Have you been wondering which habits you should be adopting to make your life easier, to be happier day to day, and generally be your best self? Today I’m sharing 23 life-changing habits that I will be taking into 2023. Now, doing any one of these things in isolation just once isn’t going to make any difference to your life at all.
However, the culmination of doing all these things as habits should make a massive difference over overall.
Now, what is a habit? A habit is something that you end up doing on repeat. It becomes almost like autopilot, something that slots into your daily or weekly routine. Habits can be good, positive habits, which we are going to be talking about today, or they could be less desirable habits, and we will talk about those in another video.
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Table Of Contents
Exercise
The very first habit I’m taking into 2023 is a habit that I’ve had on and off for many, many years, and that is exercise. I have gone through phases where I have been really great at exercising and phases where life has got in the way, and exercise has not been a priority. So for 2023, I really want to focus on exercise for both my physical and mental health.
Exercising produces endorphins and makes us feel mentally better. Obviously we feel physically better, our bodies work better, and I find if I go for long periods of time without exercising, my energy levels really drop. So for 2023, I’m going to be focusing on walking whenever the weather allows it.
The weather at the moment, at the time of writing is absolutely horrific. Not sure it’s like where you are in the world, but as soon as the rain stops, walking is just such an easy exercise to fit into my daily routine. I know for most people, just getting in a few extra steps is a super easy way to exercise because it doesn’t mean having to dawn gym kit and pay for expensive memberships for more structured exercise.
I’m going to be sticking with yoga because I end up feeling better. I don’t end up having neck problems and back problems and hip problems and things when I do yoga and Pilates too, as well as dance.
Ideally, I like to fit exercise into my morning routine. I feel like getting it done first thing in the morning really sets me up right way for my day.
I have made lots of different morning routine videos that you can check out. There is a whole playlist that you can watch.
Morning Routine Videos
Hydration
Hydrating is so important. I work from home & whenever I’m at home, I have got my cold cup with me at my desk or wherever I am, nearby. It keeps my drink really, really cold and therefore I, I want to drink it. And it also means if it tips, it’s less likely to spill. I also take this with me when I’m driving. so that I can hydrate on the go.
Cold Cup
If like me, you are less likely to drink just plain old water and you want to stay clear of fizzy drinks, then you can always add some, no added sugar squash. If you’ve watched any of my videos before, you’ll know I’m a big fan of the Burst multivitamin energy drinks from exante. It’s a sachet I add into my drinks in the mornings to give me that little burst to get through the day.
Burst Drinks
Audiobooks
My next positive habit that I’m taking into 2023 is listening to audiobooks, specifically audio audiobooks that I find uplifting, engaging, something that teaches me something. I have an audible subscription and if you use the clink down below, you can grab one free audiobook.
Audible
Planning My Days
The next habit I’m taking into 2023 is planning. Now, having done many different variations of planning over the years, I’ve decided the best way to plan my days is by putting together my own planner.
So yes, I have finally put together my own planner, which you can grab using the link below. I like to digitally plan on my iPad because when my planner is in my iPad, I can also pick it up on my phone, on my computer. It’s with me wherever I am. Wherever I think of something I need to jot down, I have access to it.
My Planner
You’ve also got the option. Of course, you can print out the digital planner, use good old pen and paper, or purchase the actual printed version. Planning out my days means I can really get the things I need to get done. It’s so, so satisfying, ticking off all those things on my to-do list as soon as they’re complete.
Time Blocking
This is something that I have done on and off, and I find when I actually do it, I’m far more productive and effective, and that is time blocking. Within my workday, I’m planning to time block a lot more. Rather than just doing whatever is coming up, but having set times where I’m filming, set times where I’m editing, and you can do the same within your job or whatever your day looks like.
If you think back to when you’re in school and you have a timetable, you math first, English second, and you know exactly what you’re supposed to be doing, you don’t waste time wondering what you should be doing because it’s all there and time blocked for you in a timetable.
Noting Down Thoughts For Later
The next habit that I really need to be better at, is jotting down something that I can’t do now. My brain feels so chaotic that when I get ideas, I really have to fight the urge to stop whatever it is I’m doing and go and action “the thing”, partly because I’m worried I will forget. , whatever the thing is, and it will disappear from my mind and partly because I just feel really inspired to go and do whatever the thing is. Sometimes that can interrupt whatever is the thing is I’m supposed to be doing.
