Trying to balance your relationships, career, family, and the 9 other things you have to manage can be overwhelming! Good news - there are practical strategies - that are both quick and easy to implement - to help give you time and energy back. Creating healthy habits has been shown to increase your happiness, and will lay the foundation for building an overall healthy life.
This article will teach you 7 quick and easy healthy habits to implement daily!
How Habits Are Formed
Habits are repeated behaviors that over time become automatic. Research has found that 43% of our daily behaviors are done on auto-pilot… meaning almost HALF of our actions we do without even thinking about them! (Wood, 2019) This frees up our brain to focus on other things - but we need to make sure that the RIGHT behaviors are automatic.
Think for a second - do you have any habits that have become automatic that don’t serve you? If so, that’s completely normal and once you understand how habits are formed, you can easily kick these bad habits!
Habits are created when there is a cue, behavior, and reward - repeated over and over. Seeing your workout clothes laid out (cue) signals you to put them on and exercise (behavior) which makes you feel healthy (reward). Use this habit loop to your advantage - by easily implementing new healthy habits as well as kicking bad ones.
Quick and Easy
I know you are already super busy… the great news is these 7 healthy habits are SUPER quick - most taking between 30 seconds to 3 minutes - so they are perfect for busy people like yourself. And don’t stress, you don't have to implement ALL of these at the same time - pick out a few to try and see which makes the biggest impact on your life. Research suggests that small, positive changes can create a happier and healthier life for you over time!
How long will it take?
Patience and consistency are KEY to creating lasting habits. Studies have shown that it takes an average of 66 days to form a habit - meaning you need to repeat the habit consistently for OVER TWO MONTHS before it will become on auto-pilot. In a society that has become so accustomed to instant gratification this can feel like a VERY long time!
This is often why people give up on their New Year’s Resolutions and other goals. Our impatience gets in the way of our success - we often give up when don’t actually see results after only the first few weeks.
Remember… patience my friend - it will be worth it if you can implement some (or all) of these 7 healthy habits into your day - as they are sure to bring you more happiness and balance in your life!
Staying Consistent
All of this sounds great - but how do you stay consistent? 2 things: tracking and accountability. First, find yourself a goal tracker - here is the one that I use! Writing down your healthy habits and tracking your progress will keep you motivated to keep going. Second, find someone to keep you accountable like a partner, or friend. Tell them which habits you want to implement daily and have them check in on your progress and hey… maybe you will even motivate them to do it with you!
One quick note - it is OK to fall off your routine - it’s completely normal. It would be unrealistic to expect you to do these habits perfectly every day. What matters is that you recognize that fell out of your routine and quickly jump back into it - so don’t stress!
Most importantly, HAVE FUN with this - it's not meant to bring additional work but instead, help alleviate your existing stress - you got this!
#1: Plan ahead
Time: 3-5 minutes
Do you ever find it difficult to get started in the morning? Investing a few minutes the night before and waking up with a plan will help you stay organized and become more productive earlier in the morning! The more friction you remove ahead of time, the easier the habit will be to implement.
For example: if you want to wake up early to exercise, lay out your clothes, shoes, and prefilled water bottle the night before - even just seeing this will trigger (the cue) to put them on and work out. Implementing this healthy habit is critical for setting your day up for success.
Ideas to plan ahead
- Lay out your outfit the night before
- Set intentions - Identify the top 3 priorities that must be completed tomorrow
- Plan around your meetings, appointments, and kid’s events
- Block off an hour break of NO DEVICES - take a walk, etc.
- Create your morning AND nighttime routine to hit your sleep goals
Tip: Invest the time to map out your nighttime AND morning routine - you can Use this tracker to keep you accountable and on track.
#2: Take note of something positive
Time: 30 seconds
Do you ever feel like you are surrounded by negativity and stress? Scrolling social media, traumatic articles flooding our news feed, sitting in traffic - it can feel like it’s everywhere! Well, our brains are actually programmed to focus more on what is going wrong in our environment, than what is going right. This stems from centuries ago when searching for danger kept us alive (think cavemen). The problem is, this habit is still ingrained in our brains - which is why it's so important to become aware and kick this habit!
Since we know habits are formed through the habit loop (cue, behavior, reward) - we can reprogram our brains to focus MORE on the positive than the negative. To do this, we need to be intentional in noticing and observing the positive things around us.
We get so caught up in the craziness and constant rushing around that we often miss the beautiful things happening around us. The weather, someone holding the door, a nice cashier, a compliment you received (or gave), a beautiful sky, enjoying your coffee - this list goes on for days. The amazing thing about this healthy habit is the more you do it, the more you still start appreciating the abundance of positive things all around you!
Tip: try calling attention to at least ONE positive thing each day. To hold yourself accountable, call out what you are grateful for at the dinner table every night - then you can have your family participate too!
