3 Tips To Add More Fun to Your Everyday Life​

We’re a freaking busy culture.

Busy with work and our family, not to mention trying to have hobbies, a social life, and personal time. I mean, come on, who knew adulting meant cooking food every day until you’re dead. The meal prep! I can’t even.

And certain seasons of life take up more time than others. If you’re a new parent or just started a business, things are likely going to be busier than usual.

When we’re stuck in busy, it’s very easy to focus on the must-do priorities and leave prioritizing our own fun off that list.

If you’re doing this, I have the answer for you.

Stop it.

Just stop it.

Research has shown that having fun increases your productivity at work, makes you happier, improves your health, and improves your relationships.

So while it might feel like something you don’t have time for, you must make the time.

If you’re like, “Shut your mouth, Alexis. How am I supposed to find the time?” I’ve got you.

I’m going to share 3 tips to add more fun to your everyday life, so you can put the fun back on the agenda, even if you’re in a busy season.

Tip #1: Let go of unrealistic expectations and allow fun to happen.

I’ve talked to many folx who find themselves in a busy season and are unhappy because they want things to be the way they were before.

They’re comparing what is now to what they had in the past. Their circumstances have changed, but their expectations haven’t.

A client told me that she knew she couldn’t have any fun until her kids were both in school. Life was going to suck until the kids were both in elementary school and she had more time.

That’s ridiculous! There are a lot of parents who still have fun!

We chatted more, and she realized there were many opportunities to add more fun to her life; they were just different opportunities than before.

She needed to throw out these old expectations of what could and couldn’t be fun, the rules she had made for herself, and all the limiting beliefs attached to what was. And when she did that, she could allow fun to happen in new ways.

This leads into tip #2: Be spontaneous

I’m a planner. My poor husband knows it, too, haha. As much as planning is an important part of running my business, I realized I was missing out on many opportunities to add more fun and joy to my life by not being as spontaneous as I could be.

Like I just mentioned before, sometimes we have limiting beliefs or rules we live by that just don’t serve us at all.

Being spontaneous is a great way to add more fun to your everyday life because the brain loves novelty. It gives us a little hit of dopamine.

So if every Tuesday night is Taco Tuesday, switch things up. Or order from a new restaurant.

If you always watch movies, try a new board game. If you always play board games, get a puzzle.

Find ways you can switch things up.

And if you find yourself with some unexpected time, here’s a great tip. Start making a list of things you want to do or try. Put it in the notes app on your phone or a notepad on the fridge. Then when you get a block of time, pick something off the list.

You won’t have to think about what to do in the moment, which can sometimes feel overwhelming if you’re busy and tired.

It’s like staring into the refrigerator for 10 minutes because you’re too fried to decide what to cook for dinner.

Making a list will remove that barrier and make it even easier to be spontaneous.

Tip number 3: Use gratitude to redefine fun.

Sometimes we’re doing fun things, but we’re so used to doing them that we stop appreciating them.

We might never have time to do anything fun while we’re literally in bed, having a nice glass of wine, and reading the new Ruth Ware thriller.

I talked to someone recently on a road trip in her beautiful motorhome, and she couldn’t stop complaining about the rain outside!

Most of us have a lot to be grateful for, but we’re not in the habit of pausing to savor the moment and how much joy it truly brings.

It’s not our fault. We get on autopilot.

It’s like being in a relationship.

You have to actively, intentionally appreciate your spouse, or you stop being grateful for all the things your partner does for you. You take them for granted.

Most of us take things that bring us joy for granted, too, because we get used to them.

During the pandemic, being at home, most of us realized just how much we had to be grateful for. Things like eating out in a restaurant, exercising in a gym, or swinging by your mom’s on the way home from work suddenly seemed like the funniest thing to ever happen to you.

So how do we use gratitude to redefine fun?

Make a list of the things you right now that you genuinely enjoy doing. You’ll probably be surprised by how many there are.

Then get into the habit of being more present with the activity when you do it. Savor that first sip of wine. Cracking open the new book. Opening up the puzzle. Meeting a friend for lunch.

If you see a pattern between all these tips, our thoughts influence how we feel.

There are times in life where we have the time we have, and that’s all we have. We can’t make more time.

But we can choose what we think about the time we have.

We can choose to work with it and feel an abundance of fun by adding more to our daily and savoring the fun we’re already having.

Or, we can choose to complain about our circumstances, which doesn’t do anybody any good, especially you.

That’s all I’ve got for today. Thank you for watching.

I’d love to know ways you’re infusing more fun into your everyday life. If you have ideas, please pop them in the comments.

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