5 Daily Habits That Actually Improved My Life
A few months ago I was reflecting back at the end of a long week and realized that I felt completely frazzled and overwhelmed. I felt like I wasn’t accomplishing all that I wanted to on a daily and weekly basis, and mostly like I was always playing catch up with my to-do list. Because I wasn’t accomplishing all that I wanted during the week, my weekends filled up with chores. And that resulted in having no me time, which added to the overwhelm. It was a whole thing. So I knew I had to start making some changes that would quickly improve my day-to-day, and ultimately, my life.
Here are some quick changes I implemented that, cumulatively, made a major impact on my overall happiness and productivity during the last several months.
1. I do one load of laundry every single day. This may seem silly at first glance, but seriously it has changed my life. We never have laundry pile up anymore, which is an amazing feeling. And it’s oddly liberating to never have to wash a load of underwear in desperation. Since I work from home, this was easy for me to implement. I got into the habit of waking up each morning, putting on the coffee and then quickly tossing in a load of laundry. Then I typically take 10 minutes out of my lunch break to quickly fold and put away that load, and prep the next day’s load. So for example, one day I’ll wash towels, the next I’ll toss in a load of my clothing, the next maybe the shower liners, the next day a load of Shawn’s clothes, and the next day our bed linens. And so on and so on. This small change barely takes any effort, makes laundry a slightly more pleasant chore, and streamlines our daily and weekly routines.
2. I start my day with 32 ounces of water and a 25 minute yin yoga session. I’ll typically do this after I’ve tossed in the laundry and while the coffee is brewing. I always wake up between 6:30-7 AM, and I love this part of my morning; Shawn is still asleep, the house is quiet and the sun is just starting to peek through the windows. I always light a candle to cozy up this part of my morning routine. It’s during this 20 minute session that I’ll practice gratitude and set my intentions for the day ahead. Here is the yin yoga routine I follow almost every morning.
This doesn’t take a ton of time, is super relaxing and never fails to set a positive and productive tone for the rest of my day. It also helps me to ensure that I always have some me time carved out in a day, no matter how hectic it gets.
3. I clean something. This looks different every day depending on how much time I have. Sometimes I’ll feel up to giving the entire master bathroom a thorough deep-clean. And other days, simply vacuuming one room of the house will do. The one non-negotiable I set for us is putting the kitchen to bed at the end of each day. Some days Shawn will do this, but most days I will tackle this space since I actually love being in it so much! Here are five things we do in the kitchen at the end of each day:
Wash and put away the dishes
Sweep or vacuum the floor and wipe down the counters and stove
Empty the trash and recycling bins
Put out clean dish towels & throw the wet smelly ones into the dirty laundry bin
Set up for breakfast/prep coffee/prep water bottles
4. I get outside to walk. Rain or shine, I always always always fit in a walk outside. Sometimes it’s just a quick neighborhood walk with Shawn, and other days I’ll do a full 5k in the woods near our home - we’re super lucky to live in an area surrounded by beautiful trails. I love using this time to get my blood circulating, check in with myself and connect with nature. Without fail I always feel so refreshed after a nature walk, and continuing with this habit has actually proved to make me more productive throughout the rest of my day.
5. I take some time to make and create. I am the type of person who easily falls into a loop where I feel like I need to finish all the items on my to-do list before pursuing a creative activity to fill up my tank. And as we all know, that to-do list is never-ending. In the past, I would tell myself that I had to do it all before I could start any creative process or project, and it resulted in me never actually beginning a new creative pursuit. Implementing this daily habit of taking time to create was oddly the hardest. I actually had to schedule a daily alert on my phone that reminds me of the following:
No one is ever totally free of mess and clutter and work that could be seen to. The key is to simply begin.
Making time to make has without a doubt made me a better me. Taking some time every day to create renews me, and it looks different from one day to the next. Some days it will be taking time to paint, and other days it will be baking a batch of gluten-free biscuits, writing up a blog post or rearranging an area of the house. It’s the hands-on process that helps me unwind and refocus on what’s actually important in life.
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