your neck, shoulders and (lower) back. Feeling discomfort in these areas causes you to change the way you are sitting. And as soon as that happens, your breathing also changes.

With a good sitting posture we automatically have (better) abdominal breathing, which contributes to the proper functioning of the body. If you do not have a correct sitting posture, your body will interpret that as experiencing stress, which will cause your breathing to immediately rise towards the chest. This video shows the benefits of a good posture:

When you have a good sitting posture, it is of course not the intention to stay stuck in that position for hours. Scientific research shows that taking a short break every 1 to 2 hours contributes to more productivity and a higher quality of your work. But more importantly: by producing endorphins during this break, you increase your happiness and you feel better and more comfortable in your skin. Treat yourself to a short healthy break with these exercises that you can easily do behind a desk:

https://youtu.be/Awm_6PX6q34

Breathing techniques

There are many different breathing techniques, each with its own purpose. In this blog I share videos, each with a breathing technique explained step by step. You can easily try them all or choose one that appeals to you the most.

1. Anti-Flu

In the colder months of the year the flu lurks around the corner. Nobody wants to get sick. This breathing technique gives your immune system a boost and helps prevent the flu. Do you already have the flu? Also try this technique, because it will enhance your recovery: 

https://youtu.be/oDr8naNzCM8

2. De-stress

When we experience stress our breathing changes. In this video you experience the difference between chest and abdomen breathing and immediately reduce the feeling of stress: 

https://youtu.be/nNko-xLRDTM

3. Relaxation

Just do nothing at all and just be. When did you last experience that? This video helps you to clear your head completely and fully recharge: 

https://youtu.be/YNI0XP7d0wA

What exercise are you going to try? Let us know in the comments!

Are you sitting on the couch in the evening when you intended to exercise three times a week? Do you feel that it is difficult to maintain new “good” behavior? Are you inclined to return to the behavior you are used to? Breaking habits is difficult, but with these steps it is possible!

Why are old habits difficult to break?

Habits are structured patterns of behavior and arise from both genetic and environmental influences. A habit is goal-oriented automatic behavior that results from repetition and practice. This makes it sometimes difficult to just break old habits and make room for new more helping habits.

Step by step to new habits

Are you ready to hold on to your new good habit? With these steps you manage to create and keep new habits:

  • Step 1: write down the new habit, for example in the NiceDay daily planner.
  • Step 2: set a goal for yourself. What is the purpose of this new habit? Be realistic in your goal and don’t be too strict on  yourself if you forget to keep your eyes on the goal once in a while. Example: I want to exercise 3 times a week. Then you exercise “only” twice a week. Is it really bad? Focus on good moments.
  • Step 3: write down the why: why do you need this habit in your life?
  • Step 4: is it about replacing a bad habit with a good habit? then think of an alternative. Example: instead of smoking a cigarette I will do 10 squats.
  • Step 5: do you experience relapse? Write down in your NiceDay diary what happened exactly. In which situation did you relapse? Also fill in the G-schedule. Try to read back on this registration if you feel like relapsing again. We’re all people, pick up where you left off and continue as you already did! You are doing a good job!
  • Step 6: make sure that this new habit is finding its way into your system for at least 2 to 3 months. The new habit becomes automatic, slowly you will hold on to it without to much pain and effort.

Healthy habits

There are many good habits. These are habits you want to implement in your daily life:

  1. Drink 2 liters or water a day. This means 8 to 10 glasses.
  2. Good breakfast in the morning: a glass of water, 1 avocado, 1 banana, oatmeal, a spoon or peanut butter in the blender and you have a full healthy breakfast smoothie!
  3. Try to maintain the same daily sleep-wake rhythm as much as possible. That means going to bed and waking up about the same time every day. Brains like rhythm and regularity.
  4. Move 30 minutes a day. This means approximately 7000-8000 steps per day. Turn on the pedometer in NiceDay to show your coach your activity.
  5. Get a nice massage once in a while or practice meditation (or something that really makes you relax)!

As a child you probably played a lot of board games. Can you still remember what it was like? Totally absorbed by a game, which may have made you a little too fanatic. Or experienced frustration because someone else was winning? Another important question: did you enjoy this? Yes? Then I would like to invite you to gather your friends, relatives, housemates, a nice date or colleagues and to play board games again in the old-fashioned way!

In the past, games were regularly played in the evening. It was one of the few forms of entertainment. Nowadays, in our free time, we mainly enjoy watching Netflix, TV programs or we are active on social media. There is nothing wrong with this. But board games do have some advantages!

