The other day I had an epiphany while I was drying my hair. As usual, my thoughts were all over the place, jumping from personal reminders to work tasks to anticipated conversations to goal setting for 2016. I was debating whether I would make an official list of my goals for 2016, but as I mentally went through my list I realized that something was still missing.
After some careful thought, it hit me. I’ve focused so much on big, time-consuming goals and aspirations that I’ve forgotten about many of the simple, daily habits that create happiness in my life! In fact, life has felt a bit chaotic and unorganized for some time now, and it’s because I’ve let a lot of these daily habits slide. As I stood there blasting my hair, I realized I need to change my focus. What’s the point of setting goal after goal if the process itself doesn’t feel peaceful? Rather than plough ahead with tunnel vision locked only on the goals, this year I’m going to make room for the daily habits that bring me consistent joy – the ones that I haven’t allowed myself to make time for in a long while. I’m going to call these my “Daily Habits for Happiness”, and I truly believe that this approach can change my life.
What do I mean by daily habits for happiness? It’s anything that you can easily accomplish in your day to day life that makes you feel really good. These are often things that we brush off or let fall by the wayside because they aren’t given as much priority or importance as other things, but their potential to improve our quality of life is HUGE!
There are many things that I’m doing successfully each day (such as dedicated family time, exercise, etc), but there are many things that I can start doing to increase happiness quite easily. Here are some that I came up with. This list is a work in progress, and I’ll be adding to it as I see fit.
Make my bed each morning
I haven’t taken the time to make the bed consistently in the morning for umm….years? Since my mama told me to? In my defense, Eric doesn’t make it consistently either! The thing is, having my bed made in the morning makes me feel quite accomplished, but I’ve always told myself that other tasks are much more important and “I don’t have time”. Well, no more! It doesn’t actually take very long, but it sets the tone for the whole day and I feel like the reward outweighs any time spent on it. (I fear that I may fail miserably with this habit, but 3 days into 2016 I’m still on a killer bed making streak!!)
Shift workouts back to the morning
Speaking of convincing myself (or even bribing myself) – morning workouts! Because our schedule was so unpredictable last year (and still is at times), I shifted many of my workouts to the evening after Adriana went to bed. It seemed like the best time of the day for minimal interruptions (sleep regressions aside), but I started to really miss having restorative downtime at night. I recently started shifting my workouts back to the morning. I have Eric to thank for motivating me because he’s been rocking the early morning workouts with his buddy for a while. It’s challenging for me to workout first thing, but I always feel great when I do it. (If you’re curious – I’m doing a combo of running on my treadmill and online Barre workouts right now. I hope to add an in-person weekly barre or yoga class to my routine soon.)
Daily tidying
It’s amazing how much toys can take over our living room and kitchen area during the day (and how many times I manage to trip or hurt myself). We got into the habit of leaving the toys scattered all over the house because we were too tired to put them away before bed. But it really makes a huge difference to come out to a tidy room in the morning, rather than chaos. Now we do a quick tidy up after she goes down at night. It takes just a minute or two, but it makes me so happy to walk out in the morning and see a semi-tidy room (even if it doesn’t last!). The same goes for daily tidying other areas of the house…a quick vacuum in the kitchen and dining area does wonders for my mood.
Email management
Eric and I recently decided to disable the push notification setting on our Gmail accounts. I can’t take credit – it was his idea and I jumped on board. No longer will I be alerted every time an email pops into my inbox (which can feel disruptive and stressful – especially when it’s during the evening or on weekends). For years I’ve worked all hours of the day and on weekends. This year, email notifications are turned off and I’m checking email at dedicated times during working hours. Obviously, there will be times when I will have to break this rule, but I aim to make them far and few between.
I also find that staying on top of unsubscribing from emails and filtering out spam helps on the email front. I did it last year and it made a huge difference. I want to keep up with both of these daily habits this year.
Relaxed lunch + tea/coffee rituals
Adriana shifted from 2 naps to 1 nap a day in November. Now she goes down for her afternoon nap between 12-1pm each day. I used to eat my lunch while feeding her lunch, but I rarely got to enjoy my lunch before it got cold, or I just scarfed it down in record time without truly enjoying it. I can’t blame her though, I used to work through my lunches for years before she was born. Recently, I’ve started to make my lunch after she goes down for her nap. I find that it’s a lot more rejuvenating for me to have this downtime mid-day. I also aim to have a morning, afternoon, and evening coffee/tea/tonic ritual too.
