Imagine this. It’s a new year. You make a laundry list of resolutions that you believe would greatly improve your life. The first week goes great! You work out every morning, you eat tons of veggies and you go to sleep at 9 p.m. But slowly, the number of days at the gym decreases, more taco bell is incorporated into your diet and 9 p.m. stretches to 12 p.m. You end the month of January feeling unaccomplished and as if you are a failure. Instead of this discouraging cycle, I have compiled a list of 6 simple habits that will help you become “that girl.”
Make Your Bed
This may seem like a cliche, but it really does a world of help. Making your bed forces you to get out of bed instead of snoozing that alarm 4 times. It also makes your room look so much cleaner. I swear, the difference between a messy room with a made bed and a messy room without a made bed is astounding. My personal favorite thing about making your bed in the morning is that it forces you to only stay in bed when you are ready to sleep. I have a bad habit of doing everything in bed and this is a great way to urge me away from doing my homework, committing tax evasion, and watching Tik Toks in bed. A small hack to get this done is the Make Your D*mn Bed podcast that gives you a five-minute inspirational podcast to listen to while you make your bed.
Substitute Coffee Creamer for a Protein Shake
I saw this on Tik Tok and I thought it was genius. Since I am not a sadist, I do enjoy drinking my coffee with some sort of milk-ish creamer. But a lot of those creamers have so much sugar. This substitute not only axes out the sugar that regular creamer has but also provides you with a protein boost. Getting protein in first thing in the morning is so essential for whatever your day will entail, and this is a great way to get it in.
5 Minute Rule
Once a day, I like to set a timer for 5 minutes for me to clean up the space I will spend the most time in that day. Whether that be vacuuming my living room carpet or actually putting my clothes in the hamper, this is an efficient way to keep your space clean. A clean space truly creates a clean mind, and you will be surprised how much you can get done in 5 minutes.
Nature Walk
Find a trail and go for a walk. But here’s the kicker: take out your Airpod. You need to actually take a look at the world around you and listen to the sounds of nature. Mindful walking is so incredibly healing in a world where we are so overstimulated. Of course, take safety precautions and keep a phone with you (just don’t go on it) and some form of self-defense to make sure that your relaxing hike is not interrupted by any ill-willed people, but try to use this walk as an opportunity to unplug from our tech-centric world. To find a trail near you, you can use AllTrails which tells you the length of each trail, the elevation gain, and the difficulty level.
Gratitude Journal
I know, another basic one but I swear it does a world of help. Dedicate a notebook to writing three things you are grateful for each day. But don’t be vague. Instead of saying that you are “thankful for your friends,” elaborate and say what friend you are thankful for, what characteristics they exhibit that makes you thankful for them and if you are feeling extra grateful, reach out to the said person and let them know that you are extra grateful for them today. When you are feeling poorly, being able to look back on all of these beautiful things that you are appreciative of is such a blessing. For further details on how to start a gratitude journal, check out this article.
The Ivy Lee Method
According to Business Insider, the Ivy Lee method is a “100-year-old strategy for helping people become more productive at work.” The night before incorporating this method, you would write down the six tasks that you want to complete the next day. After this, you rank them according to their importance. The next day, you complete these tasks in the order of importance, most important going first and least important going last. This method helps to reduce “decision fatigue” and allows you to go to sleep knowing exactly what you wish to accomplish the next day. A great way to modernize this 100-year-old method is to use Notion. At the beginning of each week, I write out all of the assignments for each of my classes that need to be completed by the end of the week. Then each night, I select 6 tasks that I will complete the next day and transfer them from my “weekly” tab to my “daily.” On the day of, I will complete these tasks in this order and by the end of the day, I have every single task marked off.
While these may not be big ambitious habits to incorporate into your life, I really do believe the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. And I hope that at least one of these methods provided the first step to whatever goals you have set your heart on for the new year.