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

I taken my yoga mat, weights & blocks downstairs & set them up ready for the morning! Here's hoping...

Love this all! Following along!

My thing that I try to do is if I'm leaving one room to go to another I do a scan to check if there's anything I can bring with me eg clean laundry from kitchen to bedroom.

Every morning I stick a wash on delayed start so it finishes for me getting home from work, I do dishes while I cook so all I need to wash after I eat is the plates which makes it less daunting. While I'm waiting for the kettle to boil I'll do a flash tidy of the kitchen. Every night when I'm going to lock up downstairs I'll wipe the counters and sweep the kitchen like I'm putting the house to bed. I pack ds nursery bag and leave out my clothes for the morning and leave all our bags at the front door ready to leave along with shoes and then shower before bed so the morning is just dress lift and go.

I did it! 🥳 First exercise class in the bag. It helped having all my equipment (mat & blocks) set up ready from the night before.

I was creaking like a gate & I'd forgotten how pilates looks so genteel but is actually brutal 😅 I know I've done it, but feel great. Thanks for the inspiration & encouragement folks.

Been following this thread for a while now, some great ideas! Thank you to the PP who shared the SoTypicalMe site, I have been spending way too long designing the perfect 2025 diary 😂

I am also implementing weekly meal planning before I do the online food order, plus a mid-week sense check. One of the first "at risk" areas of life during stressful periods can be maintaining a healthy and balanced diet, so I'm hoping this will help keep things on track (and also help me maintain the NY reaolution I made a few years ago to try out a new recipe every week - great way to expand the repertoire!). I have long been in the habit of batch cooking and freezing leftovers, but want to make sure these are properly labeled in the freezer so that I actually use them as part of my weekly meal planning rather than them becoming a "freezer surprise" supper months later!

Loving this thread thank you OP for starting it! One thing that helps me is my Busy B family calendar. It has a pocket for each month so you can put in tickets, paperwork etc for the right month.

they have a birthday column so I spend time between Christmas and New Year with a coffee and filling in birthdays and anniversaries etc. Just copying from the year before so very little brain power needed 😃. Makes it easier for me to remember to send cards or birthday texts.

Around this time last year, I made a resolution that once the clocks changed in October, I’d go through one drawer or cupboard every day, and get rid of a lot of stuff. (I’m not a hoarder, but there’s plenty of stuff we no longer use.)

I did maybe one kitchen drawer! 😩
🤞for a bit better this year

Well done you! Really glad you managed it. I hope you'll continue your progress now that the hardest part -starting- is done. 🌷

Go on, start now! We're here to cheer you on. One little thing at a time. You'll be amazed at all the progress you'll be doing without you realising.

That's really great! Did you buy that calendar or did you craft it?

You sound pretty organised already! I'm always in awe of people who batch cook—it would make my life so much easier if I could manage to do it one day.

"Putting the house to bed" is such a lovely way to put it. For me, it’s when I open all the windows in the morning—it feels like I’m waking the house up 😆

@LadyMaria I bought it from here https://busyb.co.uk

i must have bought one every year for the past 8 years and wouldn’t be without it.

That is such a great idea! I might steal that one and start implementing before the clocks go back.

Well, I finally did what I’ve been dithering over for ages - joined my very handy David Lloyd (just for the pool) and have been twice this week already. 20 lengths each time, must work that up a bit.

Determined to go at least twice a week, to get my money’s worth.

January: Buy a year's worth of birthday cards, anniversary cards, etc.. and address them when you can. Check the expiration dates of medicine in the house.

March: Book Easter egg hunt or event.

May: Buy a size up on clothes/shoes and school uniform.

August: I declutter house room by room then sort things out to donate, bin or give away to friends/family. Seasonal: Halloween: Sort out Halloween costumes; Start thinking about/booking Halloween events; Christmas: Update to do list; Order Christmas presents; Start wrapping gifts when you have time. Book Santa's Grotto.

September: Just before school starts, I like to have the house deep cleaned by cleaners that usually do end of tenancy cleans. I can't tell you how amazing it feels after it's done. M&S starts putting the Christmas items out so I start stocking up on chocolates, tins etc..Schedule round of playdates for the kids;

Daily:
Make my bed as soon as I get up.
Drink water
Work out or go for a walk
Fold up and put away laundry as soon as you empty the dryer.
Clean up while you cook and wipe down the kitchen and table after each meal.
As soon as I get home, I clear out the contents of my bag.
Read a book for 30 mins.
Activities/sports kits are in clear plastic drawstring bags so you and the kids can see the contents and they are laid out by their backpacks the night before.
Prep kitchen for the next day/breakfast routine.
Lay out clothes out for the next day.
We try to keep the house tidy before we go to sleep.
Go over to the do list for the following day.

