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

Do chores during ad breaks.

It means you get up every 25m and do 3m of sorting out. Can add up to half an hour over the evening, without even noticing.

I also live by my diary so I ensure everything is written in there- it helps me stay on top of things - I ensure my handbag is big enough to fit it in and I take it everywhere

I use a diary as well- everything is in it for each day and each member of the household but I never thought of bringing it with me anywhere- I'll be trying it out for size in my handbags tomorrow!
Thanks for sharing

Hello everyone!

How's your September reset going?

Mine didn't quite go to plan due to several unforseen circumstances. That said, I managed to stop drinking my afternoon black coffee cold turkey. It's a bit tough, but it's okay.

I'll try to start meal planning and drinking at least 1L of water next week. I will also start taking multivitamins again after several months. I bought the Wellwoman Original, which usually gives me stomachache almost every time I take it. Anyone else?

If you get food delivered, write the foods on the calendar in order of expiry.

(I need to buy my NT calendar for next year, the one with five columns - me, husband, son, dinners, pencilled in dates)

I'm managing to keep to recording what I eat on MFP and exercising 5/7 days. The vape and caffeine are bad though!

@LadyMaria i always got stomach ache with those too.

I've swapped to taking it all separately. So high strength vit D, vit B, zinc, and bedtime magnesium, plus ferrous sulphate with vit C every two mornings two hours before I eat anything.

I keep them in the kitchen next to my inhalers so I don't forget to take them. It made a massive difference to staying well in the winter for me.

Regarding water, yesterday I drank nearly 4ltrs, without thinking, two pints of which were before 7am - plus tea and coffee. I find it easier to front load - stand and the sink and down a couple of pints before I leave for work. Then another two pints before lunch. I have a pint glass and a litre 'chillys' bottle on my desk which I take in full and then refill at work.

Omg I haven't weeded all summer due to time and then an operation which made me unable to move. I'm going to start ten weeds a day today. Maybe I will do 20 as its the weekend! And as it's so few I can sling them straight into the bin rather than having to bag up massive piles for the tip! Thank you!

Yes it makes it easier and I find if they are wet from rain easier too. Soon though there will be no gardening yippee.

@LadyMaria re. If you have DC/DH who are not organised, I think the least conflict/inducing way is mostly to lead by example, assuming they will then follow your lead, of course!! You do these things and then they see it helps their lives and want to do them too.
However, that’s an ideal world. If they refuse to change a bit to your way of thinking, yiu may need to say especially to DC, this is what I need you to do. With DH, who is an adult, they can be more challenging as they have years of (bad?) habits to unlearn. But they can do it, if they do one habit at a time.

My DH kind of taught me to be less of a slob in the early days of our relationship so it is not along gender lines at all. It probably took me three to five years though!! Habit change is hard. He was doing a form of atomic habits about 20 years before the book was written. No one is ‘perfect’ and We are not super neat but house is now tidy and organised 80% of the time when I used to spend regular times crying as I couldn’t find car keys a couple of times/ a work document even once…things had to change.

I like the author a lot but you have to work it to suit you and your life so I probably now du about 20 or so atomic habits across my home and work life but finding it hard to incorporate into my exercise at all and need to for my health. Any advice on that anyone? My self-care is often last.

Long post but that’s my two cents worth!

Drink more water.
Get to bed at a reasonable time.
Make time for reading.
One in/ one out rule for clothes purchases.
Open windows every morning for about fifteen minutes, until it snows.
Keep on top of car maintenance - change oil and get car washes. Inflate tyres.
Keep car interior clean - use the hoovers at the carwash.

I put my weights and mat out the night before, make it less likely that I’ll avoid it if everything is already laid out.

5 mins quiet time (no screens, books, any stimulation)
30 mins walking time a day

Absolutely love this thread ❤️

This reminds me of a magazine article years ago that had something called a TV workout. Basically you get up and do a workout during the ad breaks and by the end of an hour have worked out for about minutes. I might restart this.

Just re-marking my place as I lost this thread. I'm very tired and feeling the end of summer so it's a good time to gather inspiration!

I'm glad this thread is still running.
I'm trying to find some sort of habit with exercise. I signed up to a local, online yoga class but it wasn't reliable or for me.
Today I've spotted something similar that's online but you can access it at anytime (it's pre recorded) and I'm hopeful. It's called "meet me at the barre" and I saw it on Insta. It looks to be a mix of pilates/yoga/barre work but you can do the classes at home with basic equipment.

I'm going to say I'm going to do a class tomorrow morning before work, so I am hoping the accountability makes me commit to it 😅

Exercising 5/7 days! Well done! If you managed to do that, I am sure you can stop vaping/ caffeine. Which type of exercice is it?

I'm mainly cycling and doing 7 min pilates. I was running but I prefer cycling!

How are you doing?

Thank you. I tried to take different vitamins/ day at different times but found that I could only manage it if I stay home for the day which is rare so I gave up. Drinking lots if water is definitely not something that comes easy for me. I really need to push myself to do it.

*stayed

Thank you! You're lucky to have such a DH :) Mine is neither a total slob nor a tidy person. Kids are the same. Hopefully they'll get more organised with age.

Regarding exercise, have you thought about gaming? There are so many fitness games on different consoles. Like the Ring Fit on Nintendo for eg. There are also many apps.

Good luck and keep us posted! Starting is the hardest part.

How am I doing with the reset? Well, as I said on a previous post, so many unforseen events happened that prevented me from having a strong start ... bbbut I am not giving up. I haven't started meal planning yet but managed to clean the oven. I didn't start drinking lots of water but managed to stop black coffee. I just need to keep going :)

Speaking of 7 mnts, here's a video that I bookmarked years ago. Enjoy!