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Do you want to know the true secrets to change the course of your life? It’s a tiny secret aptly named Micro Habits. It’s a powerful way to organize and change your life, especially as a mom of littles.
As busy moms, finding the time for self-improvement is challenging, but with micro habits, you can make significant progress with tiny steps. This post is all about the life-changing power of micro habits.
What are Micro Habits?
They are small changes that you can easily incorporate into everyday life that compound into massive results. The reason they work so well is that you are taking small, nontime consuming actions, they are easy to add to your everyday routine.
When you are sprinkling them in as part of your routine, you can have the confidence to tackle your big goals. Making them a great way to finally start your business or to start training for that marathon next year.
It’s almost criminal how easy and (almost) effortless it is to add them to your everyday life. Micro habits are the little steps no one sees but sees the seemingly “overnight” success.
How Do I Start?
Improvements are only temporary until they become a part of your identity. Meaning you won’t see significant changes until you become that person. For example:
For me, my big goal is to become a blogger/business owner, not necessarily to just blog and own a business. So, every day I have to show up as ‘her” in the tiny habits she would have.
Other goals may be:
Your goal is to become a mother not to just have kids.
The goal is to become organized not just organize.
Our goal is to become business owners not just own a business.
Your behavior and mindset greatly affect what you will (and won’t) accomplish toward your long-term goals. Luckily, most of these small steps take but a few minutes to implement to start creating healthy habits.
Let’s dive into a different approach for big results, here are 21 life-changing new habits you can start adding to your daily routine (plus, a free printable!):
37 Simple Micro Habits You Can Add for Positive Changes
- Start with waking up! Yes, this seems silly to mention but it’s one of the most important steps. How you wake up can be a powerful tool in how you show up for the rest of the day. Start with setting an intention for how you’d like your day to go.
- Drink enough water. Making sure you are hydrated will give you the energy needed to get through the day. Set an 8 oz glass of water or tumbler by your bedside at night to wake up to. Drink that before your morning coffee, tea, or iced coffee.
- Make your bed. Making your bed takes 2 minutes MAX. It not only helps you not get back into bed but it gives you a sense of accomplishment.
- Time block your day. Get your daily to-do list organized and ready to check off for a daily dose of mental clarity. Writing your thoughts down is a proven way to create small shifts mentally.
- Have an accountability Partner. That business you wanted to start, join a group that will force you to show up. If you want to run your first 5K, find a friend who also wants to run a 5K. Having that accountability will force you to take small actions toward your goals.
- Create environmental cues for yourself. Place your alarm by the coffee pot and immediately turn on the coffee pot. Make your coffee and drink your water. Set notifications to journal or meditate etc. Eventually, you will start to see a behavior change. Hearing your alarm go off at 6 a.m. will get you to get up and start the coffee pot before doing anything else.
- Start your day with a positive reward. Find a reason to get out of bed! It could be making your favorite iced latte or getting to make your favorite breakfast. Whatever makes you excited to start your day.
- Automate everything you can. Eliminate decision fatigue by making everything as automated as possible. Bills, clothes, meals, and even grocery shopping can all have an element of automation.
- Replace one unhealthy snack or drink. If you’ve been wanting to get healthy but are overwhelmed by how to get there, start small. Replace one of your favorite unhealthy drinks with water for one meal. Repeat until you are comfortable with your progress and remember everything in moderation.
- Disconnect from social media and your notifications. Give your mind a break from the constant plugged-in days of overloading information in your daily life.
- Sunday night weekly planning. Create peace within yourself knowing you are ahead of your week by planning it out in 20 minutes once a week. Allow flexibility with your plans.
- Want make a pivot in your career? Start by looking up qualifications, then education, then enroll in courses or YouTube. For example, I took blogging courses because I wanted to pivot to a career where I could be my own boss and still be a SAHM. Then I created the blog and started posting. Small steps created bigger results!
