My mum has always told us that having holiday or resting is not doing nothing , it’s changing activity.

I remember my younger summers when my parents worked, and my grandmother was in charge and we used to watch The Sweet Valley Twins, The Baywatch, The Prince of Bell Air, Steve Urkel, Dragon Ball, Sabrina, Ashley and Mary Kate, the Simpsons and so on… TV marathon which we combined with games. But changes of activity soon came in the form of summer jobs, camps, courses…

When one is tired, leaving aside the physical exhaustion, we just have to stimulate the brain differently to keep it happy.

Here, 10 things to do when you get tired or when you have time:

1. Review/come up with/organise activities and personal goals. Realistic and achievable in the short and long term.

2. Improve/tidy/clear up the space around us. In a clean and tidy environment, one lives better. Mess is an enemy.

3. Don’t forget your body. Time for the shell, which is what protects the soul. Health, beauty, sport and diet. Is everything in order?

4.Visiting friends family. It’s only nº4 , because you could find it very obvious, but sometimes it’s better to “sanitise”/clean oneself before splashing others. And sometimes we need urgent external “sanitation”. Knowing how to ask for help is a talent.

5. Enjoy your hobbies. Do you know yours?. Sometimes I wonder what I really enjoy doing. But there’s usually something I want more than anything else at any given time .

6. Challenge yourself. No need for great deeds. Challenging yourself is good, adapting it to your limitations. If you know them you’ll have less anxiety.

7. Learn a skill/language . There are many things you can’t do but you could do them well with time. Just get started.

8. Contradict your brain. This may seem odd, but using the neuronal plasticity of the brain, the ability it’s got to create new neural circuits through repetition, we can become smarter. Put it in another way, learning new thing or ways to do them. Some  examples are: if you are left handed try to become right handed,  if you normally need two hands, try with just one, change your early morning rituals….  Ultimately, unlearn what you’ve learned and relearn it differently.

9. Socialise. Open circle of acquaintances/friends. It is well known that we are social beings. Meeting new people opens up the mind, gives more insight, knowledge… Makes us more tolerant.

10. Keep it up! Being active and dynamic just depends on you and your will power. Yours is the decision of wanting to improve from inside to outside.