Overview
With the hustle of a 9-to-5 and the fast pace of modern life, each week can fly by in a way that leaves you feeling exhausted but, paradoxically, as though you haven't achieved anything of substance. Well, enough of that. Each day you can elevate your life by aiming for just one easy win — even small changes to your routine will help boost your week and leave you feeling accomplished.
To get you started, we've teamed up with our friends at Coopers to bring you a list of 'easy wins' — small things that will enrich your week and help you balance that delicate trifecta of health, career and social life with greater aplomb than ever before.
MONDAY: GET COFFEE WITH A COLLEAGUE
You can go for months — years, even — only knowing your colleagues on a superficial level. So, why not take some time out of your Monday to get to know someone from the office a bit better. It's an easy win from both a social and career perspective. If you're shy or not too sure of what to talk about, the best place to start is to simply ask what path your colleague took to reach their current job. If that fails, Netflix chat is always a good back up — people love spruiking their favourite new series. Who knows, you could find a new work bestie. And, once the relationship progresses, you can swap coffee dates for after-work beers.
TUESDAY: SPEND YOUR LUNCH BREAK AT A GALLERY
Every day we are bombarded with images via our screens — but seeing things IRL is an altogether different, much more impactful, experience. Switch off your phone, head to an art gallery and stimulate your senses the old-fashioned way. It doesn't have to be a full-blown art affair where you spend your entire Sunday traversing one of the major galleries; it can be as easy as popping into a local gallery on your lunch break and doing a quick walkthrough. Add a bit of culture to your work week, and check out Kyle Montgomery's crystal Virgin Mary sculptures at China Heights in Sydney, Honey Long and Prue Stent's divine photography at Arc One in Melbourne or the young artistic talent at the Edwina Corlette Gallery in Brisbane.
WEDNESDAY: DO A DIGITAL DETOX
Sure, technology has its many benefits, but it can also have some pretty nasty side-effects. Constant connection can be stressful, distracting or, at worst, damaging to our mental health. While a full-on digital detox is off the cards for most of us — y'know work and stuff — design ethicist Tristan Harris has a number of tricks to help us reduce our reliance on smartphones and form more intentional relationships with technology. For starters, download Flux onto your computer (it cuts out the blue light from your screen at night so your melatonin levels are less disrupted), change your iPhone display to black and white (grayscale is less appealing to regularly check than colour) and turn off push notifications on your phone. Now that scrolling is no longer sucking up your time, you can bury your head in a book, catch up with friends, take a walk... the opportunities are endless.
THURSDAY: EXPAND YOUR MIND WITH A TALK
You know the importance of integrating physical exercise into our weekly routines, but it's easy to forget the need to keep our minds active, too. On any given night you can find a number of scintillating talks across your city on diverse topics like politics, media, art, sexuality and business. Many of these events — held at bookshops like Gleebooks in Sydney, Avid Reader in Brisbane or Readings in Melbourne — are free to attend. You can also check out our Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne event pages to find upcoming talks and classes in your city.
FRIDAY: SAVOUR A BOWL OF PHO
Wind down the work week with a Friday night pho from the best in the business. The most delicious meals often hail from the most humble looking places — a good noodle-soup discovery will attest to this adage like nothing else. Pho Tau Bay in Sydney's Cabramatta, Pho Hung Vuong 2 in Melbourne's Richmond and The Vietnamese in Brissie's Fortitude Valley all pack a punch with bountiful bowls of pure flavour. To take this easy win a step further, treat yourself to an ice cold beer — beer and pho are bros, trust us.
SATURDAY: READ AN ACTUAL NEWSPAPER
Yes, they still exist. Head to your local cafe, grabbing a paper on the way, order a flat white and catch up on the news in a slow, laidback way — rather than that frenzied, panicked newsfeed way. Kick leisure goals and expand your mind simultaneously. The Saturday Paper is prime for longer reads, The Australian Financial Review is perfect for the latest in business and politics, while The Age (Melbourne), The Sydney Morning Herald (Sydney) or The Courier-Mail (Brisbane) cover the news of your city.
SUNDAY: TUCK INTO SOME TACOS
You heard it here first, shrimp tacos are the at-home dish of choice for summer 2019 — fresh, zesty, and perfect for warm weather. Close out your week with the biggest of littlest wins, find your preferred recipe on the interwebs and put on a feast for your loved ones. Just add beers and sangria, and you have the perfect Saturday evening made.
Kick off your 'easy wins' by enjoying a Coopers Dry, or two, with your mates.