Ten Favorite Zen Habits Articles

One of my major inspirations for writing this blog was my consumption of Zen Habits by Leo Babauta. Leo's ideas and tips have helped me along my own path toward simplifying and improving my life, and although I find that not everything he recommends works for me (after all, he's a married father of six who lives in Guam and I'm a college student in Washington, DC), many of his ideas can be adapted to suit my life better. I plan to write more soon about how I have adapted some of Leo's ideas to work for me, but for now here are some Zen Habits pieces that I regularly peruse when I am looking for an inspirational pick-me-up.

1) Handbook for Life: 52 Tips for Happiness and Productivity. Just like it sounds, this piece offers a number of helpful tips for streamlining your life, and making it happier, simpler, and more productive (three concepts that, in my opinion, are closely linked).

2) 55 Ways to Get More Energy. Everybody has those days-- or times of day-- where your energy just fails and all you want to do is take a nap. How do you get around that when you really need to stay awake and do work? Guest author Greg Go offers some awesome tips.

3) 10 Simple Ways to Live a Less Stressful Life. I am increasingly of the opinion that stress is an overrated part of life. While it has some benefits when present at a reasonable level, our normal high-stress lives are both unhelpful and dangerous. I am quite jealous of Leo, who lives on Guam and works from home, but he does know a lot about how to reduce stress from his previous high-stress job. These ten ideas are useful because they are basic enough to work in almost anybody's life, with maybe some modifications. Reducing stress is a valuable lesson.

4) 12 Ways to Decompress After High Stress. So even after reading #3, some stress still managed to creep into your life? Don't worry, it happens. It's inevitable, actually. But I agree with Leo here-- it is imperative to decompress and let your body rejuvenate after a period of insane stress. Here he presents 12 ideas on how to do that.

5) 12 Ideas for Establishing a Calming Routine. A good way to maintain calm in your life is to establish routines that help you to center yourself on a daily basis. Whether you prefer your quiet time in the morning or the evening or both, it's worth looking into.

6) Feeling Down? 7 Ways to Pick Yourself Back Up! 'Nough said. These are very practical tips for pulling yourself out of a standard day-to-day melancholy.

7) How to Actually Execute Your To-Do List: or, Why Writing It Down Doesn't Actually Get It Done. My name is Carolyn and I am a list-maker. I admit it freely. I rely on lists to keep myself organized, but for years I had issues actually doing the stuff on the tasks list. I've since gotten a lot better at "just doing it," and articles like this one helped a lot with that. Goes through a lot of the common obstacles to getting things done, and offers tips on overcoming them.

8) Let the World Pass You By. I live in Washington, DC, which is one of the biggest go-getter places I've ever been. What ever happened to just sitting and watching the world go by? Leo reflects on the same idea.

9) Sounds of Silence: How to Find Some Quietude in Your Life. I defy even Leo to try to find quiet while living in a dorm on a university campus in a city. However, I agree with him on the value of silence, and I do my best to find my quiet time on a regular basis-- usually it winds up being on a walk on side streets late at night. But without some degree of quiet, how are you supposed to really be able to think and relax?

10) 21 Easy Hacks to Simplify Your Life. Leo's written a lot of pieces on simple living, but this is probably what I would consider his "101" course on the topic. Basic and beneficial ideas to start off anybody's move toward simple living.