Anytime you feel like your life is overwhelming and you just can’t get a handle on anything or you feel like life is passing by too quickly and you don’t have any time to get caught up.

Step back!

There’s no need to rush around and feel overwhelmed. Just step back and breathe. Meeting these five basic needs can help you get out of your funk. They can turn your rut into a more productive routine and give you back the energy you longingly wish for.

The five basic needs to meet are sleep, fitness, healthy food, something that makes you money, and something for fun.

Sleep

Read anything about mental health or basic needs, and sleep will almost always be the first thing that comes up!

Sleep recharges you!

When you don’t get quality sleep, you feel groggy and tired, and you have a harder time focusing on anything! Sleep can really change how you feel during the day, and it can especially change how you get through a work day! Often, if we don’t get enough sleep, we rely more heavily on caffeine or energy drinks to help get us through, but that can lead to an even bigger lack of energy. Setting up your bedroom so that you can get good quality sleep for a number of nights in a row can make you feel refreshed and ready to take on whatever comes at you through the day.

Fitness

Another great way to get energy is fitness. I’m not suggesting you need to go out and complete a marathon. But, even if you don’t feel like it, a 20 – 30 minute walk can put a bounce back in your step. A short but brisk nature walk or something more intense actually rejuvenates you more than you think it will. The most exhausting part is that moment when you decide to do a workout or decide to sit on the couch. That is the guilt/shame moment. If you just put your shoes on, then head outside, you won’t have to spend any time in that moment at all. Afterward, you can just be proud of yourself for choosing to do the hard thing because you know it makes you feel better!

Healthy food

To get the most out of your good sleep and your fitness, fueling your body with healthy food tops everything off. I always use this train of thought while we’re out on a canoe trip. I know the kids don’t always love the meals, but out there, we eat for nutrition. We don’t just eat for the sake of eating – that would be way too much food to carry! Eating sugar donuts for breakfast out in the woods may seem like a treat, but it just won’t help you get through the tasks of the morning. The same mentality can be used at home.

Fuel your body with your food rather than destroy it with food.

At home, we can pick at food any time we want, despite what mood we’re in. There is easy access to all kinds of food, because even if we don’t have it at home, the grocery store is just one excuse to buy bread or eggs away! Camping forces you to either premake or at least plan ahead meals, and it has significant limits on how much weight you can carry for food. You need to pick and choose your nutrition carefully and intentionally to get the biggest bang for your food. When you’re at home, you can plan it with the same intentions. If you can think ahead for your nutrition at home, it will give you the extra energy and balance to help you sleep at night and to encourage you to keep up with your fitness routine!

Something that makes you money

The next thing you need is money! In order to buy the bed to sleep in, have the supplies do some fitness or a gym membership and to get the groceries for your healthy meals, you do need some money! You need to do something in your life that gives you money. Hopefully, whatever it is you earn is enough to help you enjoy life comfortably. If you can find something that makes you money and is something you enjoy, it’s a double win!

Something for fun

The last thing is fun! Work is still work, even if you enjoy what you do. You still need to have a hobby or follow your interests or passions in some way. If you aren’t doing anything for fun, then you may eventually struggle to get through your weeks, months, or your years. Eventually, not having fun with life can weigh heavily on your shoulders and lead to other issues or bad habits. Not having something that you love to look forward to can erase the hard work you are doing to sleep well, work out, and eat healthy! This is where you really get to think about what you want out of life! What makes you feel like a kid again? Go explore what options are out there for you!

So that’s it! Super simple, right?

Just do these five things! Sleep, workout, eat healthy, make money and have fun!

If it were truly that easy, no one would look up ways to get out of a funk or how to get through the day! It’s actually a really big deal, and it can be really hard to stick to these fundamentals. But if you do, and if you can do it consistently for a while, you will start to feel better! You will start to have more energy, you will feel stronger, and in general, your hope and happiness will improve too!

What isn’t magical about all that?

Set up your goals in this way. Start with these five needs as a priority! The rest of life is just the icing on top!

Thanks for coming home!