If the thing I’m supposed to be doing is finishing a project for work and I get a flash of, “oh, I really need to remember to do this”, or “I really need to go and order this thing I’ve forgotten to order” what I really need to do and I need to is to take that thought from my brain, jot it down into my planner, (which I’ve got next to me), and go back and actioning that when I have finished the task I’m currently doing. Otherwise, I end up like a scouty person jumping from task to task and never really being that efficient because I’m constantly context switching and losing productivity.
Let me know if your brain works the same way. And you just get these flashes of, “oh, this is a really great idea”. Or, “oh, I’ve just remembered I’ve got to do this”, and you need to do this method too. You can write it down something like a planner or something that works equally as well is a sticky note or a note in your phone.
Meal Planning
I have been meal planning for quite a while and it really has made such a difference to that “oh no! What are we gonna have for dinner?” Feeling of dread I used to get before I was meal planning.
The slight difference is I now have redesigned my meal planner. Which includes, uh, things I need to use up and a shopping list within the meal planner, so all the meal planning can be done within one document, which can be found within my planner and the digital planner.
I have got an entire video on how I meal plan, although really maybe I should do an updated one, including my new meal planner. In brief, I like to go through cupboards and fridge, seeing what needs to be used at first, select which meals we’re gonna do for the next week according to that, write down the shopping list of all the missing bits, buy everything in, and then transfer that meal plan onto my organisation station board in my kitchen so that everyone can see what we’ve got for dinner that week.
Skincare
My next habit is taking better care of my skin up until recently, I literally just kind of washed off my makeup in the shower with cleanser and a flannel and slathered on a bit of moisturiser.
I had some new skin care for Christmas and I have been enjoying taking better care of my skin and actually taking that time to spend a bit more time on skincare and use that as a wind downtime.
Now I’m not getting any younger, I have a bit of a big birthday coming up later this year, so now seems a good time as any to prioritise skincare. Just taking a few extra minutes per day to take care of the largest organ on my body, my skin. Since I have been taking better care of my skin, which is traditionally super dry, but also get spots, I would say it’s been less problematic.
Drying My Hair
I’m traditionally very lazy with drying my hair and just like to wash it as early as possible in the evening, let it air dry and then I end up going to bed with it still slightly damp. I then I wake up with it all wild. I’ve always fancied one of those Dyson air wraps. I don’t have one of those, but I have got a sort of a dupe for it, which was quite affordable. I need to at least dry my fringe, my hairdresser tell me must do that so that it’s not a big old mess and actually goes into position.
Revlon Hair Tool
Journalling
Journalling is one that I know that when I do it, I feel so much better. I have so much more mental clarity and I’m much more focused on my goals and what I need to be doing with my life and which direction I need to be pushing in and that.
Scheduling Downtime
It’s very difficult when you work from home to know where the boundaries are and when you don’t have a boss to tell you when you should work and when you should not work.
It is very difficult because you’ve got to figure that out for yourselves. So this year is the year that I’m finally going to achieve better work life. Honest.
Cosy Family Activities
The children love nothing more than setting up for like a little movie afternoon. We close the curtains, we make candy popcorn like they had in Disney, and they absolutely love that, and I really enjoy that too.
So I want to do a lot more of that, more board games with the children and just generally quite cozy things that we can do, especially in these colder months together, and to really make time to fit those into our evenings and weekends.
Nurturing Friendships
The next habit that I need to really, really make some more time for is nurturing friendships.
I think most mums can kind of relate with this one. I have got a best friend who no longer lives in the same town as me. I’ve been trying to meet up with her since the summer of 2022. And through these many, many months, we’ve had lots of dates scheduled in, and then work has got in the way and life has got in the way.
So I really want to try and make time to actually nurture these friend. And make time to see my friends. Might be easier said than done, but I’m going to give it a go.
Booking Maintenance Appointments
I really need to work on is booking maintenance appointments before things break. For example, I have something of a dodgy neck and shoulder that “goes” every now and again.
Every now and again, if I don’t do yoga, (which is another habit I’m gonna try and stick to), and if I don’t book in things like regular physio appointments, then I end up in so much pain that I can’t look left.
And that is the point where my physio is saying, “you really should have phoned me a few weeks and not at the stage where you couldn’t look left:. This year, I’m gonna try and book better maintenance appointments. So if you’ve got a physio appointment, a dentist appointment, a doctor’s appointment, an optician’s appointment that you need to book, this is your sign to put that on your to-do list and do it today.
Baths
I have very rarely, over the last few years taken baths, (don’t panic, I do wash, I shower every day), but taking a bath really does feel quite relaxing and indulgent. I’m going to try and do that and make a little bit more time for me and for some head space as we go through this year.
