Your daily habits are the foundation that keeps your mindset in check. Think about the routines and tasks you spend most of your time on — how do they make you feel about the world around you? About yourself? Are you usually stressed and anxious, or do you feel inspired and motivated?

Tracking the habits you practice throughout your day is a major step towards leveling up your mindset. Start with these 7 daily to-do’s so you can build routines that motivate you to keep working towards your goals!

7 Daily Habits to Start Practicing ASAP

1. Start the day on your terms

Set yourself up for success by creating a morning routine on your terms. Waking up to immediately attend to the needs of others can negatively impact your mindset — when you don’t take the necessary time for yourself, your motivation tends to suffer.

Be sure you get that necessary me-time in by scheduling it in the beginning of your day. Create a list of the things you want to do for yourself before you start the chaos of the day, like reading or journaling or just making a cup of coffee in peace. Then, reverse engineer your schedule to see what time you need to wake up in order to make everything happen.

2. Morning pages

The practice of ‘morning pages’ comes from Julia Cameron’s book The Artist’s Way. Basically, you begin your day by writing 3 full pages of stream-of-consciousness thoughts. It’s meant to clear all the worries and distractions out of your mind and give them a place to exist on paper so you can move on from them and get on with the day.

I write morning pages every day to keep my mindset in check. If I miss a day, I notice those random stresses and grudges taking up my brainspace more than they deserve to. It becomes easier to get distracted and spend the day in my own head rather than doing the work that needs to get done. Try morning pages to give your mindset a boost so you can stay focused and at peace.

3. Gratefulness reflection

Every day should include some type of routine for reflecting on the things you’re grateful for. This can be keeping a gratitude journal where you jot down some things from the day before you go to sleep. Or, you can use an app like 5 Minute Journal that allows you to quickly reflect and track your list.

Make a point to notice your gratitude as it comes and recognize the things that matter to you in your life. Keeping notes of those things gives you a constant reminder of how good life can be if you only take the time to look around and be thankful.

4. Phone a friend

Don’t let loneliness creep into your mindset! Make a habit of calling or texting a friend or a loved one every single day. It’s so important to strengthen the connections we have in our lives so they can continue to thrive. Especially if you’re trying to keep your mindset right!

Remind yourself of the support you have by connecting with the people you love. And while you remind yourself of their support, consider the value you can bring into their lives as well. Relationships are a two way street — don’t forget to give more than you get!

5. Plan your day

Start each day with a plan for what you’ll achieve. One of the most efficient ways to do this is by leveraging the Ivy Lee Method. This means you create a to-do list of your top 6 priorities for the next day, then you rank them in order of important. The next day, you begin with the first thing on the list. If you’ve ranked them effectively, this will be the most important thing for you to achieve that day!

Give yourself a list of to-do’s that works for you so you always get things done efficiently and on time. I also use my bullet journal to plan my day by jotting down the tasks I know I need to complete and crossing them off as I move through my workday. Experiment with what works for you — sometimes it’s a pen-and-paper list, sometimes its a Google calendar, and sometimes it’s a combination of things. Your time management style should be unique to your habits and lifestyle!

6. Treat yourself

Give yourself something to look forward to every single day, no matter how small it is! Maybe this means getting your favorite coffee one morning on the way to work. Maybe it means wearing your favorite sweater, or taking a day off, or cooking your favorite meal.

Find the things that bring you those sparks of joy and work them into your day-to-day. You don’t have to wait for special occasions to create special moments for yourself!

7. Think ahead

Each night before your head hits the pillow, make an effort to look ahead at the day to come. When you’re always thinking two steps ahead in your schedule, you’ll never find yourself unprepared for a meeting or appointment.

If you know you have something important coming up the next day, prepare for it the night before. This can be something as small as laying out your workout clothes so you can finally start that exercise routine, or squeezing in one last review of your presentation before a big meeting. Stay ahead of the game so you always come out on top!

---

QOTD: What daily habits keep your mindset in check?