New ‘That Girl’ Habits I’ve Picked Up
One of my 2024 goals was to become 1% better every day. Rather than whatever Internet meaning was originally applied to this Instagram/TikTok trend, I’ve taken it to mean building on yesterday in any small way, thus allowing my ‘best self’ to fluctuate as it often does. I’m not sure whether it’s a ‘Just Millennial Girlie Things’ thing or whether it’s a personal mindset, but I seem to always be on a quest to improve myself. I’ve touched on the fact that I’m struggling through/managing a few health issues and conditions for the last couple of months, and this mindset has been transformational for me so far this year.
Three months (and a bit) in, I thought I’d share just a handful of the habits that I’ve picked up – and kept up with – in 2024, that are improving my life and making me feel like ‘that girl’.
Being open to change
If you’ve read Daisybutter for any length of time, you’ll know that I’m a keen journaller and diarist. I’ve always organised my life via a paper planner in some format, and it helps me to keep up with my busy schedule. But, in 2024, I’ve prioritised maintaining balance between meticulous planning and being open to change. In a small way, allowing myself to ‘cancel’ and move appointments and events in my bullet journal has helped me feel more relaxed. It’s not the end of the world if an evening suddenly becomes free, after all.
Exercising according to my daily condition
One of the health issues I’ve been dealing with means that I’ve suffered non-stop bloating, constant cramps and bleeding* for more than 10 months. At first, I tried to simply keep up with my usual routines for work, life and exercise but, nowadays, I’m leaning into rest and only exercising according to how I feel that day. It looks a lot like my usual – weightlifting, Pilates and running – but on a different pattern.
*I was about to write TMI, but then I thought we should normalise women’s health. So, I won’t! I also don’t have a diagnosis or a single Scooby of what is ‘wrong’ with me, but I’ll be sure to share an update if I feel it warrants one.
Keeping a standalone gratitude notebook
Inspired by Megan, as always, I’m currently keeping a standalone gratitude notebook again. I used to write these on scraps of paper and pop them in a jar, then I kept a notebook, before combining my gratitude notes into my bullet journal. But this new notebook has been brilliant in that it’s a journal solely for the good things, no mundane everyday to-do lists in sight. Great for a pick-me-up on sad or bad days.
6.30am mornings
I’m often asked about when I get up in the mornings. This is really a surprisingly common question at my office! I’ve been waking up at 6.30am or earlier for the past two years now, so that I can get my full morning routine – which includes exercise – in before I start work at 9am. It’s a habit I’ve maintained all year so far, too.
Intuitive bedtimes
Hand in hand with my 6.30am mornings, I’m also practicing intuitive bedtimes. I’m somebody that is trying to recover from revenge bedtimes, but is also still a bit of a night owl. What’s helping is to wind down for the evening early-ish – around 9pm or so – and letting myself sleep when I need to. I don’t read, play games or go on my phone in this time either, I just watch something relaxed on TV. Because I find TV-watching boring, it actually ‘lets’ me fall asleep when I’m tired.
