10 Small Daily Habits That Can Actually Change Your Life In 2026 | The Glow Up Series Ep. 3

In the book Atomic Habits, author James Clear talks about how success is the product of daily habits, not once-in-a-lifetime transformations. Making a choice that is 1% better or 1% worse may not seem like a big deal in the moment, but the impact these choices have over months or even years can be enormous. If you can commit to getting just 1% better each day, you'll end up with results that are almost 37 times better after one year. I read this book about four years ago now and in that time I've compiled a list of small daily habits that have truly changed my life for the better. They've made me a happier, more grounded, and confident person, and I'm going to share that list with you today. Some of these may be brand new to you, things you've never tried before, and others may sound obvious. And for my obvious recommendations, I say there is a reason that they work. Habit number one is to establish a morning ritual. Your morning ritual can be as long or as short as you want it to be, but I think establishing a few core pillars of your morning routine is helpful for a few reasons. One, it helps you anticipate how you're going to start your day, you don't go to bed confused the night before about what you're going to do when you wake up. And two, our bodies love and crave routines and stability, so starting your mornings off on a similar note each day can make a big impact. One of the very first things I like to do each morning when I get up is to make my bed. Studies show that making the bed helps you accomplish the first task of the day, and this gives you momentum to work towards your other tasks or to-dos for the day as well. Some of your other morning rituals may include a skincare routine. They may include getting up immediately without stopping to scroll first. You could also incorporate some affirmations to your morning routine, and also make sure that you are hydrating. Whether with water or caffeine, that's your choice. And by the way, this video is part three of the glow up series that I'm doing on my channel this month. If you want to subscribe and stick around, the next video is going to be an in-depth morning routine if you're looking for more inspiration. Daily habit number two, getting dressed every morning no matter what. For me, the act of getting changed is a physical acknowledgement that you are starting something new, that you're entering a new day and anything can happen. I used to personally love the act of getting up and choosing an outfit for work every day, but even now that I work from home full-time, I still like to get dressed even if it's in something simple. For example, today I'm wearing this cute top that I rented from Nuuly, a pair of black leggings, and my slippers. But I look and feel put together still. If comfort is important to you, maybe you are getting changed into sweats or something that you can quickly throw on if you have to run out in the morning. Getting dressed doesn't have to mean putting on a fancy outfit or even doing your hair and makeup. But again, that simple act of changing helps you shift your mindset to, now it's daytime and I'm going to start my day. If you have trouble getting dressed in the mornings, I highly suggest coming up with a bit of a uniform, and you can have different uniforms for different seasons. For example, my winter uniform is usually a cozy sweatshirt, a pair of black leggings, and my slippers. Whereas in the summer months, you're probably more likely to catch me in jean shorts, a t-shirt, and a pair of sneakers. Those are for my casual work from home days, which to be honest is a good majority of my days. But even thinking about a go-to outfit to wear to meet friends or a go-to outfit to run errands in can help save time. I also got my color analysis done last year, and I've learned that dressing in my color season has helped simplify my wardrobe, make sure pieces go together, and helps me feel confident in what I'm putting on my body. Daily habit number three is to write down important to-dos and goals. Research shows that people who write down their goals are more likely to accomplish them, and if you want to add another layer of accountability, people who share their goals with others are even more likely to get things done. Now I know the act of writing is almost a lost art sometimes these days, and as you guys know if you follow me, I am a notion girl through and through. So pick whatever system works best for you, whether it is a physical to-do list or some kind of digital organizer like Notion, your Notes app, or even your Google Calendar. Writing things down and scheduling out when you're going to do them can help you get more things done. One helpful practice that I've established when it comes to prioritizing my to-do lists over the years is to figure out what my big three for the day are. The big three are the three tasks that even if you do nothing else in a day, you'll feel productive and happy having accomplished them. My big three for today were to turn in a story I'm writing for Glamour to my editor, which I did, to record this video, and to edit the video that I recorded yesterday. If you already are good about writing down your to-dos and goals, one other thing I'd suggest you start taking notes on daily is systems that you have in your life. I find recording systems and how I do things helpful in both my career and my personal life. For my career as a content creator, one thing that's really helpful is writing down every single step I take to do certain tasks in my business so that if I ever hire on a virtual assistant in the future, I already will have those processes reported for them to take a look at. And in my personal life, say I'm sick one week and I can't cook dinner, I have a bunch of recipes for weekly meals that I rotate through written down so that if I ever have to hand over cooking duties to Andrew, he can just review the recipes and basically make it exactly how I would. Daily habit number four is to move your body. I can't tell you what a big difference this makes for my mental