Ever feel like you want to reshape your life and make big changes, only to be overwhelmed by how giant a task that feels? You’re not the only one.
But making big changes doesn’t have to mean moving mountains. The most meaningful changes need to start with something small, and there’s nothing better than taking a step forward - no matter how big or small that step is.
Adding tiny, manageable habits to your routine can have a subtle but powerful impact on your lifestyle overall, and lead to making gradually bigger and bigger changes until before you know it - you’re seeing improvements all-round.
If you’re looking for somewhere to start introducing positive changes to your life, try out these small but effective habits for improving your day-to-day living.
1. Make Your Bed Each Morning
This might sound too tiny of a habit to have any real impact on how you live, but trust me - making your bed can have a major influence on the rest of your day. Making sure that the first thing you do once you wake up is to make your bed creates an instant routine to each day. This routine kicks off your day with a sense of order and routine, and gives your brain a satisfying sense of accomplishment before you’ve even brushed your teeth or had a cup of coffee.
Not only will this small habit create a nice, purposeful opening to your day, it will also create a nice, relaxing close to the day - after all, who doesn’t love to crawl into a well made bed after a long day!
2. Write Things Down
Do you ever find yourself thinking that something is so important there’s no way you could forget it, only to then go kicking yourself later when it slips your mind? With so much to keep track of throughout the day, and our attention spans more split than ever, it should really come as no surprise that we can be prone to forgetting.
Making a habit to write things down is a small but powerful way of confronting this annoying issue. Whether it be a daily to-do list, a pros versus cons list to help you make decisions, or simply keeping a diary to keep track of your days - taking a moment to sit with some pen and paper truly helps to ground you in your own reality.
3. The One-Minute Rule
When we put aside tasks for later, they can quickly build up and end up never getting done. A great way to beat forming a backlog of chores is to practice the one-minute rule. This means if a task will take one minute or less - do it immediately. That stack of plates on the drying rack? Put them in the cupboard. Laundry in the machine? Start the wash cycle. Important email you need to reply to? Write a quick reply!
Procrastination is a difficult demon to beat, but forcing yourself to take on small tasks like these will build up your ability to take on tasks as soon as they come. Taking decisive action on the small scale will build you up to be much more capable of tackling the bigger things down the line in life.
4. Improve Your Posture
Again, this might sound like the advice of a strict school teacher - but improving your posture can truly work wonders on your life. Whether you’re sitting in an office chair or on your feet all day long, the way you carry yourself has a big impact on how you feel overall inside your own body.
The aches, pain, and fatigue that can come as a result of bad posture can really take a toll on your physical and mental wellbeing, especially after years of bad habits. Making an effort to sit up straight and avoiding hunching over will help clear up those mystery aches that so often plague or bodies. The better you feel in your body, the better you’ll feel in your mind, and the more you’ll be able to squeeze out of your day!
5. Take The Stairs - No, Really!
“Take the stairs” is the advice we’ve all been given a hundred times, and a hundred times over - and yet even still it can be hard to resist the allure of the escalator or lift. Trust me, though; taking the stairs can be a surprisingly powerful habit to develop.
In those moments in which we are about to succumb to the temptation of taking the easy way out, forcing ourselves to take the stairs builds up confidence and determination. It may seem silly at first, but there’s an important lesson to be learned from choosing to take the harder route, when you know it’s the route that’s best for you.
True lifestyle change takes real effort, and requires effort across all areas of life - but small and simple habits such as these can be the tiny keys to unlocking major attitude changes that will allow you to steer your entire life in a new, brighter direction.
