25 changes for 2025

[ToriTheStoryteller]

I started a thread at the start of 2024 called "one small change each week". 2024 thread
Loved updating it and chatting to people who were also trying to make changes but maybe felt a bit overwhelmed by the usual mindset of "right, I'm losing 2 stone, cutting sugar, getting a new job and taking up 3 sports" only to feel like a failure before January is out!

It went well - the old me would have said it was a disaster as I probably kept approx 8-10 habits, but the new me thinks that's brilliant, to have 8 habits that I wasn't keeping to a year ago.

So, onto 2025. Just to encourage a bit more oomph into my brain, I'm planning on 25 for 25: 25 small changes that will improve my life next year.

Wanna join? 🙂

1. Do a weights session 2x per week.

I've had to change gyms and I don't like the new one as much, but seeing a few older relations over Christmas, all with physical issues, is the push I need to want to get stronger.

Limited success on the eating and exercise front, but have stuck to a Skincare routine, taking vitamins and implementing new household routines. What has helped is linking habits, so face and hair mask when I clean the bathrooms, moved vitamins to a place I remember them and I'm going to tidy up my phone, sort photos etc every time I'm at the hairdressers. Really inspired by op saying she didn't stick to every habit, but kept up 8 from last year, really motivating. Also love the 1% theory, so small changes add up over time to make a big difference.

I've had 80% success on the no snacking after dinner this week so pretty pleased with that. I'm seeing this as a change for life not a faddy January thing so it's likely I won't manage every single day but definitely aiming to stick with it more days than not. Going to add a second habit for next week, to unload the dishwasher before bed. Ideally every night, but as a minimum on all working nights (I work Wed, Thu, Fri). Tried it this week and it made such a difference to getting breakfast sorted and getting us and toddler DD out of the house in time!

@DustyLee123 that's a great point, if you are struggling, then taking a look at other peoples' posts will likely show you that you already have some healthy habits in place that you don't even think of anymore.

#1. Weights 2x weekly. Managed 3 again this week plus 1 cardio, so very happy. My main change of mindset has been to take opportunities whenever they appear: normally I would only exercise at a certain time (so if that wasn't free it was "oh no, I can't do it today") but this week I had a spare hour one lunchtime at home so managed to fit in a weights session.

#2. Exercises for a specific injury I had a few years ago. It's a 5 minute routine that's meant to be done daily, so I'm going to commit to that, every day (5 years late, once ive found the sheet in my archives 🤣).

Not doing so well with the water and hand cream front. I think I need a new strategy next week. Painting is good. I think I'll change it to at least 5 times a week painting rather than every day though, as I was annoyed with myself for skipping one day and life's to short for that.
The 5 minutes tidying I've been doing well at.
Physio excellerise are ok. They're on an app so I can track them, but I should prioritise them more as I'm often doing 80%

For next week I'm going to start on my weight loss, as clothes are getting tight. Intermittent fasting I'm going to increase it from 11 hours to 12. I'm also going to give the s diet ago. I just couldn't commit to no junk food full stop so the s diet permits it on Saturdays Sundays and special Days.

I'm on this thread and the flylady one as my home is a dirty shit hole....

I managed to stick to getting ready for tomorrow the night before, do my dishes after dinner and getting rid of one thing every day (mix of things, still easy at the moment, spot a thing and bin it).

This week I'm introducing a skin care routine. I have all the lotions and potions, I just don't use them regularly. So will add 10 mins to my evening and I can now find the 10 mins in the morning as I'm not running around like a headless chicken

@2in2022twoyearson I agree that setting a goal for every day can sometimes make you feel negatively if you miss one, so setting it for 4 or 5 times a week is psychologically more positive and less pressurised!

I heard a really interesting thing on the radio about Lent, think it was on the R2 Sunday morning show with Kate Botley. She interviewed someone religious about Lent, and they said that they actually don't start their goal until the 2nd day of Lent for because it stops them feeling smug and pious about managing to do it every day, and reminds them that they are a normal person with failings and stuff that gets in the way. I really admired their practical and non-judgemental attitude towards it.

I’ve just found this thread - what a great idea!

