Every Day Feels The Same? 6 Simple Things M’sians Can Do To Add Colours To Their Monotonous Routines

It’s not uncommon to feel like we’re stuck in a rut. We wake up, go to work or school, go to bed and repeat the same routine every day. Eventually, instead of working towards our goals, we feel like we’re just killing time.

While these situations can be frustrating, the good news is that there are many easy and effective ways to get out of a rut and add more colours to life! Keep on reading to find out the different ways you can try to rekindle your love for life!

1. Learn to enjoy the little things

We naturally feel excited about significant life events like weddings and job promotions, but since they don’t happen often, many of us consider our lives “boring” and “uneventful”. The truth is that the fabric of our lives is made up of many day-to-day, seemingly insignificant things!

Learn to notice the simple pleasures in life like being able to make someone laugh or visiting local bakeries like Universal Bakehouse or Michelle Young Cakes & Desserts and enjoying the smell of freshly baked bread. Alternatively, if you take public transport, don’t forget to appreciate the urban landscape along the way! (Psst… tour buses like Ronda-Ronda KL and City of Lights KL offer the most scenic rides around Kuala Lumpur!)

2. Try new things and make new friends

Life can be monotonous when you have a long-standing routine to stick to. If you want to break repetitive cycles, try introducing something new to your daily routine!

Try to pick up new hobbies like tufting at Tufters Space,  Batik-making at Jadi Batik, or baking at Good Times DIY & Lifestyle Café. You can also make new friends at all these places or try social apps like Litmatch and Bumble BFF! Other than a boring routine, making more time for your new passions or friends is also found to lower stress, which improves your mental well-being.

3. Complete the same tasks in different ways

Every day feels the same because most of us have the same tasks to complete every day, such as working on the same project or studying the same few subjects. However, you can still be flexible and complete your daily tasks in many different ways! Not sure where to start? Here are some ideas that can help:

• Try different focus techniques: Pomodoro technique, meditation music/sounds, focus apps (Freedom, Forest)
• Switch up your work locations:
  • Work/study-friendly cafés: Bean Brothers, Common Grind, Feeka Coffee Roasters
  • Public libraries or bookshops: Raja Tun Uda Library, BookXcess, L45 Kurau Community Library
• Change the order of your tasks: If you usually start your day by doing extra reading, try listening to the lecture recordings first!

4. Be spontaneous whenever you can

Not everything needs a plan! Break up your repetitive routine with spontaneous things, like taking a walk in Petaling Street without a destination, saying “yes” to a last-minute yum cha session, or preparing a “simply because” gift for a loved one.

In case you didn’t know, being spontaneous can be highly beneficial for your mood and well-being. By mastering spontaneity, you’ll learn to be more creative, flexible, and open to new opportunities. You’re also more likely to be happier and experience less stress!

5. Get out of your comfort zone 

Staying in your comfort zone can make you complacent, which prohibits growth and limits your true potential. The right amount of challenges, on the other hand, can be very helpful in keeping you motivated and exposed to new opportunities.

Therefore, leave your comfort zone and challenge yourself daily to complete a task not just at work, but also outside of work. Be it doing an extra set of workouts, or finding another way to spread kindness, rest assured that these daily challenges will make you feel contented!

6. Channel your 7-year-old self

It’s simply impossible for children to be bored—they seem to find joy in everything! Remember when you raided the fridge and created a dish that no one had ever seen before? It’s time to channel that 7-year-old self!

Remaining curious, creative, and playful is some of the most effective ways to add colours to an otherwise monotonous life. Don’t be afraid to add more play to your grown-up life by:

• Asking questions and finding out the answers through DIY science experiments
• Doing silly things that you’ve always wanted to do as a kid (e.g. blending all kinds of fruits together)
• Playing your favourite childhood games (e.g. Batu Seremban, eraser battles, board games)

If you’re too shy to indulge in your childhood games, you can always opt for the grown-up version! For instance, those who enjoyed climbing trees as kids can try bouldering at Camp5 Climbing Gym, while those who liked play dough can take pottery classes at Beary Potter Studio.

You don’t always have to look for substitutes for your childhood games, though. There are a lot of fun events that allow you to unleash your playfulness!

One such event is the Fanta® Colourful People contest which offers fanta-stic prizes every week, starting today ’til 30th September!

Through this exciting contest, Fanta® hopes to inspire Malaysians to make their lives more colourful by spreading playfulness and breaking everyday monotony. That’s why, in order to encourage fun and play, Fanta® is also giving away a PlayStation5, a gaming laptop by Lenovo Region, and more!

Yes, you read that right! The contest offers interesting prizes like:

• First prize: Lenovo Region (2 winners monthly)
• Second prize: PlayStation 5 (4 winners monthly)
• Consolation prize: RM20 Shopee vouchers (10 winners daily)

Can’t wait to win these prizes already? Follow the simple steps below:

1. In a single receipt, purchase at least RM5 worth of participating Fanta® or Sprite® products on Lazada or Shopee.
2. Scan the QR code to upload a photo of your receipt.
3. Answer a simple question and stand a chance to win prizes.

Simple as that! Be sure to answer the question as fast as you can and make sure your answer is correct because whoever is the fastest to answer correctly will win!

For more information regarding the Fanta® Colourful People contest, visit their official website. Don’t forget to follow Fanta® on Facebook and Instagram!