In general:
We have a cleaner that cleans the house fortnightly, we have our groceries delivered to the house, we meal plan and we have a gardener.
We share a family calendar on Google. There is also a dry erase calendar in the kitchen which has each family member's name and their activities for the week as well as a list of what we will be having for dinner.
We try to do chores during the work week so we have more time on weekends.
We try to plan out our weekends as best we can so we can make the most out of the weekends.
Aside from the kids' various sports classes, playdates and birthday parties,
we have a seasonal bucket list of places and things to do that we do as a family on the weekends.
I have an excel doc which lists all the extracurricular clubs, sports, activities, reminders etc. that my kids do and will plan to do by age. It makes it easier for me to jot things down there, and add reminders as well as list info for the sports and activities where they are on waiting lists for.
We try to focus on experiences and traveling rather than things. We're quite simple and minimalist at home when it comes to clothes, toys, home furnishings etc. We live off of a seasonal capsule wardrobes. I have a uniform for work, school run, and going out etc. so I don't have to spend too much time making decisions.

@GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER well done! Slow & steady wins the race, as they say.
I've just started exercising at home & I'm having to modify the online classes that I'm following. It's a pilates class & I'm so shocked at how much function I've lost over the years but also how poor my coordination is! I have to wind back the class & re watch if she's moving arms & legs and holding a ball all at the same time- it's hilarious!
I really want to get back into swimming, it's just finding a nice convenient pool that's not too busy.

@BurnerName1 I did this in January. I work at the head office of a charity and they accept shop donations which helped a lot. My weekly goal was one bag to charity every week which I would take in on my office day. Most weeks I'd get at least one bag to the bin as well. I found this so much more manageable than getting rid of a car load at a time, it's such an effort and can overwhelm me.

Eventually I ran out of things to donate and filling my bag was a struggle, it was such an achievement! I do actually need to do it again though, it's amazing how much things build up, plus there were some areas I didn't do that I now feel ready to do, plus the kids have grown. I have a lot of things that I know I have not used or touched since my last clear out, they can go first.

Things I do are:

Water - I have a big 2 litre bottle with a straw that is really easy to drink from. I fill it with water first thing in the morning as the kettle is boiling for my coffee and I have to have finished it before bed. It's got times marked on the side so I can try and keep on track. It is too big to cart around so I keep it at home and any drinks I have outside the house are a bonus. If that means I drink 3 litres of water some days that's a bonus.

Food - I make two loaves of bread a week. I use a really easy no-knead recipe that just requires stirring together the night before, leaving overnight then putting straight in the oven in the morning. It's no effort but makes me feel virtuous. I tend to make one on a Friday night/Saturday morning to have fresh over the weekend and another on a Saturday night/Sunday morning to slice and freeze for toast throughout the week.

Skin - I wash and moisturise every day. So face gets washed and moisturised before I clean my teeth morning and evening. By the time I've finished cleaning my teeth the moisturiser has sunk in. If I don't need to wash my hair, I have a 60 second shower to soap my body when I'm changing into my pyjamas. Body lotion applied every time I get out of the bath or shower, I keep the tub on the side. It takes minutes but makes me feel so much better.

Laundry - I have two sets of bedding with coverless duvets for every bed and Sunday is bed change day. Because I don't need to put the duvets in covers it takes two minutes to change each bed. Then bedding can be washed and put away to make sure there is always a clean set to put straight on when changing the beds.

I also do one load of laundry every day. Evenings I put a wash on after dinner and it gets dried in the morning (either hung out or tumble dried). It's then dry so the next evening I can put it away when DDs are getting ready for bed and put the next wash on. It means it never piles up into a massive job.

Please can you post your bread recipe please?

Iron clothing as soon as it’s dry (slightly damp is even better). I find I’d never iron stuff otherwise.

Even better just hang it up (in a sunny window)while still slightly damp and it doesn't need ironing at all!

Don’t think that would work, zero sun here today, just epic rain! I’d left it scrunched up in the wash basket, so zero chance and it’s linen trousers, so probably unlikely, sadly.

Of course! It works best with white bread flour in my experience:

500g strong white bread flour
350ml warm (not hot) water
1tsp yeast
2 tsp salt

Put everything in a bowl and mix together with a spoon. Don't knead it, just make sure it's all combined. Cover with a damp tea towel and leave overnight.

The next morning, put a lidded casserole pot into the oven for 20 mins at 180c. The dough mixture will be really bubbly and sticky.

Scrape it out onto some baking parchment with a spatula. Don't touch it with your hands, just make it vaguely loaf shaped.

Take the hot casserole pot out the oven. Pick up the dough on the baking paper and drop it into the pot. Lid on (remember oven gloves as it's hot!) Back into the oven.

Cook at 180c for approx 45 mins. Maybe a bit longer if it looks like it needs it.

Ahh I see I'm religious about taking mine out the washing machine and putting it all on the maiden / hanging up as soon as the machine has finished. I don't iron anything at all!

It’s extremely rare that I iron at all, I have very few clothes that need it, just got these out of the loft from where I’d stored ‘one day’ clothes that have always been too small!