This year, I came back to school with the resolution to incorporate new habits into my routine every week, see what I liked and what I didn’t, and try to make things stick. Not everything was a resounding success, as you might imagine, but I discovered a lot of things that worked wonders. Most of these habits are simple, but they’ve all improved my quality of living in drastic ways.
- Making My Bed
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I’ve long since argued that making my bed in the morning is a waste of time. To me, it was five minutes I could’ve spent getting myself together to not inevitably rush out the door. Once I started doing it, I realized how wrong I was. Making my bed provided me with a productive start to my day, putting me in the right mentality to succeed once I left.
It also prevents me from taking an unnecessary nap that’s going to ruin my sleep schedule. If the bed is made, I’m less likely to crawl in. The only downside to how successful this was for me was having to tell my dad he’s been right for years.
- Eating Breakfast
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Before coming to college, I never ate breakfast. It’s just never been a meal I enjoy, and it still usually isn’t. With class schedules being what they are, I’ve found it can be incredibly important for me to put food in my body before I start my day.
- Drinking More Water
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Drinking enough water has always been a big struggle in my life. If I don’t always have a water bottle directly in front of me, I’ll never drink any water. This is something I’ve always known about myself, but it’s never been something I looked to use for my benefit.
Now, I have water bottles I love drinking from, and I always make sure to fill them before leaving the house. Whenever I get randomly grossed out by the taste of water, I use a water flavor enhancer instead of drinking a different beverage. The flavoring helps to trick my brain into drinking water! As someone who’s always been incredibly dehydrated, my body feels better than ever.
- Putting Things Away
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This one definitely sounds stupid, but let me explain. I live in my sorority house, which is set up dorm-style. For that reason, it’s important to utilize every inch of space in functional ways. Obviously, I try to put things away after I use them and I’m done needing them, but that doesn’t work when I’m running out the door or not completely sure I’m done with it.
For this reason, I’ve started budgeting time every night to put away things I’ve missed throughout the day and give myself a better environment to start the next day in.
- Rewarding Myself
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One of my biggest changes has come from rewarding myself for engaging in these habits and practicing self-care.
I previously thought that these were chores I should’ve been doing anyway and didn’t need to give myself credit for doing them, even if they were hard for me. Instead of celebrating myself for doing these things, I would be upset with myself for not, which didn’t actually allow me to build any habits.
Self-care can’t be built on shame. One of my favorite ways to keep track of the things I’m doing is through the Finch App. Obviously, this isn’t sponsored, but with the number of people I’ve convinced to try this app, it really should be.
Finch is a self-care app that has gamified the process of completing healthy habits and self-care. Things like making my bed, eating breakfast, and more are all tasks I can assign myself and check off throughout the day. The app has given me an instant gratification factor for rewards. Later, I often reward myself with something real, like a sweet treat — giving me the best of both worlds.
I can’t believe I lived without these habits for so long! They’ve improved my life so much, and I can’t wait to discover what else might work for me. I hope you try some of these or even go on your own journey to discover what habits you can create for yourself to improve your life.
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