Fancy sharing your 'atomic habits'* for inspiration for a September reset?

[LadyMaria]

Hello everyone

I love a clean slate and making resolutions. I've been making (and breaking) resolutions since I was little. I always considered September to be a second January, and in that spirit, I want to take advantage of the fresh-start atmosphere that comes with the back-to-school season. My goal is to start implementing small changes that will help me reorganise my life and regain the sense of control that I absolutely crave.

I'm here to ask you lovely ladies to please share with me (and anyone interested in doing the reset) the tiny changes that helped you start transforming your lives for the better.

• Atomic Habits

Thanks to @GingerLiberalFeminist I downloaded the Workouts for Women app. I figured I really have no excuse not to do a 7-minute workout. If anyone's thinking of doing the same - when I got to the sign-up page where they offer different payment options, I hesitated. This brief pause unlocked a discount from £55 to £37 for the year. She who hesitates gets a better deal

I fold the dry washing as it comes out of the machine or off the line, same as pp it might not get put away but it doesn’t need ironed so badly.
Keep a drawer for odd socks in laundry room that the kids can sort when they run out. If it doesn’t have a match in the washing it goes straight in there.
Make bed every morning upon waking, am still working on my morning stretches.
For freezeable dinners they go on in a bag, then on a baking tray then flat in freezer until frozen. So easy to store and so easy to defrost.
Always have a bag for charity shop stuff and put it in the local bins when out on a walk.
Vitamins on work desk so I remember to take them.
Love the ideas on here and it’s giving me motivation to improve my slovenly ways. Today I made myself imagine someone was coming into my bedroom to motivate me to clean it. Like looking with fresh eyes.

F

@ShinyAppleDreamingOfTheSea - I don't do the Duolingo speaking bits on the train. I do everything else and then on the weekend when I'm not commuting, I do the speaking practice sessions to catch up.

Great thread.
I make a list of all upcoming anniversaries, parties and arrange their presents.

Great thread OP!
I've just bought a new term time diary ready for Sept. On annual leave at the moment and yesterday cleared some drawers and got rid of old clothes.

Going to do daily squats and a daily walk for general fitness.
Meal planning would be an enormous help . That's my big WIP

@2point4kiddies , it's a combination of both. I've done yoga on and off for a long time but I'm just not able now to do much hatha or vinyasa so my focus is on yin. I've only been doing it every day for the last year or so but I know the principles and Asana well enough to design my own practice.
But I still love to follow several online teachers. My favourites are Yoga with Melissa, Devi Donnelly, the Yoga Ranger Studios and Yoga with Kassandra. Kassandra has a fabulous long hold practice where poses are held for between 8 and 10 minutes which is brilliant for really sore days.
Some people might find Melissa and Devi a bit "woo" with the focus on Qi, meridians, earth energy etc, but that suits me perfectly. Devi does a lot of meditation and breath practice, too, which I love.

I'm loving all the great tips about habits. Thank you!

If you have, like me, DCs and/or DHs who don't share your love of organisation/ good habits, what do you do?

Also, any tip to make me drink water? I am very bad at it.

Love this thread! Marking my place for now and when I think of some good ones il post them. Only one off the top of my head is every time I wash my hands I give my sink a quick clean.

I hope you're enjoying the app!

Wow, really impressed. And you managed to do that with ADHD! Hats off to you @HowDoYouSolveAProblemLikeMyRear

@LadyMaria I bought myself a really nice insulated water bottle (chilly's Emma bridgewater with bees on it!) and I always keep a jug of tap water in the fridge to fill it up from. I try to finish one bottle by 10:30, one by the end of lunch, one by 15:00 and one by the time dinner is done.

Get a bottle that can hold whatever amount you want to drink. Or two. So for example, you want to drink 2 litres every day, get two 1 litre bottles. Fill them up in the morning and place them somewhere prominent, for me that would be the kitchen table. Then pour your water from there into your glass, or drink straight from them, so you have a visual reminder of what you’ve still got to drink.

I hang my clothes on coat hangers on the line.
Also pace marking as I need to improve so many areas.

I use Alexa.

I put the clothes on the line in groups so first example my T-shirts together Childrens PJs Partners stuff together then I fold it as I take it off the line and it's grouped together so I can take each bundle rather than sifting through.

@PatienceOfEngels and @MeAgainAndAgain Believe me I tried. It's just that I'm not a water drinking lover. I want to feel myself want to drink. I even tried putting effervescent multivitamins and it worked but just for the first bottle.

Yep I do this too.

Ooh that’s an interesting one. Love a clean sink!

Also following thread for inspiration!

I have a friend who recommended this. But it doesn't save time - you either sort them before you hang them or sort them after you hang them? Unless you only wash each person's clothes together?

I only tumble dry DH work shirts. They are a million times harder to iron when theyve been line dried. These are formal city shirts and tumble drying them is a game changer. I tumble very little else.

@Moredarkchocolateplease I get around this by I take each item off the line I fold it and put it in a separate pile per person within the laundry basket.

It's quicker than sorting through for one person's clothes when you hang stuff up, and quicker than having to sort through again into owner when you take it out of the basket to put away.

There are times when it goes a bit to pot if one person has loads of clothes and their pile has to stack on top of someone else's, but with 5 of us and a hatred of sorting washing it helps a lot. I work my way around one section of the rotary airer at a time and try and group stuff together if I can do it easily.

Just keep a glass out ready by the sink and every time you use the sink for something else pour a quick glass and down it.
I've tried all the reusable cups and bottles and invariably they either leak or I can't bear the taste or the water tastes weird after a while, I've probably spent a fortune on that many different reusable bottles it defeats the point of the object!
So now if I'm at home just regular fresh glasses.
Out and about a reusable if I'm organised, bottled mineral water with no guilt otherwise.

I'm loving the posts (and I'm definitely up for a September reset) :D

My current habits:
-wash up/stack dishwasher after each meal (or as you go along). Unstack/put away washing up ASAP.
-clean/tidy as you cook, wipe down kitchen after each meal.
-wash/dry/fold/put away laundry as soon as you get a load.
-wipe down/clean bathroom after having a shower/bath.

I've got two robovacs (one has a mopping function) and just set them to go each morning, so that sorts the floors.

I used to menu plan/batch cook and freeze stuff ALL THE TIME, but fell off the wagon a bit. I'm getting back into it now as it made my life so much easier (and saved a fortune). I like the idea of doing a menu plan based on what is already in your kitchen and then doing a food shop.

Just started with upping my water intake. This will sound stupid but I'm finding it's easier for me to sink 400ml in one go if I have a cup with a straw (rather than my 1L bottle), so I'm tempted to get a smaller bottle/cup with straw to keep on with this (rather than using the 400ml cup and straw I got from McDonalds the other day!!). I've managed to drink 2-2.5L daily without much effort over past 3 days, and I feel great.

Greta thread.

Any recommendations for a nice diary/planner that has to do list space, habit trackers and meal planners ina. Weekly format?