9 Tiny Daily Habits That Quietly Made My Life Way Easier

Do you see change as hard? Over the years, I’ve come to see it differently.

While individual change can be hard (depending on the task), the act of change itself is remarkably easy and entirely within our control. The hard part is simply finding something you’re motivated to do and sticking with it until it becomes a habit.

To offer some inspiration, I’m going to share a number of positive changes I’ve made to my own life. There’s nothing to say that the same changes will be as meaningful for you, but I hope at the very least you can see your agency to shape the kind of person you want to become.

The key to all of these habits sticking for me is that I chose things I wanted to do because of their intrinsic rewards, not because I was trying to prove something. Along the way, these choices have compounded, and looking back, they have quietly made my life easier and more satisfying. I genuinely hope the same for you.

Choosing to leave my phone in another room

While I work or when I’m hanging out with my wife and kids. In the age of smartphones, this bit of technology is almost always within arm’s reach, and for many of us it’s become our default source of entertainment and distraction. By leaving my phone in another room, the little bit of friction I introduce is enough to pull me back to my task and remind me of the type of person I want to be, without falling down the rabbit hole of random scrolling. This choice keeps my life simpler and easier by clarifying my priorities.

Tracking my spending each day

Either in real-time, or at the end of the day before I go to bed. This simple financial habit is a natural deterrent to overspending. For me, the act of tracking my spending is a positive habit, like exercising or brushing my teeth— one that is easy to do, and I feel good about myself when it’s done. By spending so much time with our finances, I feel like I’m in control of our financial future and have my hands on the wheel, instead of being in the passenger seat, not sure where life is taking me.

Writing down the names of people I meet

And where I met them. One of the simplest ways to make a person feel valued is to remember their name. On the flip side, when you’ve introduced yourself to someone 3 or 4 times, it’s easy to feel they just don’t see you. Between my church and various social commitments, I often find myself meeting new people, and try to make a habit of writing their name down in Notion and where I met them. This intentional act has made me feel more connected with my community, and made it easier to remember people and faces.

Keeping a notebook of daily gratitude points

So that I focus more on the good things in my life. I’ve read a number of studies that correlate gratitude with happiness and satisfaction, so I decided to give it a go and see if it made a real difference, or was just a bunch of good marketing. From my experience, I can say that practicing gratitude on a regular basis does make you happier, and instantly lifts your mood in a noticeable way. Practically, I have found that writing down something you are thankful for each day is the easiest way to build this habit— simply thinking positive thoughts doesn’t have the same stickiness.

Setting a timer before starting a task

That I don’t particularly enjoy doing. In the book Super Better, Jane McGonigal talks about the power of challenge in motivating people to take action. She says that we naturally avoid tasks when we aren’t sure how long they’ll take, or how hard they’ll be. But by setting a timer, you remove that fear by adding a sense of urgency and creating a clear stopping point. Instead of your chore being a black hole of time and effort, you can think of it as a challenge: “How much can I get done in 15 minutes.” This has been a great source of motivation for me in getting me to start all sorts of projects around the house.

Keeping active goals lists for each of my roles

In life, including my roles as a husband, father, writer, and Christian. One of the ways I try to live intentionally is by having a document that tracks my goals in a variety of domains. Simply having this document, writing things in it, and reading it from time to time keeps my compass pointed towards “true north” and prevents complacency from creeping into my life. I’m not a huge tracker of goals or habits, but this little list has been a great source of motivation for me over the past several years.

Simplifying my life by keeping fewer things

Around the house and on my to-do list. There’s something about having fewer things that makes your life easier. This might sound obvious, but it took me several years of applying minimalism to my life to see just how far-reaching the effects were. If you have fewer clothes in your closets, you’ll spend less time deciding what to wear. If your calendar has fewer commitments, you’ll be less stressed and have more time for what’s important. In our family of four young kids, we’ve embraced the spirit of minimalism by keeping only the stuff we really use and enjoy.

Making a habit of exercising in the morning

Right after breakfast. I’ve read that one of the main ways we acquire a new habit is by attaching it to an existing habit, or something we already do regularly. I’ve been able to develop a more consistent exercise routine by piggybacking on my breakfast, which I eat every morning already. I simply made it a rule that I can’t sit down at my computer to check emails, work, or read until I’ve completed 10-15 minutes of exercise first. This forced me to make a choice about my priorities, and has helped me cement my habit into something that I now look forward to each day.

Prioritizing sleep by sticking to a bedtime

And waking up at the same time each day. The idea behind this habit is to make bedtime a non-negotiable deadline, just like when you have to be at the airport or an important meeting across town. The simple act of making sleep a priority (or any good habit) is a surprisingly powerful way to increase the odds you’ll stick with it. Whether you announce it publicly or not, you’re making a promise to yourself, and we are naturally drawn to keeping our words. After months of practicing early to bed, early to rise, I already can’t imagine going back.

You Can Change Your Life in Small Ways

The best advice I ever received about changing my life and becoming more disciplined was to pick something small and stick with it. In the past, I’d get caught up with grand plans for how different my life would be, and I’d crash and burn after just a week or two.

The best thing about small changes is that they are non-threatening. They’re so small that you figure you might as well keep up with them, and over time they just become part of who you are. Before you know it, you’ll look back and see how far you’ve come.