goal setting – Keeping it creative

goal setting, intentional living, lifestyle, Mindfulness, nature, wellbeing, wellness

Easy and fun ways to make the most of your summer

Posted on Jun 25, 2026Jun 26, 2026 by Laura

For the last week or so, it’s felt like summer has finally arrived in the North East of England with better weather, more sunshine, warm breezes and the chance to wear some of my new seasonal outfits whilst sitting out in the garden. Although I struggle when (if!) it gets really hot due to my very fair skin burning super easily, I love it when it gets up to around 22 degrees C (around 72 degrees Fahrenheit) especially on days when I can just sit and relax outdoors.

Every season, I create a personal bucket list full of activities, including things I always enjoy at that time of year, and new things I’d like to try (harnessing the power of firsts as advised by Meik Wiking in his book The Art of Making Memories). This year, I’m also taking part in the monthly bingo challenges being run by Kelseyleigh over at My Abiding Journal, which is currently providing even more ideas for making the most of my summer.

So, today, I thought I’d share this year’s summer bucket list and also some further suggestions to help you make the most of the summer months whether you want adventures, experiences, opportunities to relax and recharge or a combination of all three. I hope my post gives you some new ideas or provides helpful reminders about maximising your days throughout the season. I would love to hear about your plans for the summer in the comments and if you’re excited about trying something new in 2026 feel free to share so others can take inspiration from you.

Summer 2026 Bucket List

I like to start planning my summer towards the end of spring by creating a bucket list in my bullet journal. For me, the season begins on June 1st so you’ll see I have a few items ticked off already. The cupcakes I made were vegan strawberry ones and although I think I would slightly modify the recipe if I made them again, I had such fun with my afternoon of baking and the cupcakes tasted great too.

It’s not too late to create your own summer bucket list for 2026 and you don’t have to make it super decorative like I have. Just a plain piece of paper or a page in a journal will do. You don’t have to get everything on your list ticked off but it helps to have something to work towards and provide inspiration.

Photo credit: Laura Jones for Keeping it Creative

I’ve just signed my husband and I up for strawberry picking on Sunday and I’m excited to try this for the first time at a farm in Northumberland where we enjoyed visiting a pumpkin patch a few years ago. I’m going to take my DSLR camera with me to record our time there.

Bingo boards

There are loads of seasonal bingo boards available online which you could use, or you could have a go at making your own. I found this lovely example, which is good for spotting various signs of the season, and most of the items can be observed in the UK. It was created by Haley Post at MyMoonstoneKitchen, whose content I really enjoy on YouTube. Her printable can be found on Patreon as a free download if you sign up as a (free) member.

The monthly bingo boards I’m having fun with are available if you become a paid member of My Abiding Journal on Patreon and you can see glimpses of them on Kelseyleigh’s Monthly Journalling livestreams too. I stick mine in my monthly highlights journal and add photos or a description to say how I’ve completed the items I have checked off. Although some of the activities are perhaps more aimed at people in the USA with the creator being based there, it still offers plenty of food for thought and you can always tweak a few of the ideas if they don’t suit.

A Summer Reading Challenge

This summer, I thought it would be fun to set myself a little reading challenge to help me try to diversify my reading and choose some books that I wouldn’t ordinarily pick. I generally go for psychological thrillers and police procedural crime novels, but I wanted to push myself to opt for something different during the summer months. So, having explored various 2026 summer reading bingo boards and reading challenges I found online for ideas, these are my chosen categories:

A book originally published in another country
A historical fiction book to be listened to on Audible
A children’s classic that I’ve never read before
A modern classic
A book published this year by an author whose work I’ve never read before
A memoir
A collection of poetry

I decided on 7 books for the challenge and I’m already on my second book which is Land by Maggie O’Farrell. Set in Ireland, it’s a historical novel which spans the years directly before and after the great hunger. I’m enjoying it so far and I’m glad I chose it as my audio book as the narrator is Irish actor Dane Whyte O’Hara which adds to the atmospheric and lyrical prose and enhances the reading experience wonderfully.

The first book was the children’s classic The Velveteen Rabbit and I found it available for free as an audio edition read by Richard Armitage. It was such a sweet little story and I listened to it to wind down after a busy day.

Seasonal eating

One of my favourite foods is in season in the UK in the summertime, and that’s strawberries which I like to enjoy in salads, with ice cream or yogurt, and, more recently in cupcakes! This year we’ve bought our own little plant, but, as it’s an alpine variety, we’ll only get mini fruits from it (as long as the flowers get pollinated!). I can see some tiny yellow fruits on the plant but I’m not sure if that guarantees they’ll turn into red strawberries or not. There’s also lots of flowers but I’m yet to spot a bee on any of them!

Other fruits we love to eat in the summer include watermelon, peaches, nectarines, cherries, pineapple, raspberries, plums and juicy tomatoes, most of which are grown in the UK. Eating locally grown produce (or at least from the UK) means that they retain their nutritional content, taste better and are better for the environment (less food miles). This recipe for watermelon, green bean, halloumi and mint salad is a favourite of ours and we even have own homegrown mint leaves to add this year.

