5 Moments We Want To Travel Back in Time To

Or any other TV series, for that matter! Sleepless nights, binge watching Riverdale or Story of Yanxi Palace, anyone?

Nine in 10 young viewers in Singapore stream movies and TV shows over the Internet, and chances are, they’re doing this on weekends. We don’t blame them! But by the looks of things, it seems unproductive, lazy weekends are becoming the norm — more than 8 in 10 Singaporeans spend their weekends sleeping in to repay their sleep debt. You don’t want to look back and wonder where all your weekends went, do you?

What we'd do differently: Add some balance to the way we spend our free time by allocating a quota of relaxation time or a cutoff time for sleeping in and Netflix. Then use the remaining time on activities that keep you productive and engaged!

It’s no understatement to say that the rise of ride-sharing apps have transformed the way Singaporeans commute. While they’ve brought convenience into our lives, they can also bring out the lazier side of us if we don’t practice moderation!

Felicia Soo, 29, is the perfect cautionary tale. The marketing assistant manager sheepishly admits to using ride-sharing apps for almost all her commuting needs, spending up to $1,000 per month on travel. “It’s terrible but I think I can go almost two, three weeks without taking the bus or MRT at all!”

What we'd do differently: Here’s a hack - try loading your EZ-Link card with a sizeable sum of money! Nothing motivates you to ditch your ride-sharing apps in favour of the bus and train like sunk cost. Plus, it’s a great way to take public transport more often and reap plenty of benefits — you reduce your carbon footprint, save money and hey, it gets you that much closer to your daily goal of 10,000 steps!

Do a quick poll among your friends: who among you has managed to check off everything on their bucket list? With our busy schedules, we tend to procrastinate doing, seeing and traveling as much as we’d like to.

Before we know it, we’ve procrastinated the prime of our lives away and are left with less energy and drive to do what we want! One possible reason bucket list items are easy to put off is because their ambitious nature may feel daunting.

What we'd do differently: To make them seem less overwhelming, try breaking down individual bucket list items into baby steps and tasks which are more manageable and achievable. For example, instead of jumping straight into “take part in a 10km marathon”, set your next course of action as weekly brisk walks and gradually work your way towards the actual bucket list item.

Maybe it’s the needles, or the sense of foreboding while waiting for the results. We all have different fears and worries when it comes to going for a health screening, and we put it off for another day.

Take it from Christian Ngo, a 36-year old consultant. Despite experiencing frequent fevers and sore joints, Christian tended to avoid going for health screenings. “Yeah, I felt discomfort but it didn’t feel like it was bad enough for me to get checked and in my line of work, time is money. So it just didn’t feel like it was worth my time.”

That all changed one day when he woke up, unable to get out of bed due to an excruciating pain in his big toe — a sign of his first gout attack. 

What we'd do differently: Knowledge is power! Arm yourself and your loved ones by offering to accompany each other for health screenings to provide companionship and moral support. Don’t forget to check if your employer provides annual screenings to save money.

We generally take our health for granted and assume what we have in our Medisave accounts is sufficient. In some cases, some of us aren’t as healthy as we think! Even people with typically active lifestyles and habits are not spared from unpredictable events such as accidents or genetic predispositions.

What we'd do differently: Look into getting health insurance as early as possible. In fact, the younger and healthier you are, the lower your premiums generally are.

Life is short and we only live it once, so it’s important to take care of our bodies through simple lifestyle changes as well as proper health insurance coverage.

Prestige HealthCare is a great option to consider, with comprehensive hospital and surgical cover of over $3 million as well as the ability to instantly increase coverage from $1 million to $2 million if you are hospitalised overseas. Find out more here.