50 Fall Habits to Create Before the Holidays Get Crazy

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Fall is the perfect time to put habits in place, before the craziness of the holidays.

I love to “prepare myself to be flexible.”  This means that if I have a baseline of routines and habits that keep the necessary parts of my life in order, my world won’t crumble during the hustle & bustle of the coming months.

I’ve tried easy and complex ways to start a new habit.  By far, the easiest way to jump on board with a new habit is with Habit Stacking.

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What is “Habit Stacking?”

Habit Stacking is basically attaching a New Habit you want to start, with a Positive Habit you already have.  By Positive Habit, I mean a habit you either enjoy doing, or at least don’t hate doing.

Here is an easy formula to help understand this:

Before or After I [Positive Habit], I [New Habit]*

 

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How do you build consistent habits with Habit Stacking?

Make your New Habit small, make it easy to do in 1 or 2 steps, and make it the same frequency as the positive habit you are attaching it to (meaning, don’t attach a new daily habit to a positive once-per-week habit).

 

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Pre-Habit Stacking: Prepare Your Space Beforehand

Starting a new habit is stressful enough.  Take a few minutes to get your home or office up to speed with your new awesome routines.  You can include things like:

• Keep Cleaning supplies close
• Store Cut Vegetables at Eye Level in the Fridge
• Keep Unhealthy Snacks in very high or very low cabinets
• Move Social Media Apps into multi-level folders which take multiple clicks/steps to open
• Leave a set of 5-lb weights or resistance bands in the closet closest to wherever you intend to exercise

 

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Books on Habit Stacking

In case you are interested in going deep into habit stacking, there are 2 great books I’ve read: Atomic Habits and The Power of Habit.  Any one of these books is extremely helpful in explaining the science and advantages to bringing Habit Stacking into your life.

*Thank you to Atomic Habits for inspiring the above formula.

 

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Here are 50 Fall Habits to Start Now, Perfect for Habit Stacking and Just in Time for the Holidays!

 

Mindfulness Habits

1. After I brush my teeth, I will tell myself 2 affirmations.
2. After I fill my plate with food, I will ask my S.O./kids/myself, etc. what they did to make someone else smile today.
3. While I am stirring my coffee/tea, I will meditate for 1 minute.
4. Before I sit down at my desk, I will remove one thing from my desk that is distracting to me.
5. Before I start to eat lunch, I will think of one thing I am grateful for.
6. Before I leave the store, I will say “good morning/afternoon/evening” to one stranger.
7. Before I go to sleep, I will kiss my S.O. goodnight.
8. When I am washing my hair, I will think of one thing I love about my body.

 

Daily Routine Habits

9. Before I go to sleep, I will read one page from my book.
10. After I pick up the kids from the bus, I will place my phone in the kitchen cabinet. (Phone Free Evenings)
11. Before I put my house key in my pocket, I will eat one vegetable.
12. After I finish the vegetables on my dinner plate, I will tell my family one thing I learned today.
13. After I put on my PJs, I will pick out my outfit for tomorrow.
14. After I use the bathroom, I will review my goals for this month/year.
15. Before I sit for lunch, I will make one business decision.
16. Before I check my emails, I will set up one email filter.
17. After I check my emails, I will drink one glass of water.
18. When I make dinner, I will make one extra serving to eat for lunch tomorrow.
19. Before I check my social media accounts, I will watch/listen to 5 minutes of world news (like BBC).

 

Money Habits

20. Before I purchase something I want, I will wait 24 hours.
21. Before I buy something that I want (not need), I will transfer $5 into my savings account.
22. When I return home, I will put all of the $1 bills in my wallet into an envelope for extra savings.
23. When I open my credit card bill, I will check it for mistakes/charges I do not recognize.

 

Exercise Habits

24. After I finish dinner, I will walk around the block.
25. After I drive into the parking lot, I will park farther away than the last time I parked here.
26. After I use the bathroom, I will do 20 crunches.
27. Before I check Facebook, I will do 10 burpees.

 

Healthy Eating Habits

28. After I pick up my plate, I will put vegetables on my plate.
29. Before I eat a cracker, I will eat one piece of fruit.
30. Before I leave the grocery store, I will put one seasonal vegetable in my shopping cart.
31. Before I leave to go to a restaurant, I will look at the menu online to decide what I want to eat.

 

Cleaning Habits

32. After I enter the house, I will take off my shoes.
33. After I shower, I will wipe down the shower walls.
34. After I use a dish, I will put it in the dishwasher.
35. After I brew my coffee, I will put in one load of laundry.
36. After I wipe the counter, I will give the rag to my child to wipe the fridge handles.
37. After I use the oregano, I will immediately put it back into the spice rack.
38. After I drink my coffee, I will empty the dishwasher.
39. After we eat dinner, we do a 30-second tidy of the living areas together.
40. After I use a dish towel, I will hang it up.
41. After I take a bath, I will rinse and wipe the tub.
42. After I get out of bed, I will make the bed.
43. After I brush my teeth, I will wipe the sink.
44. Before I give my child a cookie, I will ask them to put one toy away.
45. Before I walk my kids to the bus stop, I will grab the trash bags to take out.
46. After I walk my kids to the bus stop, I will sweep the porch or water the flowers.
47. After I walk into the livingroom, I will open the curtains/blinds.

 

Declutter Habits

48. After I take off my shoes, I will get rid of one thing from my house that is not useful anymore.
49. Before I put the milk away, I will take one expired food out of the fridge.
50. Before I leave the living room, I will take one thing with me that is out of place.

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Conclusion

The holidays are going to have a bit of stress attached, no matter what.  The best we can do is to go with the flow. Let’s keep an eye out for those small moments of sharing kindness and making memories.  

Bringing just a few of these New Habits into your life will help dramatically to keep your internal systems running smoothly, amid all the crazy holiday fun!

What are some new habits you hope to start?  What are the habits you are having difficulty keeping consistently?  Let us know in the comments!

 

XO,

-Mina

 

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P.S.: Checkout my other Blog Posts & be sure to follow me on Pinterest, I have TONS more great content!!

Here are some more posts that might be helpful:

12 Perfect Christmas Gift Ideas that Double as Small Space Organizers

10 Crazy-Easy Small Habits to Boost Your Productivity Right Now

Epic Ideas for a Morning Routine Formula that Works for YOU

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