In life, you may face situations and tasks that you don’t like as much as others. That could be working out after a long day at the office, or checking off a time-consuming task on your to-do list. Even though they may not be interesting to do, growing into your life and career requires you to keep up and push yourself even though the “not so fun” stuff.
Yet, adding simple nudges could help you get over the hump without even knowing it. For instance, back when you were little, if a family member told you that you’d get ice cream after swimming lessons, you would do it without question. You may even find going to practice easier than it was before.
Instead of setting up rewards that could constrain your budget, give yourself a little nudge. From adding motivational quotes to your mirror to scheduling unwanted tasks weeks or months ahead could keep your head in the game. Check out Mint’s infographic for nine easy ways to implement nudge’s into your daily routine.
A) Establishing Healthier Habits
Healthy living isn’t always as easy if you have your favorite dessert sitting in front of you. Or when you’re ready to hit snooze rather than getting up and workout. With our busy schedules, it may be easier for some to take the easy way out — yet it’s more than rewarding when you attend your workouts and eat healthily.
It turns out; it could also improve your performance in other areas of your life. Consider implementing health habit nudges to instill positive habits into your everyday route without a sweat.
1. Swap Out Your Dishes
It’s sometimes hard to dictate how much your grocery budget should be. Not to mention how much food you really need vs. to want. When it comes to making meals at home, you may grab the larger bowl or plate to fill with all your favorites. Yet, you may feel groggy from overeating or spending too much on your groceries.
Instead of feeling the pain in your stomach and your budget, simply swap out your dishes. If you don’t already have smaller bowls and plates, consider heading to a store near you to pick out your favorites. Or, visit your local thrift store to find some vintage pieces that aren’t as expensive or wasteful.
2. Make Recycling Fun
You may not want to have to sort through your recycled waste or even take it out at the end of the week — but when you make it a game, it may be another story. Look up printable basketball hoops on Google and print out your top choice. Then cut it out and tape it above your recycling bin.
When you’re eating dinner, or drinking your last bottle of water, try and shoot and see if you score. Even if you have a party or friends over to your place, make it a competition. You may even cut down on the time you have to spend cleaning up the day after. Then, check-in with your local recycling center to see if you’re able to turn in your waste for a little extra cash. If you do this every few months, you may end up saving up more than you thought you would.
3. Take the Long Way
Even though working out may not be as interesting as other tasks and activities, it’s good for your overall health and wellbeing. To get your steps in and foster a little competition, add calories counts to your stairs, or even furniture in your living space.
If you normally do home workouts, you could add calorie counts to your weights, stairs, at the home pull-up bar, and resistance bands. Over time, you may be more inclined to lift a couple of weights or take the stairs rather than the elevator. Even take it far enough to add calorie counts on your phone of different workouts you like to do and how much it could burn.
B) Grow Your Career
No matter how passionate you are about your career, you most likely still have your off days. When you find yourself hitting snooze and not wanting to complete a task on your plate, it may be time to make a couple of changes.
Simply adding motivational reminders throughout your office or living area could benefit you more than you thought. Stay focused and reach your biggest career goals without even noticing these nudges.
4. Get Motivated
You most likely have goals, small and big. To stay in touch with them, add reminders throughout your work and living space. Write out your favorite quotes on sticky notes and stick them to your bathroom mirror, work station, or even throughout your planner. Take it a step further to lookup free phone and computer backgrounds that inspire you throughout your day.
Every time you look down at your phone, laptop, work station, or bathroom, you’ll remember what and why you’re working so hard. Your productivity may increase, and you’re ready to take on any task that’s put in front of you.
5. Inspire Healthy Competition
There’s nothing like having a healthy competition — especially if you’re competitive. Ask your friends or family to participate in no-spend challenges, workout challenges, or even book clubs to keep you more accountable. If you want to set the bar higher, pair these challenges with a reward.
You cannot only reach your savings, fitness, or reading goals, but you could win a little something special, even if that’s just getting a chore taken off your to-do list for the week. You may also be able to spend more time with your closest friends and family.
6. Prepare for Unwanted Tasks
Most of the time, when you don’t want to do a certain task, you push it off — it’s totally normal, but not great. Instead of pushing things off, add them to your calendar weeks or months in advance. While the days get closer, you’re able to prepare yourself and know that you already have the time for it laid out.
For instance, if you’ve been pushing off going to the gym, utilize your lunchtime for your workouts. Block off an hour or an hour and a half to your calendar. As you go through your day, you’ll know that time is for exercising, and you may transition into your task without having to think twice about it.
C) Make Savings Easy
It’s not always fun to save your money if you don’t have a big purchase waiting at the finish line. Whether you’re about to purchase a loan, a house, or ready to save up post-college, it’s always important to have a rainy day fund in case things were to take a turn for the worse.
Build up your savings and your financial portfolio using our favorite nudges to keep your head in the game. Next time something expensively goes wrong, you may not be as worried as you would have been.
7. Be Thankful for What You Do Have
If your budget is out of whack, practice gratitude, think about everything you do have rather than what you don’t. Every morning, list out five to ten things you’re grateful for. That could be your cold coffee you get to drink in the morning or your work station that provides you the tools to succeed.
You may find yourself reusing things you normally wouldn’t, or finding a new found love for things you may have forgotten about over time. You could save more on your budget and appreciate things you may not have before.
8. Automate What You Can
With new technology, apps, and websites coming out every day, it’s a perfect way to get out of the box and automate things you hate to do. For instance, if you hate sticking to a budget because you don’t like to manually enter expenses in, download an app that does it for you. You’re able to get an idea of where your budget is at all times and get alerts when your budget may be about to go in the red.
While you’re doing that, brainstorm other areas that could be automated. For instance, you could purchase a workout app that sends over automatic workouts without you having to brainstorm different routines or body groups to work on every time you walk into the gym.
9. Hit Snooze on Your Spending Habits
With fast fashion and lifestyle merchandise always arising, it can be hard to say no to overspending on your favorite things. If it’s not fashion that digs into your wallet, it may be food and coffee out on the town with your closest friends and family. Consider re-evaluate your spending habits and ensure you don’t go over your budget.
Practice mindful spending by following a budget and closely evaluating where your money goes to each month. You may not notice you spend a couple of hundred dollars on drinks, food, and fashion pieces each month. Instead, you could save that money and build your financial portfolio.
Keep reading to discover our favorite life, career, and savings nudges and how they could help set you up for success.
