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Starting and finishing my day on my terms

  • Writer: Anne Thomas
    Anne Thomas
  • Jan 20
  • 6 min read

📱 Do you wake up with your phone and start checking socials and emails first thing in the morning?


📱 Do you go to bed with your phone and find yourself scrolling into the late hours or maybe even in the middle of night?


I used to long back but not anymore as my phone sleeps in another room. It's been like that for few years now with the odd off day here and there. 


Habits are repeated behaviours


Habits are what we do repeatedly that it requires less to no effort to perform. Like brushing our teeth every morning. It's just what we do every day without having to have a dialogue with our brain on why it's good or not for us.


A behaviour is a conscious action or response to a situation. When we practise certain behaviours over and over again, it becomes a habit in that we do it without thinking or sometimes even without realising. Or as we say "I just did it by habit".


Over years we build some not so healthy habits that it requires conscious effort to stop, change or replace with a healthier habit. We all mostly understand and "get" why certain habits don't serve us well. Just knowing why something is good or bad for us doesn't help create new habits.


In this article more than the theory of why or how to build healthy habits, I want to share specific habits that I have focussed on building for myself. Some habits that I stick to successfully for years and others still working on consistency.


If you are interested in the "how" to help define and build habits, I suggest below resources:



There are PLENTY of resources, videos and articles online about habit formation. Again, knowing the theory and putting into practice are different things. What intrigues me the most is the practice more than the theory. Here I want to share what's worked for me as specific examples help me get inspired and I hope this article does that for you in some way.


5 habits that help me start the day strong


No, it’s not the 5 AM club. I don’t subscribe to that. I am a late sleeper and I’ve always needed ~8 hours of sleep to function. So yeah nah my alarm clock doesn’t get set that early. Thankfully my husband and dog also like a sleep in!


Here are 5 habits that help me start the day strong! 🌞 I will list them in order because there really is an order and rhythm to it. 


  1. 💧 Have a big sip of water.

  2. 🧘🏽 Do morning stretches. My go-to is x3 Sun Salutation.

  3. 👖 Change out of my PJs.

  4. 🥛 Drink a glass of water with some salt and fiber.

  5. 🧠 Do a Duolingo language lesson while having my breakfast.


How we start the day can really have an impact on our mindset and outlook for the rest of the day. These help to wake up my body physically and mentally in ways that truly serve me and set me up for the day. 


I don’t get them all right every single day. The days I do, I feel great and that feeling anchors me to get back on track. 


Water is everything for me as I am not a coffee or tea drinker and I usually wake up feeling dehydrated so it's naturally the first thing I want. The stretches help my body to loosen up and be conscious of my posture. I have a 700+ day streak on Duolingo but most days I found myself doing an easy 1 minute match the words exercise at night. Shifting this to morning gave me more energy to actually learn and make the streak count.


It’s only after all this that I check anything else on my phone. It feels way better than waking up with my phone, tuning into what’s happening in the world first thing. 


Yes it does help me to use that as a dopamine hit and reward to stay on track with the other things until then. Previously I wrote about Delayed Gratification and how I can take this too far sometimes. In this case I make my "self-control for a delayed reward" work in my favour by ensuring I do those 5 things before I check anything else on my phone.


5 habits that help me finish the day strong


This one is harder as I’m usually up late or even getting home late after dance training. By the time I shower, have dinner and maybe watch some TV, I’ve little to no energy left to stick to good habits.


Sitting on the couch and watching TV with mobile phone in hand is a dangerous combination. I find it’s harder for me to stop checking my phone especially since I don’t take my phone to the bedroom.


Here are 5 habits that help me finish the day strong! 🌜Some of these are still quite aspirational in getting to be consistent most days.


  1. 🍽️ Clean kitchen and dirty dishes.

  2. 📵 Stop checking my phone after a certain time, well before bedtime.

  3. 🪫 Put phone away for charging during the night (not in bedroom).

  4. 🌻 Write down 1-3 things I’m grateful for in my bedside journal. :-)

  5. 📖 Read few pages of a book in bed.


These habits help to wind down my body physically and mentally to have a restful sleep. The kind of sleep where learning is reinforced, memories are formed and creativity sparks. 💤


The habit I look forward to the most is the gratitude journal. Knowing the book is right next to me on my bedside with a pen ready to jot down with smiley face bullet points makes it very easy. It's also how it makes me smile and finish the day appreciating something and there's always something to be grateful for.


Since COVID times, I’ve been pretty good with not taking my phone to bed. I can confidently say ~95% of the year I’ve left my phone in another room to charge all night. This has helped my mood, eyes, shoulders and posture as checking phone in bed never did anything good for me. However when one habit sticks so well, we tend to find ways to compensate. This is what I observed when I would check my phone for longer sitting on the couch before going to bed.


Hence why I’m wanting to define a ‘bedtime’ for my phone now that it has a defined bedroom!


The reward to make habits stick


The secret sauce for making habits stick is the "reward". I've tried different things like planning something nice to celebrate, tracking with an accountability partner etc.


What I've learnt in what works best for me is how the habit makes me FEEL. I don't need any other reward or celebration. If the habit works for me, it'll stick. It doesn't matter if it's consistent for 80% of the year or even less as I'll keep coming back to it remembering how it positively impacted my wellbeing. 


Of course the behaviour has to be repeated enough times to actually feel the difference. If it's not working, then I'll tweak my approach paying attention to how I'm framing it, priming the environment, identifying a trigger for the action etc.


I'm always curious to know what habits people are working on building, how they stay motivated and reward themselves. 


💭 What helps you start your day strong?

💭 What helps you finish your day strong?



Hello👋🏽 Thank you for reading this far! I'm passionate about helping people grow and get addicted to living outside their comfort zone for what matters to them. I do this through coaching, sharing thoughts and most importantly leading by example in my own life. 🌱


🚀 Ready to take courageous steps towards your WHAT-IFs? Reach out for a chemistry check and to see if individual coaching is the right fit for you: Message me on LinkedIn, Instagram or email anne@unhiddenpotential.com.


💟 Value community and reflection in a safe setting? Follow me on Humanitix to get notified of future Women's Coaching Circles in Adelaide. These are accessible intimate gatherings to explore a topic and walk away with clear intentions without the full commitment of 1:1 coaching.

 
 
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