Connecting with friends/family
This could be a lunch with a friend, a date with my coach, a late dinner at home with Eric, a girl’s get together, or a simple phone call. These connections increase happiness a lot, especially during the winter when it’s easy to hibernate.
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I’m not forgetting about my big goals for 2016 because there are many that I’m super excited about. However, this year I’m making time for the “smaller” things that help me feel balanced, peaceful, and organized on a day to day basis. This is the year that the small becomes the big. I’d love it if you joined along with me!
Cheers to 2016, friends. I hope it’s off to a great start in your neck of the woods!
Photo credit: Sandy Nicholson
I totally agree that small tasks add up. I created a list of “16 things for 2016” which includes a list of smaller items, that I think will add up to create a positive year overall. Good luck!
Great post Angela! I totally agree that it is the little things that add up to create a more content and fulfilling life. We watched a clip ( I think it was from a commencement speech) of a former Navy Seal who talked about the important things to do and #1 was make your bed! It is one thing accomplished in less than 1-2 minutes…even if your day goes haywire – at least you made your bed! I find I need to make my bed and do a quick vacuum (have 2 dogs that shed a lot) in the morning to feel like the house is in order and I can get on with my work. I would like to do more conscious meal times as well and relaxed tea time – instead of always multitasking….and longer meditation time. And I completely agree with the connection issue – that is my priority this year as it has taken a back seat to work, kids activities etc.
Hope the morning workouts go well for you. I have always found that is best way to fit it in – that way nothing can get in the way of it and you can have some more relaxed time in the evening. Plus it gets your energy moving and mood in a good place to start the day usually.
Thanks so much , as always, for your authenticity and inspiration. May 2016 bring many blessings to you and your family.
I also made the making my bed everyday ‘resolution.’ I also want to make sure the kitchen is cleared after dinner. If I let my husband do it, I come down to two sinks full of dishes in the morning. Sadly, that takes him as much time as it takes me to actually clear everything, washing some and loading some into the dishwasher. Efficiency is NOT his middle name. Still working on the other tweaks. I’m working on the OHIO (Only Handle It Once) concept. If it’s in your hand, put it where it belongs.
hahah :)
Love the “OHIO” concept – I’m going to use that!
Love this post! I thrive on structure, routine and a clean house and as much as I know they shouldn’t, little things can quickly affect my mood such as dishes not done, a messy desk, an unmade bed… I wake up at 5:30 every day to exercise and have some quiet time before the kids wake up and as hard as the actual getting out of bed is, that time is the best start to my day. My hubby takes care of making the bed and cleaning the toys at the end if the day, which is so helpful!
I really enjoyed this post. It reminded me to remember to do the little things every day that make life enjoyable. I also have a baby and they become the rulers of our schedule, but that doesn’t mean we can’t make time for other things that we enjoyed (like morning workouts) before them. I love your blog and your recipes!
-Heather
http://www.heatherinreallife.com/
I LOVE this Ange!! I posted my 2016 goals and vision board today, and like you, I have some big goals but also some smaller day to day ones that I’ve incorporated for the sake of fun and happiness. One of those is the daily tidying up sessions that you also mentioned, because when I come home I like my place to feel sanctuary-like! Another is connection with friends more often (it’s one of my central themes actually – a very big focus!)
You mentioned email management and I LOVE that you switched off push notifications! I’m not sure if you’ve heard of Unroll.me for those subscription emails, but if not, it’s a free service that allows you to specify all the emails you want to include in a daily roll-up. (ie those retail ones, the daily dose emails from various magazines, and anything else that you know is probably sent by a machine and not a person!) Instead of those emails going into your inbox one at a time, they all bypass it and collect in an Unroll.me folder, and instead you get a single email from Unroll.me that lists out all those emails grid-style so you can scan them really quick. I’ve been using it for a couple of years now and it’s awesome!
Happy new year, and all the best to you and your gorgeous family for 2016! :)
One of my favorite rituals during my maternity leave was an afternoon cup of tea with a little nibble- almonds, a piece of cheese, a cracker, a small sweet. I find it a habit that’s hard to keep up when working full time in an office, but with baby #2 headed our way this summer, I’m looking forward to it again! With a July baby instead of a January baby, I suspect I’ll be taking my tea iced, on the porch.
Angela-
Accolades to you! This is great! It is so easy to vision and set out desires, intentions for the life we are building and growing into and towards. But…we can’t get there without being present. Being here, in that moment. And doing those little and oh so big things that matter so much – that bring the joy and happiness that sets the foundation for bigger and more beautiful things. Taking those moments and creating little bits of joy, ends up creating a flood of happiness. And then…the world seems all the brighter…even in January =) Mine is reading – blocking time to turn off everything electronic – and reading. Simple, learning and enjoyment.