In the summer, there are lots of vegetables that thrive here in the sunshine including peas, beans, courgettes, aubergines, peppers, lettuce and potatoes. When it’s a hot day, one of our favourite meals to create is a poke bowl (pronounced poh kay). This often includes layers of lettuce or spinach, cooled roasted veggies such as pepper, aubergine, butternut squash and broccoli, a protein source such as chickpeas and coucous, sweet potato chunks or cooled salad potatoes for the carbs. We then drizzle on salad dressing and enjoy our bowl al fresco at our outdoor table and chairs.

And, of course, as well as eating seasonal produce, you can also make some amazingly tasty fruity drinks too. Our current favourite is a refreshing ‘Cinderella’ mocktail which we found a recipe for last summer. It uses a combination of citrus flavours, sweetened with a small amount of grenadine syrups and, once shaken, is topped up with the spice of fizzy ginger ale. Here’s the ingredients to make two glasses full:

150ml orange juice
150ml pineapple juice
60ml lemon juice
3 teaspoons grenadine
1/2 litre ginger ale (or soda water if you prefer)

Add the orange juice, pineapple juice, lemon juice and grenadine to a cocktail shaker (or give it a good stir in a glass) and shake until combined. Divide into two tall glasses and add some ice. Top up with ginger ale. Enjoy!

Embracing the outdoors

Summer is the perfect time to connect with nature and enjoy spending lots of time outdoors. Being in natural environments improves our mental, physical and emotional wellbeing and is known to reduce stress and enhance our mood. I’ve been trying to spend as much time as I can in the garden this year and my husband and I have treated ourselves to a mini tabletop firepit which is perfect for sitting out in the late evening.

Have fun playing an outdoor game – my husband and I purchased a bright orange frisbee last year and we took it to a large outdoor space at a National Trust place we go to regularly. We both had smiles on our faces for the entire time, even though the wind kept lifting it and sending it off in the wrong direction! And it was fantastic exercise too. Other lovely outdoor games include bowls, badminton, quoits, croquet, throw and catch or even trying to get a ball or beanbag in an empty bucket.
Tend to your garden – summer is not the time for digging, moving plants or completely overhauling the garden but a few gentle maintenance activities such as hoeing a few weeds, deadheading spent flowers, checking on the progress of home growing fruit or vegetables helps to keep things progressing and looking good. It’s also important to do some early morning or early evening watering which allows the water to penetrate the soil and get to deep roots. Established plants should be watered deeply every few days or so, whereas seedling or delicate plants may require daily watering, especially during spells of hot weather. And, don’t forget to take time to observe your achievements and appreciate your hard work.
Take a hike – There are so many beautiful places to explore in the UK including the lake district, the highlands of Scotland, Snowdonia in Wales, The Peak District in Derbyshire and surrounding areas, the South West coastal path. It’s best to avoid walking during the hottest part of the day (11am – 3pm) but an early morning or evening trek can be wonderful. Also, remember to take plenty of rest breaks to look at the stunning scenery and always carry plenty of water to take sips from throughout your walk.
Go somewhere new and take a self-guided walking trail (you can find lots of these online or at a tourist information place) – depending on your preferences, this could be a historic tour of a nearby town or village, a nature walk through woodland, forest or around a lake or you could even follow a path around a nature reserve spotting birds from various hides. Just remember to dress appropriately for the weather, wear comfortable shoes and use sun protection.

Relax, reset and recharge

Just because the days are longer in the summer, doesn’t mean you have to fill every waking moment with tasks and adventurous activities. It’s also important to find time to rest and just be, especially when temperatures are particularly high and the Sun is blazing. Here are some ways to recharge and build wellbeing related activities into your routine:

Enjoy an analogue hobby outdoors – do some reflective journalling, read a book, sketch some of the flowers in your garden or at a local park, grab your paints and have a go at watercolour painting
Sit or lie outside (either in the sun with SPF on, or in the shade of a parasol or tree) and simply be. Try doing a mini meditation or other mindful activity such as using your senses to appreciate the here and now (take off your shoes and feel the grass beneath your feet, close your eyes and notice the different sounds around you, look up and watch the clouds moving and changing shape). I lay back on one of our reclining chairs a few days ago and I set the timer on my Fitbit for 20 minutes. I closed my eyes and relaxed for the whole time and those 20 minutes felt like a really long time. It was so good to just do nothing for a while – even though there was someone getting noisy building work done further down the street!
Pack a picnic and head to a local park, the coast, a lake or riverside. Depending on your preference, you could take a picnic rug or research somewhere nearby which has picnic benches available.
Give forest bathing a go – this restful, nature based activity was first developed in Japan but is now really popular in other cultures. This article from The National Trust provides a good introduction and also explains the wellbeing benefits.