I decided at new year that I would make sure to floss every single night and have managed it consistently except last night. I have found flossing and cleaning my teeth as soon as possible after dinner means I’m more likely to do it as I’m less tired, and it has the added benefit of ensuring that I don’t eat snacks in the evening! I also deleted Facebook on 1st January and haven’t missed it at all.

Next week, I’m going to try to remember to do my skincare each day. I’d also like to try to get to bed before 10pm each night but I’m not so hopeful for that one!

My Drinking water more goal has not really happened, but I have increased my exercise I do daily, I aim for minimum 7000 steps a day, 30 mins hula hoop and 20 mins yoga, in the mornings I do 100 squats. I have a garmin fitness watch and become bit obsessed with collecting the badges 🤓 . I have also re started fasting so no food from 8pm until lunch time so 12.30/1 then next day.

I love reading the small changes everyone is making, especially the move every hour one and turning your phone black and white in the evening. I might implement these ones later on in the year as they would definitely benefit me.

I think I've mastered brushing my teeth for at least 2 mins morning & night and taking my meds morning and night. I'm still going to track these every day to ensure they are getting done but I'm going to tick them off my list. These were things I was kinda doing but not consistently. One thing that has really struck a chord with me is how much easier it is to do something everyday when there is already some sort of foundation there. That probably isn't a shock to most people but I really do have all or nothing thinking so if I set out to do something every day and I wasn't managing I would see that as a failure and give up pretty soon. Now I'm going to continue to chip away at all my changes slow and steady until they are embedded, it might take weeks and weeks for some of them to become a habit but as long as I am building that foundation I'll keep going.

This week I am concentrating on:

• Drink 1 bottle of water a day - I did 5/7 days last week which is more than I usually do
• 10 minutes sorting photos on my phone - originally I had set out to sort my photos each night from that day. This isn't working because I'm usually too tired at night to bother and also I need to do more than just that day as I have thousands of photos on my phone so now I'm going to set aside 10 minutes each day to start sorting through them
• One job a day - I need to get better at identifying what job I aim to do at the beginning of the day

Also adding in:

• Walk 7k steps a day - I would eventually like this to be 10k a day. I think I'm probably doing 7k a day but I'm going to track this properly from now and see exactly where I'm at
• Tidy my room morning & night - I get ready in the spare room and keep all my things in there. Usually I get ready then leave the house without tidying up after myself so that needs to change

I am updating after (nearly!) a week. I have started walking out to the nearby fields first thing in the mornings, it is still dark but I am concentrating on noticing nature, what I can see and what I can hear etc. just for 10 /15 minutes or so but it wakes me up and has also inspired me to try and implement an hour screen free time before bed as my sleep has been so bad. I didn't want to previously as I love watching TV with my husband after kids in bed and feels like only time we have to relax! But then realised that I am spending so long awake just in bed I may as well spend another hour up reading or doing some laundry folding... My sleep has definitely improved. I have also been doing 40 squats a day and a 40 seconds plank (which still feels like torture!), taking my vitamin d, and contacting my parents daily often with a little description of my morning walk.... So far so positive! I am hoping that most of these stick as know they are good for my health and happiness. Good luck to everyone!

I like to see everyone’s ideas !
Hands and nails are looking better already , I’m oiling my nails each ( most ) evenings whilst watching tv , and have hand cream on my bedside table beside my inhalers , so that makes it easy to remember

I have decluttered the blanket box at the end of the bed , and have a black sack of tat to go out on binday
I was keeping the wrappings from deliveries , to make it easy to post things … but I had about 20 of them , now I have 2
The blanket box has now been hoovered out , and polished , but will be oiled when the weather improves and I can do it outside ( another thing to add to the list ! )

Deleting and un subscribing from emails is ongoing ,

I’m yet to start on the crochet , DS gave me a crochet a toy giraffe kit for Christmas , it’s really tricky and beyond my skill set , I’m planning on 30 minutes this afternoon to have a go
I think daylight , sitting by the window with my glasses on ( and a big glass of water )

From my mega list that I'm using as an eventual goal, I'm currently working on the Instant Pot meals and this morning I managed to get up at 8 which is a big thing for me! We've also been making a bigger effort to get outside.

2/25 instant pot meals (husband made one too but I won't count his!)
Up at 8am (working towards 7am eventually!)
Outside time 4/7 days last week (ill over the weekend)

This thread is so encouraging!