There’s something about a made bed and tidied area that makes you feel so great. I like looking over my room before I leave for work or before moving on to the next thing and feeling accomplished. I’ve been thinking a lot about 2016, the plans for the year and the things I want to accomplish or how I want to feel. Thanks for sharing yours.
These are all great! I’m planning a list of things I DON’T want to continue in the new year as opposed to the normal list of goals that everyone lists out just to mix things up a little bit.
I started making my bed about a month ago and I was surprised at how much better it made me feel. I also love going to bed at night in a freshly made bed. Who knew??
Thankyou – this is an excellent and much needed reminder that the little daily goals are just as (if not more) important than the little ones!!! Now I’m just off to make my bed…
Great goal setting!! I’m just curious if you have a current favourite online Barre workout? Please share if you do :)
This is great stuff! It will save your life! (I only slightly exaggerate). You will find a sense of peace attends these simple efforts. When baby #3 came along, we really instituted a lot of standards for the house to keep it running smoothly.
One of them was the 1 toy at a time rule: each child gets 1 toy to play with, and must put it away before he/she can take out another. This took some time to implement but our 4 and 2 year old follow it almost perfectly with only a few reminders. We “help” the 1 year old with this.
The second was the house had to be put back together at the end of every day. It’s hectic from 6:30-7:30, but the entire place is picked up, all dishes put away, vacuumed around table and kitchen, coffee prepped, etc., etc. And we also do 1 load of laundry (plus fold/put away) most evenings.
These steps have greatly simplified our lives, probably because we are no longer living in chaos (which we did for 2-3 years). You will also find it easier to work out in the mornings when these items are in order. Don’t forget to include some outdoor time and time with green growing things. ;)
I love all of these! But you can tell at my house what kind of day by if the bed is made. Doing it makes me feel so much better.
Dear Angela,
I love your outlook on 2016! I myself have been caught in the “tunnel vision” of goal setting. Especially during the holidays, it’s hard to even find time to really sit down and set some goals! I need time to ponder and reflect on the previous year and then meditate on what I want my life to cultivate the following year. I guess I am slow :) But I love your idea of focusing on the daily habits that make our lives run smoother and free of stress.
Thank you for your blog, your words of inspiration, and of course, your cookbook! I recently have been turned off to protein powder, and I love that your recipes call for whole food ingredients. I love to bake (and cook, too, I suppose), but working full time makes it difficult to find time (there is always time! Just not as MUCH time as I would like) to experiment and create my own recipes. I know that even if I don’t have time for a “trial run”, if I need to make a dish to bring to an event, I can count on your recipes to be delicious and easy to make!
Much love,
~Arie
I love this! I need to make a list of things that make me happy and do the same :) how do you beat boredom from being home with your daughter?
Angela!
As an ” empty nest mom” ~ these “little tasks” have an impact because the do set the tone.
But more importantly, they start the day on a positive note, rather than I negative. I should have picked up the living room before I went to bed, or now that in hanging in the back of your to do list ~ when you thought you already had a schedule for the day!
At my age I still do these little things & it’s a great start to the day.
PS If any of your readers are getting overwhelmed with keep up I strongly suggest FlyLady
website!
You are so inspiring!
When thinking about rituals and habit formation, I am going to follow one of Gretchen Rubin’s Secrets of Adulthood that goes something like: the little bit I do everyday is more important than the big thing I do once and a while. I can easily get swept up in the latest “12 Week Bikini Body Challenge” but give up after 3 weeks because it’s hard! I have to remind myself that a yoga class, a 30-minute walk or a 15-minute YouTube video each day is spectacular!
Thanks for letting this blog be such a positive place. I find it so revitalizing to drop in here and marvel over your beautiful food and find inspiration in your humour and wholehearted living.
Wishing you and your family and wonderful year!
I started making my bed each morning maybe 4 months ago – I LOVE IT. It takes no time at all and my bedroom immediately feels more inviting and calming – and isn’t that how it’s supposed to feel?
Your daily habits for happiness project reminds me of a book I just finished that you might enjoy – Small Move, Big Change. It’s all about habits and how real change is made in the small habits we create for ourselves each day.
Happy New Year!
Sounds like some good habits! I’m hoping to develop some similar ones myself x
Wonky Lauren