- Take short power walks. Even if all you have is 5 minutes, go outside and get your heart rate up. You’ll be amazed at the sudden refresh you feel.
- Brain dump your to-do list. Declutter your mind daily. Write down every Post-it note trapped inside your mind.
- Choose no more than 3 top to do priorities every morning. Take your brain dump to-do list and choose the top 3 tasks you want to accomplish. Don’t overwhelm yourself.
- Keep a journal or diary. Along with brain-dumping your to-do list, do the same with your feelings. Release what is bothering you, record what’s going well, and feel better. If you prefer tech, jot your feelings down in your notes app.
- Don’t underestimate the power of power cleaning. I can get a lot done in a focused 15-minute power clean and feel accomplished.
- If you work from home, make sure you have a separate space to work. It’s hard for your brain to “clock out” if you do not have designated workspaces.
- Read a non-fiction book. Learn something new whether for a career change, your current position, or Greek Mythology. Your brain thrives on learning new and challenging things. Use it or lose it.
- Set reminders for yourself. When’s tomorrow’s meeting? When’s Sarah’s birthday party? What did I need from the store? Set up simple reminders in your phone’s calendar to alleviate some stress.
- Clean out your email box. Declutter your mailbox. Seriously, you’ll feel so much better.
- Plan date nights with yourself. Spend 15 minutes figuring out a simple date night for the week or month with yourself. Rediscover your likes, desires, and hobbies.
- Plan date nights with your spouse/partner. Remain intimate with your spouse. Rediscover the reason you fell in love and said “I do.” (Schedule some sexy time while you’re at it.)
- Plan date nights with your children. This is super important if you have multiple children. Spend an extra 15 minutes with them at bedtime. Or have a movie night with their favorite snacks. Participate in their current hobbies. Remind them that they are still loved and special to you.
- Spend time in nature. Even though I personally hate the outdoors, there is a 100% mood difference when I get some sunlight and fresh air. It’s literally a breath of fresh air.
- Try something new. You grow as a person outside your comfort zone.
- Add more fruits and vegetables to your diet. The easiest way to do this is to make sure every meal has at least one veggie with it. Make breakfast fruit smoothies with kale or spinach as a healthy snack.
- Spend 5 minutes stretching each morning. Relieve the tension in your body by stretching. I recommend yoga.
- Have laundry baskets that separate your colors, darks, and towels. Pre-sorted clothes before you even wash clothes? Yassss.
- Place your phone on DND at a set time every night. I love this because DND allows me to relax and if it’s an emergency, it’ll come through.
- Create a morning routine. Moms, dads, children, and even our pets are all creatures of habit. Ask yourself what a “perfect” morning would consist of and structure your time around that. Allow yourself plenty of room for flexibility.
- Meditate or pray every morning. Get your mind, body, and soul ready to tackle the day ahead of you however works for you. The point is to be still and take a minute to start the day calmly.
- Put your things away as soon as you’re done. If it’ll take less than a minute, go ahead and put it up. You’ll thank yourself later.
- Text your loved ones. Take 3 SECONDS to tell anyone on your mind to have a good day or that you love them.
- Reflect on everything that you’re grateful for in life. Take 5 minutes to reflect on what areas of your life you’re grateful for. Kids, work, health? All to remind yourself life isn’t always so bad.
- Start a new hobby or revisit an old one. I’m guilty of constantly finding a new hobby or revisiting old ones. However, sometimes life is tough and gets in the way and we all need creative outlets to unwind. You can monetize this if you want but keep at least one hobby strictly to yourself.
- Do one random act of kindness for a stranger. Grab a coffee and pay for the person behind you. Make cookies for the grandma in your neighborhood or make a gift for the troubled kid. It’ll make you smile knowing you’ve brightened someone else’s day.
The biggest changes are often the results of small changes in our daily activities. Try all 37 micro habits or find the ones that most resonate with you. This post was all about the 37 life-changing micro habits to change your life.
