DanThornton

Big, radical shifts can be offputting and encourage procrastination or failure, at least in my case. But I’ve had a bit of success over recent months with small, quick changes improving my health and stress levels. And they’re often cheap or free to put into practice, so I figured I’d share them in case anyone else might benefit.

One thing that’s definitely helped is that my partner and I both decided we wanted to introduce some new habits. Having friends and family involved can definitely help when you’re not feeling motivated, as I know from being dragged out of bed in my university days by my gym buddy at the time.

And while I’m fortunate to be self-employed and largely working from home, which gives me more flexibility over my routine, it brings a different set of challenges. Especially when I can be sat in my office chair for an entire day, staring at a screen, and only getting up for food…

Walking:

We’re fortunate to live on the outskirts of Peterborough, with a park just down the road, and plenty of countryside around us. So as long as the weather isn’t terrible, my partner and I are now regularly going for short walks during the week when time is a little more constrained due to work. And on the weekends, I tend to go for much longer rambles with my son. It’s normally two or three hours of exploring, but occasionally we’ve ended up hiking around for a lot longer.

It doesn’t cost anything, although some inexpensive walking shoes or boots and a lightweight rain jacket can come in handy. And it’s a great opportunity to chat about things in a ‘neutral’ setting, as well as a proven boost for creativity during the working week.

And while I’m lucky to have some nice surroundings nearby, I’ve often wandered alone for hours around the centre of London, Medway, or recently Cambridge, while visiting for work or family reasons. You can find hidden streets, parks and other gems in even the most built-up areas.

Food:

We’ve cut down on fast food and pre-prepared meals. While I enjoy cooking, it’s easy to feel like there isn’t time or energy for prep and washing up every night, but we’re building up a decent repertoire of Asian and Italian dishes which don’t take very long to make, or use an endless amount of ingredients and pans. Cooking together with my partner or son has also made the time more social and enjoyable, rather than a chore.

And it’s surprising how much different making one more home cooked meal each week can make. Or skipping meat for a day. Although I have to admit part of the encouragement to cut down on drive throughts has been the arrival of Wendys in Peterborough, which is pricier but preferable. So I’ll happily swap two or three visits elsewhere for one Baconator meal and a Frosty.

Other simple things have been reducing the snacks we buy, or swapping them for fruit. Increasing our intake of beneficial food like live yoghurt and sauerkraut (I’m a big fan of Vadasz raw garlic and dill). And as I’ve found in the past, removing options like chocolate and crisps from the shopping list is much easier than using willpower to try and avoid them in the cupboards.

Meditation or Tai Chi

My partner has found a lot of success with meditation, but I tend to find it hard to stay still. It’s one of the reasons why I find walking so helpful, but we’ve also started practising daily Tai Chi, using various Youtube tutorials from channels like Taiflow.

For my partner, it’s gentle and accessible enough to build up her strength and flexibility. And for me, the slow movements enable me to concentrate on breathing etc without feeling like I need to fidget. I’m not quite so engaged with the spiritual side of Tai Chi yet, but the relation of the movements to other martial arts mean that I can focus more on that side of things (I’ve dabbled with Karate, Judo and others in the past and hope to get back to some of them in the near future).

Building a more regular routine

This is something I’ve always struggled with, especially after becoming self-employed. As a night owl who can get caught up in work or hobbies until the early hours of the morning, building a regular routine can be tricky at times.

But I’m slowly getting there. Setting regular times for Tai Chi, walking and eating definitely helps, especially if there’s someone else in the house to come and remind me it’s time to step away from the computer. Along with setting a regular alarm for every day of the week, including weekends.

Staying Covid safe

Possibly the most controversial, but with close family who are immuno-suppressed or have other health issues which increase the risks from Covid (and other illnesses/infections), I’ve stayed conscientious about masking indoors and in crowded outdoor settings, ensuring good ventilation in the house, and investing in a HEPA air filter for times when we might be stuck in places with poor ventilation.

But as a fairly normal, reasonably healthy middle-aged male, it’s also about the risks to my own health from repeated infection. Along with the potential of Long Covid, even a mild or asymptomatic infection can trigger cognitive decline, vascular problems, an increased risk of heart attacks or strokes, auto immune conditions (including Type 1 and 2 diabetes), and more. And while vaccination can reduce the risks of serious complications, it doesn’t prevent tranmission.

So managing the risk just means a FFP2/N95 mask in my pocket for when I nip into a shop. Or go to the bar before sitting in the pub beer garden if the weather allows it. And combined with better ventilation from open windows/HEPA filters, it also cuts down on other airborne infections, including colds and flu.

(For the record, I’d prefer we don’t need pandemic lockdowns in the future, it’d be great not to have to wear a mask indefinitely so I can eat and drink inside again, and while you’re entitled to your own opinions on masks and vaccinations, you can voice them on your own website, blog and social media – respectful questions and comments are fine, but I don’t have the time or energy to counter every potential troll etc.)

Changing my media and entertainment diet:

As a reformed news junkie, I still regularly check the same sites. But I’ve become better at deciding whether it’s a topic that matters, or that I actually need to engage with. And the same applies to social media, particularly as X/Twitter descends into a more expensive clone of the right wing networks that launched a few years ago.

Pausing and occasionally deleting half-typed angry comments in favour of actively supporting positive organisations/individuals/actions has made a big difference. It takes a lot of time and effort to tackle misinformation and prejudice, and there are people who are better at it than I am, so supporting them is more productive than trying to do it myself unless it’s someone who I’m closely linked with.

And I’m still working on blogging more here, rather than sharing my thoughts entirely on social media.

Instead, I’m focusing on the people who actually matter to me, and taking action on the causes I care about, whether that’s local or national. And that helps my mood and stress levels, as well as producing better results. I’d rather spend my time promoting great projects like Peterborough STEM Festival, for example, than arguing with someone who might claim girls can’t do science, as an example. Or building a Corsi-Rosenthal box I can donate rather than arguing about whether masks work.

I’m also trying to read a bit more, as always. Especially non-work related topics. And when it comes to TV and videogames, I’m trying to limit my focus during the week to things which don’t encourage binging quite a much. Watching a series on DVD rather than on-demand makes it easier to stop, and sim racing has natural breaks unlike Apex Legends or Football Manager.

Other suggestions?

All this means I’m feeling a bit healthier and less stressed than in recent years, and I’m definitely open to other suggestions for improving things further. I’m already keeping my eye out for any local outdoors Tai Chi or martial arts classes next year, scouting the area for new walking routes, and investigating new noodle and pasta recipes (recommendations always welcome).

I’m not about to become a health or life coach, and I haven’t succeeded with all the new habits I wanted to follow (I’m not reading or playing guitar as much as I’d like, and Duolingo keeps sending me messages about my lack of language learning over recent weeks). And between work and other side projects, I haven’t published as much here as I’d like, but all of this is about continual, incremental improvements and being able to understand and forgive myself for the occasional lapse.