#3: Replace Mindless Scrolling
Time: 3 minutes
How many times have you found yourself mindlessly “doom scrolling” and you weren’t even aware you had even picked up your phone? Don’t worry, this happens ALL THE TIME. Social media applications use algorithms that mirror those used in slot machines - which elicit cravings similar to addiction. It’s no wonder we are all addicted to our devices - and it's not even our fault! This addiction can have detrimental effects on our productivity, stress, and overall mental health. Not to mention the hours that we waste!
Good news - we can kick this habit too! We just need to reprogram our habit loop and create a new, healthy habit of disconnecting. Now, when you find yourself doom-scrolling, use that as your new cue - become aware you are doing it, and make your new behavior to put your phone back down. Then use the next few minutes to disconnect - stretch, do breathing exercises, get up and walk around, let your mind wander, or even go back to the task you got distracted from in the first place.
Do this repeatedly over time and you will shift doom-scrolling to a healthy habit of mindfulness. This will help you feel less stressed, and increase your productivity and happiness!
#4: Do A 1-Minute Plank
Time: 1 minute
This quick, healthy habit will teach you consistency and repetition. The hardest part of this one is not necessarily the plank itself, it's remembering to do it every day. Use a habit tracker or accountability buddy to track your progress. Also, if a plank doesn't work for you, try just 20 push-ups each day.
The great thing about this habit is you start small and build up. Chances are, if you are already on the ground doing a plank for 1 minute, you will likely add some extra crunches or push-ups - and next thing you know, you’ve added 5 minutes of core work to your day! By implementing this healthy habit, you will begin to slightly increase your capabilities and performance over time. Remember, small habits can lead to huge changes!
#5: Make your bed
Time: 30 seconds
Did you know that you are 206% more likely to be a millionaire if you make your bed every day? (Bell, 2016). No, this habit itself won’t make you a million dollars, but will teach you that implementing consistent healthy habits is the foundation to building success and wealth.
This is another healthy habit that won’t require much time or thought but will instill routine, consistency, and discipline. Like holding a plank, the hardest part of this habit is remembering to do it every day - so to find a way to track your progress. Create your habit loop by making getting out of bed your cue to immediately make your bed. After 2 months, this will become automatic and you’ll be on your way to becoming a millionaire!
#6: Give a compliment
Time: 30 seconds
This healthy habit is super easy and can have a transformational impact on both your life as well as others! Research shows that your brain actually releases dopamine (mood-booster) when you receive a compliment. Not only that, studies also show that engaging in random acts of kindness for other people can increase your well-being and happiness.
In a society where we feel surrounded by stress and negativity, this can make a huge impact. Also, you don’t have to only compliment someone else each day - mix it up - complement and show yourself some love too! Positive self-talk has been shown to boost confidence, and we all need more of that! Whether it's a random stranger, your child, co-worker, or yourself - be genuine and have fun with it!
This simple, healthy habit can positively impact not just yourself, but others too!
#7: Take a walk
Time: 10 - 15 minutes
We all know the long list of the benefits of exercise, but did you also know that a quick 20-minute walk can have just as many benefits - and it doesn't require a gym, or getting sweaty! The American Cancer Society found that women who walked 7 or more miles a week had a 14% lower risk of breast cancer than those who walked 3 or fewer miles per week. Where are my ladies at!!?? That is crazy…and just from walking! Let's protect the ta-tas!
Additional benefits to walking daily:
- 43% fewer sick days - (study)
- Decrease stress
- Ease joint pain
- Decrease cravings
- Increase sleep quality
- Benefits from exposure to sunlight
Clearly, this healthy habit is a no-brainer! The hardest part is FINDING THE TIME. Yes, I know you are super busy and schedules are jam-packed so it requires YOU to prioritize and schedule in time for a walk break. You can also try an incorporate more walking into your daily routine by parking at the back of parking lots to get in some extra steps.
Wrap it Up
You just learned 7 super quick and easy healthy habits that you can implement daily. Pick a handful and try them out - but remember, you need to do them consistently for OVER two months before they will become automatic!
Start with planning ahead and laying out your clothes the night before. In the morning, make your bed. During the day, put your phone down, appreciate the positive moments of joy, and find someone (or yourself) to complement. To squeeze in exercise - take a quick walk and do your one-minute plank.
Lastly, don't be hard only on yourself and HAVE FUN WITH IT. Adding these healthy habits to your daily life is NOT meant to create additional stress, they are intended to bring you more joy!
I WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU - Let me know in the comments which of these habits you are going to implement and don't forget to follow along HERE to follow my habit journey alongside you!
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Citations
- Wood, Wendy. Good Habits, Bad Habits : The Science of Making Positive Changes That Stick. London, Macmillan An Imprint Of Pan Macmillan, 2019.
- 66 days to form a habit - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3505409/
- Bell, Randall. Rich Habits Rich Life: The Four Cornerstones of All Great Pursuits. Chicago, Leadership Institute for Urban Education, 2016.
- 43% less sick days - https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/45/12/987?sid=fe62a8c5-430b-4506-b854-20b62e8a5e9e
- American Cancer Society study - https://www.cancer.org/research/acs-research-news/study-getting-enough-exercise-lowers-risk-of-7-cancers.html
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