Helpful Hacks to Get You Through the Most Hectic Years of Your Professional Life

Where do you see yourself ten years from now? If it’s a cross between Lucy Ricardo, MacGyver and Dora the Explorer, give yourself a pat on the back and a glass of wine, because you’re winning. With some wit, an inventive mind and a can-do attitude, employ these helpful hacks to see you through the most hectic years of your professional life:

Getting Your Bills Paid on Time

Use the power of technology to your advantage. Automate bills with fixed amounts to be pulled out of checking.

Many online banking systems have bill reminder and budgeting functions. Make a budget and see how you spend your money. For banking systems, still in the dinosaur age, there’s an app for that. Use Mint or similar app to track your spending and budget.

Eating Healthy While on the Go

Get used to menu planning. Batch making your own meals and snacks isn’t as hard as it seems. You need to establish a planning routine. Plan out what you want to eat. Decide how often you will shop.

Learn to freeze what you won’t use immediately, and your frozen items should last at least three months or more. Crockpot meals will become your best friend, which you set to slow cook with no fuss.

Nourish yourself with smaller, healthy meals. Grab and go doesn’t have to involve much prep. Yogurt, nuts, cheese, fruit and hummus are all delicious and healthy items to create a small travel snack buffet for yourself.

Working Out On the Go

It never fails. As soon as the New Year comes around, you’ll make another fitness goal, try for a while and blame a busy schedule as the reason for ditching exercise again.

Exercise helps manage stress and reduces your risk factors for many major illnesses. Make exercise a necessary part of your daily routine. Park a little farther. Take the stairs. Do asanas at your desk, and deskercise your way to health!

Stick to efficient exercises to manage time and health. Instead of scheduling an hour, budget 30 minute workouts at the max, especially for more intense routines. Don’t forget weight training, either, which is good for maintaining strong bones and building muscle. Split up lower and upper body exercises over a few days.

Keeping the House Clean While On the Go

Make peace with the difference between messy and dirty. Being a little messy is healthy and a sign of creativity.

A few low-maintenance tasks will keep the dirt from waging war on your schedule. Multitask to save time cleaning, and make it as easy on yourself as possible. Use the bleach disks that you drop in the toilet. While cooking breakfast, wipe down the counters. It wouldn’t hurt to hire a cleaning service at least once a month to take the load off of your back, especially heavy duty tasks.

Invite company over to get your butt into cleaning gear STAT! A monthly dinner party is just the treat you need to make yourself socialize with friends and clean your house.

Knowing When to Move for Your Job

If you’ve put down roots, it’s difficult to know when you need to move for your job. It wears on your sanity and stresses you out over time, affecting your personal happiness and job performance. If you’re traveling or commuting too far, it may be time to find a new residence.

If you’d rather not uproot, consider temporary housing for short-term living arrangements. It’ll give you a home away from home, whether you’re staying for a little while or trying to decide if a place feels right for you in the long-term. Temporary housing is affordable and may be furnished or unfurnished. If you need to relocate quickly, temporary housing is a viable option that can place you quickly and efficiently, without the headache of a big move. Adding artwork and other personal belongings will make even a temporary residence feel like home fast.

Dealing with Loneliness While Living Solo

Living on your own is a great freedom, but it also comes with the fear of loneliness. Being alone doesn’t mean you’re lonely—learn to live with yourself.

When at home, play background music and have the television on for ambient noise. Work on your passions. Be your own best friend to know what self-care needs you have and how to meet them, whether that’s a bubble bath, home-cooked meal or midnight dance party. Call loved ones and write letters.

It’s important to get out as much as you stay in. Go to networking events. Take a class. Find a coffee shop to haunt and become someone’s regular.

Life gets so busy during your professional years that you forget to live it. Remember to embrace and experience opportunity, which will require juggling occasionally. It also involves letting go and giving in, sometimes—such as hiring a housekeeper to clean your messy house.

Try on a new place like a new shoe, and break it in with a midnight dance party. Know that work-life balance means staying centered on the most ridiculous of days, with an asana at your desk. Enjoy a reminder that you have a little extra fun money because you’ve got a MacGyver mind and an app for that.

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