Simple Ways To Improve The Quality Of Your Life

It’s the little things in life that get pushed to the bottom of the list of things to do. But these are the things that may be the most important for your quality of life, and to allow you to function at your best capacity.

If you do nothing else, try giving a little thought to those important things that add to the quality of you're life.

Make a list and decide how important each item may really be for you. I’ll give you a list to get you started.

It’s amazing how often some things you need to do seem to get in the way of a routine day. But ignoring them can cause more problems later.

★ Pick up the phone and call a friend who you haven’t spoken with for many years.

They're out there. You know more people than you think you do. Hey, it could change your life!

★ When a friend tells you they have a cold or had an injury and is going to see their doctor, take the time to follow up with a phone call.

Ask how they are doing. Your life can’t be that busy that you forget what your friends are going through.

★ Wind up your 30-day grandfather clock before the month is up. It takes just a minute but it’s a nuisance if you let it run out and have to find out what time it is to reset it.

★ Take a walk. Not only for exercise, but it's also a great time to think about things. Something we don't do enough of.

When you walk your blood pumps better and your brain functions better. It’s at this time that you might dream up important issues that you were ignoring and which you know require some following through.

So take that walk and see what comes to mind.

★ Check in with your insurance broker to be sure you're properly covered and at the best rate. This can come back to haunt you when you need it and discover you weren’t properly insured. Again, it takes so little time to accomplish and can save you from a ton of agony.

★ Investigate all outside walls of your home for any surprises that may need attention. Take a walk around your house. You never know if bugs or rodents are finding an opening to get in.

Also pay attention to puddles right at your foundation after a rainstorm. This can cause problems in your home and can sometimes be easily corrected by adding some topsoil to change the slope away from your house.

You may need to have your rain gutters repaired if they are not doing their job diverting water away. But it’s cheaper and less hassle to plan for this than to repair major damage that occurs later.

★ Remember your wedding anniversary. Your spouse will always remember the times you forgot.

★ Take a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar every day. This has amazing health benefits that many people don’t realize.

★ Remember a friend’s birthday. It means a lot to them and after all, don’t they deserve being remembered? It shows you're thinking about them.

Just a phone call is all that’s needed in most cases. But you can always send a card.

★ Install a carbon monoxide (CO) detector in your home or apartment. Mount this near the floor. I see so many places where people have mounted these things high up on a wall.

Carbon monoxide is lighter than oxygen. But it's heavier than nitrogen. And nitrogen makes up about 80% of our atmosphere. So CO will tend to sink to the lowest levels. That's why building codes require garage floors to be an inch lower than the living area of a house.

You’ll never know you have a problem before it’s too late if the CO Detector is mounted too high. This little effort could save your life.

★ Wipe down the baseboards around your home with a damp cloth. Vacuuming never gets there and they tend to collect a lot of dust. This is especially important if you have a baby crawling around or even a pet.

★ Work on that novel you were planning to write. If you were procrastinating for years already, try sitting down with a plan to just write an introduction.

That's nothing hard to accomplish, but you might just surprise yourself and find that you end up writing a few chapters as well.

★ Set a plan to back up your computer on a schedule that works for you. A little time invested in doing this can save a lot of frustration and loss later.

Did you have a will? Did you use an attorney that knows what he or she is doing? I’ve learned the hard way when my 98 year-old dear Aunt passed away. Her attorney wrote her will in such a way that he would benefit after her death. That’s not what people have in mind when they try to protect their beneficiaries.

So get references and find an attorney who specializes in estate affairs. Get all your papers in order, including Power Of Attorney, medical directives in case someone needs to make decisions on your behalf, and a Last Will and Testament that covers all issues that can come up so that it can’t be denied probate when the time comes.

★ Sit in your favorite comfortable chair and think about where you're headed in life.

Are you happy with how things are going? Is there something else you always wanted to do but never seem to get around to it?

Now is the time to let yourself wonder about it. You may find the answer in your own thoughts.

Copyright © 2011 Glenn Stok