By Ananya

If you think about it, even following 5 habits with the 80/20 rule (20% efforts give 80% results), and most importantly, doing them consistently can have a huge impact on your life.

If I had to go back to the basics and begin my self-improvement journey from scratch, here’s what I would start with.

Sleeping for 8 hours every day.

Everyone has different optimal times (times when you get the most work done easily). So even if you are a night owl, please ensure that you are not sleep-deprived because ultimately it will end up destroying your productivity.

More importantly, we all know the outcomes of sleep deprivation.

Waking up in the morning feeling refreshed and ready to start the day gives you enough motivation to bring change in your life and create other important habits.

And if you think about it, this is definitely the easiest habit to follow, but has the biggest impact on your life.

Here are some small steps to ensure you’re getting up and sleeping on time:-

1. Avoid screens at least 45–60 minutes before bed.
2. Less light exposure at night, and sleep with the blinds open so that it’s easier to wake up in the morning. (Sun exposure works wonders)
3. If you can’t wake up in the morning, keep your phone across the room or in another one. You’ll have to get up to turn it off, and this will also prevent you from staying on your phone late at night.

Taking care of your skin

A few months ago, I wouldn’t even include this in the list of my secondary habits. But, since I’ve started taking of myself and my skin, it’s been life-changing.

According to me, taking care of your skin isn’t gender specific at all. Everyone should ensure that they’re treating their skin right, even if it’s just 5 minutes a day.

Journal

This is the solution to most of your problems.

I do this every day before going to sleep. Just write down whatever comes to your head at night.

• How your day was like
• Any achievements/goals you reached
• What could’ve been better
• Something that’s been bugging you for a while
• A problem you can’t seem to find the solution for (Spoiler alert: You’ll mostly find it after journalling for some time)

Keeping a journal helps you create order when your world feels like it’s in chaos.

It’s a time when you can de-stress and wind down.

Drink water

Let me remind you of the benefits of drinking water:-

• Maximum energy levels
• Helps maximise physical performance
• Good for your skin

The best way to incorporate drinking more water in your life is to get a bottle like this and ensure you fill it the night before and finish it every day.

You can also:-

• Drink water immediately after waking up.
• Keep your bottle at your workspace at all times.

Plan your day the night before

I can proudly say that after following this habit for 6+ months, this has changed my life for the better.

Even this habit doesn’t take a lot of effort. Every day, before you go to bed, keep a small notebook beside you where you’ll write down 3 non-negotiables for the next day.

When you get up the next day, work on one of those tasks immediately.

The best part is, that you don’t waste time deciding what to do, and working on the task immediately will get you the momentum you need.

Exercising

I don’t need to convince you about the benefits of this habit. If I had to continue one habit out of all the ones I just mentioned, I’d pick working out.

Not just physically, but this habit brought significant changes in. my mental health and accelerated my self-improvement journey.

How?

Exercising is a habit that requires you to show up every day, be consistent, and be disciplined to even see results in the first place.

This habit doesn’t serve instant gratification but instead trains your brain to work continuously even though you don’t see results.

And this is the base of any habit you want to build — Consistency.

You become more inclined to stick to schedules and routines. Building the habit of regular exercise instils a sense of accomplishment and motivates you to form other healthy habits.

Working on 1 skill every day

Pick anything — Coding, writing, video editing, UX design and work on it for an hour. Consistently.

Spending just one hour every day allowing myself to explore new things online (and offline) is how I discovered writing and eventually built a following.

In fact, before choosing to write, I tried a lot of different things that skipped my interest.

I would never call the time I spend exploring a ‘waste of time’ because that is how I led to several skills that I have today.

So, it’s okay to not choose a field and work on it even though you don’t enjoy it. Because this 1 hour is supposed to be enjoyable, and not increase your stress. This 1 hour is the time to invest in yourself — your interests.

Before the new year starts, start some courses. Play around, and spend some days on a subject. Soon enough, you’ll find the thing you never get bored of.

Track your progress

I track my yearly goals in notion. I have a minimal dashboard where I jot down my goals, review my week and plan for the next week/month. It’s not necessary to track your progress every single day. (planning your day the night before is enough).

Don’t forget to put 5 goals for 2024 right in front of you. That’s how you’ll be reminded of them instead of keeping them in a corner.

If you’re not a digital person, get a planner or a simple notebook.

Write down your resolutions/goals on the first page and actually read them every day.

Another way to track your progress is to create a habit tracker. Seeing a streak will motivate you to beat your personal goals.

Here’s the dashboard I use.

Read daily

Personally, doing this before bed made it much easier for me to make reading a habit.

Habit stacking is a way where rather than pairing your new habit with a particular time and location, you pair it with a current habit you already have.

I usually like to do this before bed as it helps me sleep better. Most of my breaks are time for reading non-fiction books because it involves note-taking. If you feel like it’s too heavy of a task for a break, you can listen to audiobooks.

Wake up an hour earlier

Or, at least 30 minutes earlier than your normal wake-up time.

(If you already wake up at 5, this one isn’t for you!)

It seems like you suddenly have 2 to 3 extra hours added to your day. Also, you’ll get enough time to start your day well and work on passion projects.

I have been waking up at 5:30 recently, and it’s transformed the way I think about mornings.

I thought waking up early was the hardest part. But, not sleeping early is why you can’t make this a habit.

So, if you ensure that you get 8 hours of sleep, and get enough sun exposure in the mornings immediately after waking up, it won’t be as hard.