Most of us are now settled back into school or the workplace instead of online or perhaps experiencing an empty house as everyone is now back in their out of home routine!
This is maybe a good time to ensure that we set ourselves a new routine with a better attitude to finding ways to have fun, and to avoid falling back into old patterns. I confess that for me this includes avoiding the old routine of crashing out on the sofa or getting sidetracked with random things (mainly cats), as soon as I get back home from the work commute.
Thinking about all the boring jobs that need doing, so that the weekend is not clogged with household tasks, might not seem like fun. It takes a change in mindset to stop seeing these tasks as very, very boring chores, when there are more fun things to do.
Transformational Life Coach, Jennifer Le, suggests that you can try to “have fun whilst doing these boring things in 5 easy steps:
- Social Media Detox
Your endorphins are running high every time you feed into your instant gratification cravings online. Take a good two days off of social media to clear your mind. Shoot. Take a whole week or month off if you can, and let your mind reset. Every time you are online looking at someone else’s life, you are quick to compare yourself to them, or you get too high off of watching someone else’s content that you do not have enough high left for you. Trust me on this, take a break from social media, and you will start to feel better. Put your phone away somewhere it cannot be reached easily, delete your social media apps from your home screen, and turn your notifications off. Save those fun endorphins for you!
- Learn To Be Present
We often like to time travel in our mind and wait around for the right moment to have fun or relive the past and think about how much fun we used to have, but nothing is more fun than the gift of the present. You don’t have to meditate to be present, all you have to do is be aware of what’s going on in this moment and how you can milk this moment. Learn to be present by following your senses. What do you hear? What do you taste? What do you smell? What do you see? What do you feel right now? It feels good to enjoy this moment just as it is. Being present allows us to focus on what is happening in front of us and around us. If we can make the most of the present moment then we can learn how to enjoy it.
- Smile Or Laugh
Now what I want you to do is think of something that makes you laugh or smile whether that is a funny joke you just heard, or maybe your best friend did something stupid that made you laugh so hard, milk came out of your nose. I like to think about cats and how funny it is when they get scared of cucumbers. Whatever it is, smile and laugh for a good 5 minutes and see how much of a difference it makes you feel. Even if you have to force your laugh or smile, eventually it will become real. Try this exercise with a co-worker or friend and see how the dynamics change. No matter what you are doing whether that is scrubbing dishes, cleaning toilets, or sitting at your desk, start those jobs by laughing for 5 minutes, and I assure you, that will add a little bit of fun to your day.
- Add Energising Music, Sing And Dance!
Can you imagine how stiff our bodies are when we just sit around or stand up all day? Have you ever listened to your body and heard it screaming because it was so bored staying still? What if we added some Beyonce’s music or some good 2000 tracks to our day? I love listening to music while I clean or work, and when I get in the groove, everything I do seems more fun and exciting to do. Move your body around and let yourself go, feel the beat, and rock to it until you cannot stop. Your body will thank you, and life is so much more fun when you can be free and dance!
- Gratitude is Attitude
Learn to be grateful for what you already have. We cannot all be perfect or get everything handed to us, so stop trying too hard. Let us take a step back and realize how good we already have it.…Make the most of this present moment and time by showing gratitude. Time and this one life you have are so precious. Be grateful to be alive! You can mope around and complain about what is going wrong in your life or accept the choices you make and do your best to make better choices. Go ahead and write 3 things that you are grateful for right now. Add this to your morning and night routine because the more you show gratitude, the more you can see the fun opportunities ahead.”
(intentjen.medium.com, 2021)
These all sound like good places to start. Juggling family, work, studying, and other commitments is hard, so why do we make it harder! Time is precious and for fostering households there are all the additional appointments, meetings, social worker visits etc. – which are tiring for both children and foster carers alike.
If you feel that you are missing out on some fun, either individually or as a family, then hopefully some of the links in the resource section below will inspire you!
Resources
https://designepiclife.com/how-to-have-fun/ Prakhar Verma – How To Have Fun In Life As An Adult: Are You Play Deprived?
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/here-there-and-everywhere/201403/8-ways-make-your-life-more-fun Stephanie A Sarkis – 8 Ways To Make Your Life More Fun
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zvjtqfr BBC Bitesize – Six Challenges For Family Fun
Sources
https://intentjen.medium.com/how-to-have-fun-doing-boring-things-in-5-easy-steps-476feb31fb26 Jennifer Le -How To Have Fun Doing Boring Things
By Lynsey Dobbs – Senior Recruitment Officer, UK Fostering