Advantages of board games

  • A big advantage of the games is that you can play it anywhere.
  • Your playful side comes up.
  • You get to know your fellow players in a different way.
  • It can make an uncomfortable date more fun, just by playing a game.
  • Board games help you to be more in the here and now, because you are less distracted by your phone.
  • It’s relaxing.
  • You train your brain to become better.
  • Playing with colleagues is great and good team building.
  • They have a positive effect on your mood.
  • You learn to deal with loss.
  • It provides a distraction at times when life is a little disappointing.

Enough benefits! So let’s play!

These are a few games with simple rules, a short playing time and easy to take it with you.

Monopoly DealMonopoly deal

Who didn’t play Monopoly? For hours you were busy gathering money, buying streets and concluding dangerous deals. Personally, I found it a big disadvantage that this game lasted for hours. Good news: Monopoly Deal takes about 15 minutes! The aim of the game is the same and still fun to play!

Qwirkle cardsQwirkle 

Qwirkle Cards is a smooth card game based on the Qwirkle laying game. Form series of similar symbols of colors and lay cards with your own from other people’s series. To win this game you need some tactics and some luck. Personally, I like this game because you have to crack your brain in every neighborhood. Do you like games with symbols and figures? This is a game for you!

Qwixx – Dice game

Qwixx is a very simple game and it remains exciting until the last roll. You don’t have to wait for your turn, because if a player rolls dice, everyone can cause the throw!

Have fun playing!

Every week is largely the same: you take the same route to work or school, you exercise every Monday and Wednesday and on Saturday you do your shopping. On the one hand, this feels comfortable: thanks to that routine, your life is manageable and therefore you experience less stress. But we all secretly dream of wild lives, full of adventure and great successes. Reality can create a suffocating feeling and sometimes you may feel an urge for some change. Which is possible! And it doesn’t have to be complicated at all. We share some tips with you.

Be mindful

Do you do everything on autopilot? You can live with attention to the things you do, even if you do them every day. Living with attention ensures appreciation for what you do. The autopilot can quickly make you feel like you are stuck. The routine is then not soothing, but causes dissatisfaction and stress. Jump on the bike consciously, do nothing (really nothing, so not your telephone) even when you are in the tram and wander around the supermarket without thinking about cooking again.

Another route

Take a different route to work, once a week or more often. Cycle a block around, get off one stop earlier or leave home at a different time. And if you do, do this mindful. Do you feel the wind? What do you hear? What do you smell? It gives your day a twist and this can feel refreshing.

Your ‘own’ spot

Your own spot in bed, on the couch, at the lunch table or in the tram? Many people have a place out of habit and comfort. Go crazy and choose another spot. You may see other things, the environment is different, your view is different. It feels different! And that may be exactly what you need.

Small changes can already provide a refreshing feeling and bring new energy. Occasionally getting away from it all helps of course! What helps you to break a daily routine?

NiceDay

Schedule something outside your comfort zone on your Daily Planner in the NiceDay app. For example, changing places at the lunch table or taking a different route to work. Keep track of how you experienced this. Does it provide some air? Or does it bring enthusiasm in your day?

Accepting is often easier said than done. Acceptance means you have recognition for what you encounter, without wanting it to solve immediately. You start to see it as a part of your current life without making it bigger or smaller. This way, you can investigate how you can live by your values ​​despite the psychological problems you experience. I would like to share 2 books that may help you accept your current process.

Tip 1: My friend fear – Meera Lee Patel 

book fearMeera Lee Patel is an illustrator and bundled her experiences with fears into a beautiful and special book. Patel challenges you to investigate what happens when you listen to your fears. What can happen if you embrace your fears and use them to empower yourself?

With many questions form the book you will find out of what you are actually afraid of. The writer tells about her personal experiences with fear and how she sees her fear as her best friend. The book is an easy read, has beautiful illustrations and it inspires you to be a little milder towards yourself.

Curious? You can order this book here.

Tip 2: Stronger than ever – Brené Brown

The book “Stronger than ever” is the 4th book written by Brené Brown. This time the theme of the book: trial and error. Brown is a happiness researcher and combines scientific information with personal experiences of others and of herself. With this she immediately sets the right example. Brown argues for a revolution: dare to be honest about failing. She describes which phases you go through and how to get up again. This takes courage!

Through the personal stories of others and the author you will get the feeling that you are not alone.

I recommend this book! You can order the book here.

Have fun reading!

Want to read more?

In this blog we share more tips!