I’m improving at drinking more water but failing at staying off my chest phone. It’s just so useful! Trying to make an effort to put it down on Sundays..

What a great idea @ToriTheStoryteller

I have a whole host of good habits I'd like to start but my first one for this week has to be budgeting. I am just so poor at it, got into a load of debt around 15 years ago - thankfully I managed to clear it but even now I wouldn't trust myself with a credit card. I just want to find a way of logging things quickly and easily so I know exactly how much money I have left every month!

I love this thread. I read it everyday but I’m just going to update weekly
week 1 - drink more water, going well but I would still like to increase
Week 2 - eat my protein goal daily, managed it 6 out of 7 days
week 3 - calories controlled diet, day one didn’t go so well. I think I need to up my target calories because I became all shakey and felt sick in the afternoon but after a snack it improved.

@NinaFinch that’s a great goal but I would break it down to smaller things, find a way to track slending eg monzo or budget apps, use monzo or budget app, plan a budget, check spending every week, review budget.

Hi, for a midweek goal I'm going to cut down on caffeine. I'm struggling with sleep so drinking more coffee then struggling with sleep more. I'm not going cold turkey so 2 coffees a day. As I've added new goals I've not kept up some of the older habits so except for coffee I'm going to stop adding new ones, at least until the weather improves.

There's lots of ways to manage money. I think cash has become more popular recently because it's tangible than apps and you could use envelopes or jars to budget for different things. But you can't track it the same as digitally. However, I find the nationwide app quite user friendly to look at spending.

I've swapped most of my coffees for herbal teas, the taste can take getting used to on some of them but they are brilliant as a replacement hot drink. I realised it's not the coffee I want it's the hot drink habit.

Yes, I like peppermint and liquorice tea, and other peppermint teas but not camomile or fruit teas much. They're not a coffee replacement, I've been having too much. I didn't really have any hot drinks for a few years but I've rediscovered the joy.

I've just read and I'm going to try out the 10, 3,2,1,0 rule for sleep, 20 for no caffeine after midday.

Can I join?!

Last year I managed to stick with flossing every day and leaving the house for some exercise before work. Mostly happened.

This time I'm being more deliberate about the exercise

Work clothes and bag ready the night before if I'm not WFH.

I'm trying to sort out the room I work in at home. I'm going to attempt to declutter/sort something in there 3x per week which will chip away at it!

Oh and reading a chapter of a book every night before going to sleep. So far this year have managed this five times each week.

Thank you @52for2025, I definitely need some ideas for budgeting! Part of the issue is that I'm so knackered/ short of time that I don't get round to even starting a system...

@happinessischocolate and @2in2022twoyearson - the only herbal tea I've found that I like is Twinings Salted Caramel, and now of course I can't find any stockists near me. Pah! (Ocado do it but they don't really fit in with my budgeting aim...!)

What about switching to decaf coffee in the afternoom?

Well this week has been a bit hit and miss. I’ve managed skin care 6 days and have flossed 5 days. Getting to bed before 10pm has been the biggest challenge having only managed this 3 times. I did feel better for it though so I’m going to make that my main focus in the coming week. I think maybe I need an alarm on my phone to remind me as I often seem to just not realise the time.

What’s everyone else planning for the coming week? Adding a new habit or consolidating those already underway?

I'm not adding a new challenge as I need improve on my goals. However, I do need better study habits if anyone has any tips relevant to this thread of daily habit? Specifically for dyslexia. Or maybe stress management specific to this area. I'm doing a distance learning pgcert and am quite disorganised and get stressed with getting behind on viewing lectures and doing assignments. My focus journal does sometimes help, so perhaps ensuring I do 5 minutes a day of that, reminding myself of achievements as well as planning....

I'm sticking with my current list for now, as I've not cracked them yet, especially 4.

1. Drink more fluids - I'm keeping a big bottle of squash nearby & drinking regularly, though almost certainly not as much as I should be.
2. Prep tonight for tomorrow - this is working really well, especially for days we're out. Tomorrow's a quiet day at home, but I've still made up a (healthy, filling, sensory) snack box for MiniFool who has hollow legs right now.
3. 5/52 books to educate (still on the first one) & entertain (5).
4. Be asleep before midnight. I've not kept track, but I've only achieved this maybe once or twice. It needs more focus.