Emails To Club
This one is quite specific to me and I’m going to try and send regular emails to my email club. This is something of a task that has been neglected over the last few months, and if you’re in my email club, sorry for that, I’ll be better in 2023. You can get involved by clicking the link below.
Join The Club
What you can take from this habit is there will be a task in everyone’s life that is not an urgent priority but still needs doing. So if you use me as an example, my urgent work priority tasks have got to be finishing videos to go out because videos have to go out every Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday. Those are priorities, then dealing with brand work and chasing invoices, things that pay me are urgent priorities, plus caring for my children.
Obviously urgent priorities, but sometimes I can be so busy with these urgent priorities that I don’t get to the other tasks, which are also really important. Which tasks have you got that have been slipping through the net that you want to prioritise this year and make those tasks a regular habit?
Early Nights
Next habit is to take early nights when they are needed. If you have watched my morning routine video, you know, I get up reasonably early before the children, so I can fit in a little bit of exercise planning, getting my head straight and getting ready for the day. What this means is, every now and again, you have to have a super early night.
I don’t go to bed super late anyway. I go up to bed between half nine, quarter to 10 and be asleep by 10 so that I can be fresh for the next day. But every now and then, I’m just so, so tired that I do actually just go to bed when the children do, and I find this so healing. So this habit of giving into my body when I feel that I need that extra sleep is definitely something I’m gonna take forward this year.
Reading
I find reading a really good way to switch off my brain from whatever is whizzing around in it. I’m sure, sure most Mums there can relate. The cognitive load of motherhood is massive, so reading is a really good way to switch off. I find actually reading before bed actually makes me sleepy enough to switch off my brain and wind down, so I’m definitely planning to do a little bit more of that. It’s something that over the years I’ve gone through phases of really enjoying and then gone through massive phases of barely picking up a book or reading a single word and I want to read more this year.
Weekend Prep For The Week
This habit is an oldie good, a goodie, but it’s sticking around and that is prep on the weekend for the week ahead. So that’s getting all the washing done for the week, getting all of the children’s uniform sorted for the week so that we are not having panics on school mornings or even the night before because we know everything is organised for the week.
On a Saturday or generally a Sunday, I like to meal plan, check the children have got everything they need for school, check the school calendar and just generally look ahead and then look ahead at my work week as well and plan out which days I’m going to do what, I know where I am and I can start Monday the right way.
Micro Cleans
My next habit is another one that is an oldie bit of goody and I’m sticking with it, and that is micro cleans. You will have seen marathon speed cleans on my channel. You will have seen power hour speed cleans, but in reality, the cleaning that I get done most often in my house is all micro cleans. So that is, I walk into the bathroom and I see “ew, the bath is a bit gross”, and I just grab the spray and I give a little wipe around while I am in there.
The way that I manage to achieve this is by keeping cleaning products to hand. So I have cleaning products in the bathrooms, both upstairs and downstairs, and I have cleaning products in the kitchen. So cleaning products are never far away. So if something’s a bit icky, I can grab a cloth, grab the appropriate spray, give it a wipe over, and it’s done If it takes under five minutes. It’s well worth doing these little jobs as you see them cropper, rather than waiting till everything mounts up and it feels a bit overwhelming.
Eat That Frog
Eating the frog simply refers to when you have a job you don’t want to do, something you’ve been putting off that you have to do, you’re better off doing it first thing in the morning and getting it over and done with. Exercise, for me, is kind of eating the frog. By exercising in the morning, it’s not something hanging over me for the whole day thinking, “oh, I should do it, should do it”.
Everything Is Figure-Out-Able
This habit is actually a mantra and it comes from a book of the same name, and that is everything is figure-outable, and by remembering everything is figure-outable. It really puts me in the right mindset of not, “oh no, what’s happening”, but “okay, how can we deal and move forward with it”. If you have not read or more importantly listened to, because I would highly recommend this as one of the audio.
That I will definitely be re-listening to this year. Marie Foleo, “Everything is Figureoutable” is an absolutely fantastic book. I shall link it down below and it is a book that you can get from Audible using that free credit that I talked about earlier.
Morning Routine
My next habit for 2023 is another one that I will be holding tight to, and that is my morning routine. I have tweaked and tweaked my morning routine over the years, but I found that a morning routine really sets me up the right way for the day, and I cannot recommend highly enough. Curating your own morning routine that works for you. So if you want some ideas on how you can make your morning routine the best ever, click over below to watch the video.