health, and I can actually like physically feel the difference on days where I incorporate movement and on days where I'm just sitting on the couch all day. If this is something you're looking to improve and just starting out with, I would even recommend incorporating five or ten minutes of daily movement to start, and you can always increase from there. One thing that really helps me as someone who works from home is going for short walks at the beginning of the day and at the end of the day. It's almost like simulating my commute, and it helps give me separation between the start of the work day or the end of the work day. If you have a desk job, it's really important to get up and stretch when you can, go for a walk if you can at lunch, or go get a coffee, and obviously if you can find time in your day for an actual workout, that is one of the best things. Now let me know if you guys would be interested in a video or maybe even a podcast episode about finding a workout routine that you like, because I was not a consistent worker-outer ever until a few years ago, until I really found something that worked for me and something that I can be consistent with. Let me know in the comments if that's something that you're interested in. If you're newer to working out or struggle with motivation to work out, this could be an interesting way to test habit stacking. Maybe after you go to the gym, you can stop to pick up your favorite iced coffee on the way home, or when you've completed your workout, you can treat yourself to a new episode of your favorite tv show. Daily habit number five is setting boundaries, and not just setting boundaries, setting boundaries and actually sticking to them, which is so much easier said than done by the way. I'm currently filming this video in December, and this is a very busy time of year for my job. There are tons of holiday event invitations, sometimes even last minute campaigns and things that pop up, but in order to make sure that I can show up for the things that I've already committed to and everything going on in my personal life, I always try to set limits on how much I really take on this season. On a similar note to that, I like to set boundaries for my work because I'm a self-employed creator, which means that if I get distracted and I'm not getting my work done, that just falls back on me at the end of the day. I also think that setting some digital boundaries on something like this can be very helpful. I, you can ask any of my friends, I feel like I have Do Not Disturb on almost perpetually during the work week, and it's not because I don't want to talk to people and I have, you know, my family and Andrew can bypass Do Not Disturb if there is an emergency, but it really is just the distractions throughout the day. So I use Do Not Disturb very freely on my phone. If you work on a company that has chat services like Slack, you can actually change your status on Slack to say busy or in a meeting. We really only have so much energy to go around in any given week, and I'm in my early 30s now and I definitely don't have the energy or the flexibility that I used to have in my early 20s. So for that reason, I typically only schedule or plan one dinner or work event or like night out in the city per week on the weekdays. And there's some flexibility here, you know, during the holidays there's more events, New York Fashion Week, there are typically a lot of events back to back, but in general for me, that's just what I know my limits are. Because when I show up to dinner with a friend, I want to be fully present, I want to be energized, and I want to actually enjoy the time I'm spending with them and not think about what else is on my to-do list or how I'm off my routine. Think about weekly limits that you want to set in your life, whether it's related to work events or seeing friends or doing anything outside of your normal daily to-dos, and then work backwards from there as you plan out your schedule. And remember, boundaries don't always have to be negative either. I personally don't make plans really on Friday nights because that's usually a night that Andrew and I will get pizza together and actually spend time together and catch up. I really care about having a designated night where we catch up and spend time together and can continue to like nurture our relationship, even if it's as simple as ordering in a pizza, watching a movie, and then talking afterwards. So unless one of us is traveling or we happen to have other plans, Friday nights are pizza nights with my husband. Daily habit number six is to use automation tools and reminders. For anyone who has a lot going on in their lives, this is one of the best ways to ensure that you don't forget the important things. If you've ever hung out with me in person, you've probably seen me do this before. Hey Siri, set a reminder to check mail at 3 p.m. I mean, what's easier than that? Also, for my iPhone friends, I don't know if this is the case on Android, but did you know you can schedule text messages now? I'm obsessed with this. I will never forget someone's birthday again. I'm also someone who schedules out emails. One of the best times for me, I've noticed, to go through my emails is actually Sunday evening. I'll go through and I'll clear my inbox, so Monday morning I'm not overwhelmed. But what I'll do in Gmail is schedule the emails to go out first thing Monday morning. Not only do I love this because it makes me look like I'm on top of my ----, but it also means that I'm not distracted Monday morning doing things for other people. I can focus on tasks that I need to get done. I'm also a really big fan of scheduling in recurring reminders and check-ins in Google Calendar. You can also add friends' birthdays and select repeat annually. And again, I'm self-employed, so I like to schedule in quarterly check-ins and also end-of-month recaps. I'm able to do this in Google Calendar. Usually I do it in January and schedule things out throughout the end of the year. This way I'm able to keep track of my progress and see how I'm doing. Using scheduling and automation tools takes the pressure off of your