I know there are lots of superb ways to improve your week, but when you’re stuck at a desk 5 days out of 7, it can be a bit tough to remember to breathe deeply, splash on some nice perfume or to muster the energy to go to yoga class. But never fear, because the internet is here to help! Here are some things I suggest doing today, so that you have a whole week of treats ahead of you.

Set iCiNG as your homepage!
If you haven’t yet had your fill of my ridiculous mug, that is!

Sign up for Note From The Universe
I know I’ve said it before, but since I last said it, I’ve gained a lot of new readers — who I don’t want to miss out, either! Note From The Universe is a wonderfully inspiring email that arrives Monday to Friday. It’s very encouraging & always makes me feel like I am heading in the right direction. Even the littlest nudges of support have impact! I really look forward to reading mine, & often feel that they are uncannily in sync with what’s happening in my life at that time. Plus, I think Mike Dooley is a good egg!

Create a Twitter account
Even if you don’t use it much, it’s fun to watch people’s lives scroll by in small instalments. I use a little program called Tweetr which sits beneath iTunes on my desktop, & it’s like watching a miniature soap opera. I really like it, & it’s a good way to distract myself when I’m feeling a bit bored or restless.

Sign up for Cupcake
Cupcake is my weekly mailing list, sent out on Thursdays (Australian time). It’s like being part of a secret little club — I share details about my life that don’t make it to the front page of iCiNG, as well as linking to the best articles of the week, blabbing about my current obsessions & sending you the juiciest part of a fortune cookie: the fortune! It’s a fun little thing to receive & lots of people say it is the highlight of their email week, so don’t be shy, sign up today!

Join a restaurant group on Facebook
I’m a member of “Melbourne Restaurants”, & while I barely ever contribute anything to the conversation, I often take their recommendations & have had some fantastic meals because of it. If there’s no local restaurant group for your area on Facebook, then create one & start some conversations! Maybe after perusing the group for a while, make a list of the places that appeal most to you, & make a resolution to eat at one a week/fortnight/month. Turn it into a special treat. Life is so much better when good food is part of it.

Make an uplifting Youtube playlist
…& add in all your favourite clips that make you smile, giggle or feel that everything is right in the world. Then bookmark it & keep it in mind anytime you’re feeling sad or frustrated. It’s incredible the way that a little clip can make you feel so much better.

Sign up for Free Will Astrology
I love Rob Brezsny & his horoscopes are magnificent. They are delightfully eccentric, quixotically realistic — they implore us to be the best that we can be, on our own entirely irrational terms. The best thing about his horoscopes, though, is that even if you don’t believe in that Aries rising Virgo moon stuff, the words that spill from him are applicable to pretty much everyone. When I was working in my last soul-sucking office job, Rob’s emails were, literally, the highlight of my week.

Participate in HugNation
Every Tuesday at 1pm West Coast Time, people across the world tune in to HugNation’s webcast to hear Halcyon speak & then give themselves a hug. It’s a lovely thing, so very positive. Where’s the harm in hugging? As Halcyon says, “Think of it as a sort of prayer — a communal expression of compassion. It is a weekly reminder that we are connected and we all far more similar than we are different.” Love it.

Sign up for SARK’s e-letter
SARK, for those of you who don’t know, is the author of some of the best self-help books I’ve ever seen. She seems to have had the most amazing life, & lives in a magic cottage in San Francisco. Every month, SARK sends out a super e-letter, full of colour & vibrancy & juicyness! It is always inspiring, with fantastic insights into her life & work.

Keep up with Cary Tennis
…The best advice columnist this side of, well, anywhere. I LOVE him. He has a fantastic ability to slice right to the heart of any problem, which is so refreshing because most people only offer surface solutions. Cary writes very regularly — make reading his work part of your daily routine.

Use Google Reader to follow your favourite websites
…& use my recently updated links page to help find them! I really don’t know how I managed to keep up with anything without an RSS reader. It is one of the cleverest, most useful things EVER!

Add your piece to Things I Love Thursday
Gratitude is a marvellous thing. I used to try to make a list of things I appreciated every day in my Moleskine, but often I would come to the end of the day & either forget to do it or neglect to make time for it. I think maybe it was a bit of a tall order! So instead, I created Things I Love Thursday, a fun routine of praising everything I like that you can get involved in too. It makes me feel great & it’s even better to read everyone else’s lists!

“Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, & creates a vision for tomorrow.” –Melody Beattie