What if there were a few simple daily actions you could take to improve your life—activities that got your mornings off to a fresh start, kept you focused and centered during the day, and helped you go to bed each night on a positive note?
While I’ve written about daily rituals before, it’s a topic worth revisiting because too often we get stuck in a rut. Our lives can sometimes become mechanized to the point we’re just going through the motions, following the same schedule and routine day-in and day-out. That’s when it’s time to shake things up with small changes to your routine that can have a positive impact on your life.
These actions are also known as “life hacks.”
Life hacks are unique ways to make better use of your time. I recently found several in the email newsletter Recomendo. Written by Kevin Kelly and two other writers, Recomendo features “cool stuff,” a curated list of products, websites, and online resources worth checking out. (One past example is the live camera stream from the Nambia desert which I find myself visiting even when my first instinct is to scroll Facebook.)
A recent edition of the newsletter called attention to a “Simple Living” subreddit, where someone asked the question: “What’s a simple, underrated ritual that genuinely changed your life—and you wish you’d started earlier.” What follows are my favorite answers.
I’ve put the list in chronological order, starting with morning activities, continuing with practices for the day, and concluding with simple tasks to try at night. While you may already be doing some of these things, you may find others you’ll want to add to your daily routine.
10 Simple Daily Rituals to Boost Your Well-Being
- Wake up early to reflect, meditate, read, or pray. If you consider yourself SBNR, you need to find time for this every day—even if it means getting up earlier than your spouse or the rest of the family. I engage in contemplation and spiritual reading most mornings, though if my monkey mind is acting up, I’ll use a meditation app. My rule: No looking at email, the news, or social media until I’ve completed at least one of the activities in bold above.
- Make your bed as soon as you get up. I first heard this idea many years ago via Tim Ferriss, and while it may sound silly, it works. Making the bed sets the tone for the day. It officially acknowledges that sleep time is over and it’s time to get on with waking life.
- Make a daily to-do list. I add notes to my old school datebook which gives me a few of the day and current week. It gets my to-do list out of my head clearing some space in my noggin and reminds me of errands I need to run, people I need to contact, and bills I need to pay. I review it at the start of each day, after completing steps one and two.
- Turn on your desk lamp when you start work. My 9-to-5 days are now (thankfully) over, but I found this idea to be a good one, especially if you work from home. Turn on your desk lamp at the start of each workday. Then, turn it off when you finish work. It’s a simple ritual that can help you switch on your work mode and then turn it off when the workday is over.
- Microdose nature. Weather permitting, find time to get out outside for a walk! Just a short fifteen-minute stroll can invigorate you, give you vitamin D, and help with digestion after a meal. One city dweller on Reddit calls them “notice walks.” In their words, “I just try to “notice” things, like oh that apartment around the corner is vacant now, my neighbors are barbecuing something, these flowers are blooming beautifully, there’s a new piece of graffiti, etc.”
- Remember to breathe. How often we forget to take deep breaths during the day! Focusing on the breath can help with any anxiety you’re feeling and keep you calm and centered. There are different formulas like: Inhale through the nose for five seconds, hold for a second, then exhale through the mouth for five seconds. But just a couple of deep in-and-out breaths often do the trick.
- Take naps. I’m a huge fan of afternoon naps which helps revive and reenergize me for the rest of the day. A nap as short as fifteen minutes (and never more than 45 minutes, which can put you in a deep sleep cycle) usually works wonders and keeps me fresh and alert ‘til bedtime.
- Remind yourself: everything is going to work out fine. From a Reddit contributor: “Telling myself that 99% of things are working fine and it’s just that 1% that I’m obsessing about that is freaking me out.” How true that is. Sometimes you have to get off the worry-go-round and remember all that is good and right in your life.
- At the end of the day, make sure there are no dishes in the sink. It’s one less task to do in the morning. When you’re pre-prepped for the following day, you can roll out of bed and roll right into step one at the top of this list. (After coffee, of course.) Each night, I get the coffee pot ready, put out vitamins for me and my wife, and make sure our kitty-cats have plenty of food.
- Write down three good things that happened that day before you go to bed. Recall what you appreciated about the day, even if it’s small. Things like stellar service at the coffee shop, a good workout, or a sign of affection from your spouse. Had a rough day and can’t come up with 3 things? Revisit one positive memory before bed. It might be an experience with an old friend, a pleasant vacation memory, or anytime in your life you felt genuine awe.
Footnote: I debated whether this column was too light for a time when the country and world are going up in figurative flames. Aren’t the issues of today more important? But I’ve come to realize, the first thing you must do in life is take care of yourself. Just like you’re told on those airline drills, you need to put your own oxygen mask on first before trying to help others. Then, when you’re ready body and soul, you can find ways to address the problems of your community and beyond.
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