brain to remember every little individual thing. This helps me stay more on top of things and show up consistently for the people who show up consistently for me. Daily habit number seven is spending a little bit of time on an offline hobby. Again, I know our days can be busy and things can get hectic, but making time to do something that doesn't involve your phone that you actually love and that fills your cup is one of the best things you can do to add a little bit of positivity and happiness to your daily routine. I would say my number one offline hobby is reading, as you may have guessed with the way that I introed this video. I used to read all the time as a kid, and when I moved to New York City, I feel like that dropped quite a bit. But in recent years, I have found my way back into reading, and I just absolutely love it. If you need any tips for getting back into reading, by the way, I did an episode on my podcast Create & Consume with all of my best tips, but it doesn't have to be reading. It could be making charcuterie boards, it could be watercolors, it could be a number of things. There are cozy hobbies like making sour dough, there are adventurous hobbies like hiking. Choosing something that really speaks to you and fills your cup that is not related to scrolling on your phone is one of the best things that you can do. And speaking of that, the next life-changing habit is to monitor your digital consumption. Look, the world is a crazy place right now. I appreciate going down a TikTok rabbit hole to disassociate just as much as the next girl, okay? I'm not immune to that, I'm not pretending to be. However, I have noticed that the more time I spend scrolling, the more distracted and kind of frazzled and less focused I find myself later on in the day. So I'm not saying you have to abandon it entirely. I'm just saying to think about your digital consumption, whether that includes TV, the podcast that you listen to, and of course social media and who you choose to follow online. Is the time you're spending online productive? Is it inspiring you? Is it educating you? Is it entertaining you? Are there people you follow who you kind of hate follow or who make you feel bad about yourself? Guys, the unfollow, the mute, the restrict buttons, they are all there for a reason. Use those as freely as you want. One big thing that I think has actually changed the time that I spend on Instagram a lot in this last year is that I have almost everyone, with the exception of maybe like 30 or 40 people, muted on stories. And it's not because I don't want to see people's stories or know what's going on in everyone's lives, it's just so much information. So many people post stories, and that's where I personally get stuck most often on Instagram. Because my feed now is so many more people who I don't follow, so when I want to catch up with people who I do follow, I go to stories first. And I really feel like if there's any big life updates or news from people, that usually tends to be found in a feed post. I don't think I've missed anything earth-shattering by muting some Instagram stories. Also, make a list of content creators who make you feel good and who you can actually seek out and go check in on. If you're going to spend time scrolling and online, you may as well spend it with people who you like or people who motivate or inspire you. That brings us to the next daily habit, which is taking care of your physical space. I don't know about you guys, but I am very impacted and influenced by my physical environment. I am someone who genuinely believes that the vibe of your home can set the tone for everything. And I feel like the smaller the space, the more important this is. If you're ever feeling overwhelmed, I am a big fan of what I've seen on TikTok called the 10-minute tidy, where you can literally set a timer for 10 minutes on your phone and just tidy up and clean whatever the biggest, most important things are. This is like the big three, but for your physical space. There's honestly never a bad time to do this. In fact, hey Siri, set a timer for 10 minutes. And this next habit really brings everything full circle, and that is to wind down intentionally at the end of the day. The same way that I talked about establishing core pillars of your morning routine, I also think it's really helpful to have core pillars of your evening routine. For me, I have a few non-negotiables before bed. Like even if I came home and it was midnight and I just wanted to get in bed, there are a couple of things that I would still absolutely do before I went to sleep. One of them for me is no dishes in the sink overnight, unless there's like a really big pan that needs to be soaked or something. Washing dishes is one of those tasks that always seems so daunting and always takes like less than five minutes to do, unless it's Thanksgiving. I also really try to make an effort to put away screens at least 15 minutes before bed, ideally longer. Like I read before bed last night, I finished my book, and I feel like I slept so soundly. Brushing my teeth is another non-negotiable. Doing a basic skincare routine, even if it's just moisturizer, putting something on my face is absolutely a crucial part of my evening wind down. I also think that keeping the essentials at your nightstand is a great way to not forget things before bed, so maybe that's retainers or medication or a lip balm. And then two things that I love doing that I think help me fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer are using a sleep mask and also spraying a little lavender scent on my pillows because it's very soothing and helps me fall asleep. Okay, now I want to hear from you. Tell me one daily habit that you do every single day without fail in the comments down below, and if you've made it to this point in the video, leave the little sun emoji so I can say thank you for watching to the end. Don't forget to subscribe and stick around so you can see episode four of the glow up series, which is going to be my next video. And as I mentioned earlier, that's going to be an in-depth morning routine. I'll see you all in the next upload.