My Ten Non-Negotiable Daily Habits (and How I Stick With Them)

I am fascinated by the topic of habits, especially daily habits. They are the underlying, oftentimes unconscious architecture of our lives. Habits are difficult to change because they are so deeply engrained in us. James Clear, author of Atomic Habits and one of my favorite writers about habits, paints the picture perfectly, “The task of breaking a bad habit is like uprooting a powerful oak within us. And the task of building a good habit is like cultivating a delicate flower one day at a time.”

Once we cultivate the delicate flower of a new habit through repetition, reward, and setting up our environment for success, we want to do everything we can to help it continue to grow and flourish. Habits, after all, have a huge impact on our health and well-being. Almost half (43%) of our daily activities are habitual so, as researcher Wendy Wood reminds us in her book Good Habits, Bad Habits, “All of us can make better use of our 43 percent.”

There are several daily habits that I have deemed non-negotiables- they have such a large impact on my well-being and happiness that I strive to do them every day. This is not an exhaustive list, of course. For example, brushing and flossing my teeth impact my health but are practiced regularly by most people. (Take this as your reminder to floss your teeth!) As important as what these habits are, however, is how I’m able to stick with them most days, even when life gets crazy. I hope that my list encourages you with some new tools in your habits toolkit.

Habit #1: Daily exercise. This is the daily habit that I am most proud of, because I have followed Sydney Cummings’ free YouTube exercise program since October 1, 2020 and have completed every workout. This habit started as a delicate flower and has definitely grown into a strong oak tree. I recently wrote about the reasons I’ve been successful with exercise, but the most significant factor has been accountability. Almost 16 months later, I still send a message after completing my daily workout to my two accountability partners. We cheer each other on and encourage each other to push ourselves, which helps us show up every morning ready to make our health a priority.

Habit #2: Making my bed. The book Make Your Bed by Navy Seal Admiral William McRaven is all about this idea. (Here’s a short video as well). Making your bed is one small action that can set the tone for your day, help you practice gratitude for your home, and can sometimes be the one thing that went right on the tough days. Making my bed is a visual reminder that I am ready to tackle my day, even if our eight (yes, eight) throw pillows make their way to the floor at some point thanks to my enthusiastic children.

“If you make your bed every morning, you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride and it will encourage you to do another task and another and another…Making your bed will also reinforce the fact that little things in life matter. If you can’t do the little things right, you will never do the big things right…If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed.”

Admiral William McRaven

Habit #3: Making my morning tea. I have been intermittent fasting on most days since July 2021 which, for me, means that I fast from about 6 PM until 12 PM the following day (otherwise known as an 18:6 protocol). After my oldest son gets on the bus, I go to the kitchen and make my black tea. I have also incorporated drinking a glass of water while I am waiting since hydration is typically a struggle for me. That first sip of hot tea always brings me joy and ready to move into my next daily habit: laundry!

Habit #4: Complete a load of laundry (including putting away yesterday’s clean laundry). I recently wrote about my daily laundry system as a way to simplify and save time. While this may not make sense for everyone, it works well for my family of four. The key point is that I do laundry daily not because I have to necessarily, but because I wanted to make it a daily habit. I don’t want to think about whether the hampers are full enough to warrant doing laundry, or whether my kids have clean underwear and socks for the day. Clearing my mind of laundry-related decision fatigue has been a complete game-changer. I have stayed consistent with this habit because of the enormous positive benefit it’s had in my day. If for some reason we go out of town, I just get right back on track when we return.

Habit #5: Zone cleaning system. The Systemize Your Life Academy taught me about zone cleaning, and it’s been hugely helpful in making short stints of daily cleaning a habit. I used to look around and constantly think about what needed to be cleaned, but having a plan has been incredibly helpful because I know exactly when something will get cleaned that week.

To create an effective zone cleaning system, you first have to break your home down into zones (either by type of cleaning or, in my case, by physical zones in your home) and decide the frequency in which you will clean. So for example, you could choose to clean the bathrooms every Tuesday or dust every Friday.

I recently decided to schedule the majority of my cleaning on weekdays when my kids are home (and able to help) so I break it down by areas of the home: basement, main floor, boys’ area upstairs, and my/my husband’s areas of the home upstairs. I do everything (vacuuming, dusting, bathroom cleaning, etc.) in that zone on that day. Weekends are catch-up days as well as when we launder the sheets and towels. Having weekend catch-up days gives me flexibility, and also ensures I can spend our time as a family on the weekends, instead of cleaning the entire time.

Habit #6: Preparing raw vegetables for easy access. Even though my kids’ food preferences are questionable sometimes (they would be perfectly happy to eat chicken nuggets and pizza for every meal of their lives), they are great about eating raw vegetables. They typically have a vegetable and/or fruit with lunch and dinner, which makes my mama heart happy. Keeping raw veggies cut up and accessible for the whole family means that I can put a bowl on the table at dinner to share and the bowl is often empty when the meal is done! It is an easy way for us to eat healthier as a family, which is important to me.

Habit #7: Paper processing. I recently wrote about paper clutter on Instagram and shared my favorite tips for minimizing the biggest culprits: mail (bills, junk mail, catalogs, magazines)⁣, manuals⁣, kids’ paperwork, and photos. I check the mail after dinner and immediately recycle junk mail, open what is for me and process it (i.e. recycle what I don’t need, shred sensitive information that I don’t need, put anything that requires action or scanning in a single folder to process that evening). I also put my husband’s mail in a physical inbox in our kitchen. Processing paper on a daily basis has allowed me to keep a tidy kitchen and also stay on top of important documents. If for some reason I fall behind, I will catch up on the weekends and love using Evernote and my high-powered ScanSnap scanner.

Habit #8: Kitchen reset. Dinner is around 5:15 PM and we are typically done by 6:00 PM. My husband and the boys get out of the kitchen and will read or play in the basement while I do the dishes and clean up. My goal is always to clean the kitchen and have everything completed by 6:15 PM or 6:30 PM latest so we can take the boys up for their nighttime routine. In addition to the dishes, I wipe down the kitchen tables and countertops, scrub the sink with baking soda and some dish soap, and hand dry and put away anything on the dish drying rack. Cleaning the kitchen after the kids are in bed is no fun, so this is a habit I’m incentivized to keep!

Habit #9: Read at least 10 minutes before bed. I have a goal this year for reading 12 books, or roughly one per month. I’m on track as I just finished The Complete Guide to Fasting. Next up is How To Talk When Kids Won’t Listen. My husband and I use a red-light feature on our phones and bedroom lights so we don’t have blue light that can affect sleep. Reading 10-15 minutes a day is my favorite way to unwind at the end of the day!

Habit #10: Lights out by 10 PM. My morning alarm goes off at 5 AM and I know that adequate sleep makes me a better wife, mom, and human being. This is probably the most important habit but one that requires accountability because it’s so easy to lose track of time in the evenings or spend more time on devices that I’d like. I prefer to go to bed at the same time as my husband so we keep each other accountable on this one!

Sticking With Habits Means Finding Tools That Work for You

The main tools I use to stick with these ten daily habits are accountability, carefully choosing the trigger event that happen right before the habit to incentivize me to complete it (usually having to do with the kids and their schedules), and reducing the scope or allowing for catch-up days, rather than not doing the habit at all.

What are your non-negotiable habits that keep you happy, healthy, and sane? How do you stick with them? I’d love to know in the comments, or feel free to e-mail me at info@simplebyemmy.com.