Final words…

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading today’s blog post and it’s help you to come up with some lovely ways to make the most of Summer 2026. Although some of the activities will incur at least a small cost, there are also free suggestions if you’re living on a tight budget.

As I write these last few sentences of today’s blog post, it’s gone really dark and there are rumbles of thunder in the distance. And rather than thinking how awful the weather has turned, I’m excited to tick off an item on the summer bingo board – summer thunderstorm!

Wishing you your best summer yet!

bullet journal, Bullet journaling, creativity, Cricut Design Space, Cricut Joy Xtra, goal setting, intentional living, lifestyle, planner girl, planner lifestyle, Planning and journaling, productivity

Setting up my Bullet Journal for July 2026 – Strawberries theme

Posted on Jun 23, 2026Jun 23, 2026 by Laura

Hi all! It’s been a while since I last shared my monthly BuJo pages, but, as I’ve finished my July spreads super early (I actually finished the last few bits over a week ago!), I thought I’d get the various pages photographed and uploaded to my blog so you could see my finished designs and chosen theme. Obviously I’ve used stickers but you could quite easily simplify the pages and hand draw and colour different strawberry (or other fruit) themed images.

The front cover

I wanted to create a slightly thicker grid than the one above but I only had a Tombow pen in the colour I wanted so I used the bullet tip for it. I created strawberry stickers with no white border for a clean look and I was pleased with how well my Cricut Joy Xtra cut out the images. Overall, I think the page looks quite cute!

Monthly calendar

I already have quite a few things happening in July so I was glad to have my calendar ready early so I had a space to put them after initially adding them to my future log. I love how bright and colourful the spread turned out and, if you’ve been following me for a while, you’ll know that strawberries are my absolute favourite fruit and so this theme was a great option for me this month.

The calendar is the usual six by six dot grid spaces as I find I have just enough room to write in all (or most) of whst I need to add.

Finances – income and expenditure

This month, you may have noticed that I appear to have forgotten to use a ruler. Actually, I did it on purpose and it made it sooooo much quicker to do the grid for my calendar and the finances log. And, to be honest, I think it looks okay, and I might do it again and again for the rest of 2026! I saw a tip on a YouTube video (might have been Shayda Campbell) about using two hand drawn lines to show that the wobbly bits are intentional and it certainly doesn’t look as messy if you’re ruler accidentally smudges things or if you accidentally move the ruler.

Reviewing the previous month and getting ready for July

I started creating this spread as a way to think about how things went the previous month including what went well, what didn’t go as planned, changes I might make the next month and anything that I needed to look into to help me going forwards. It’s also a space where I can record any actions I want to take before I start to work towards my monthly goals. For example, this month, I need to read information on the Brockbushes website to find out when the strawberry picking is, how much it costs, what’s on the lunch menu at the cafe there (we can’t just eat strawberries all day), how long it takes to get there and what photos I might want to take so I have a nice record of what we did and any displays they have.

Monthly goals and space for evaluation

I tend to choose about 4 or 5 goals each month, sometimes related to hobbies or experiences I want to have, usually at least one related to my blog or Etsy shop (not included this time as I did a lot of work in June and now, a personal curriculum aim. These fall outside of the time I spend at work and I’m mindful of how much time I will have depending on my hours. In July, I have quite a lot of commitments and I’m getting sessions through regularly (2 since I photographed my spreads) so realistically, I can’t made my goals too lofty or I’m setting myself up to fail.

Weekly plan

I made all of my weekly plans the same for July so I’m just sharing one of them as an example. I kept the decoration very minimal but I do have some spare strawberry stickers if I want to add some later.

Final words…

I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing my pages for the month of July and are suitably impressed with how early I’ve got them finished (ha ha!). I appreciate that not everyone has the time and inclination to create such highly decorated spreads but for me, it’s really one of my hobbies and something I find a fun, relaxing and mindful activity. I also think I’m more likely to use my planner functionally if it looks pretty! I check in with my bullet journal every day, and throughout the day if I’m at home, and it really works to keep me organised and on track to succeed in creating a life I love.

Wishing you a joyful July,

amateur photography, beginner photography, Bullet journaling, education, goal setting, intentional living, learning, lifelong learning, lifestyle, personal development, personal growth, planner lifestyle, reflective journalling, Setting goals and intentions, wellbeing

Monday Matters: Creating a personal curriculum by starting small (with just one topic)

Posted on Jun 8, 2026Jun 5, 2026 by Laura

I’ve seen a lot of YouTube vlogs recently about creating your own personal curriculum, and, as I consider myself very much as a lifelong learner, I was eager to give it a go. However, with limited free time, a variety of goals in progress, and a vision board that identifies my priorities for 2026, I wanted to start really small by focusing on just one subject and a particular element I want to learn more about. If, like me, you already have a busy life but want to carve out some time to learn something new (and enjoy benefits such as enhanced brain function, improved emotional and mental wellbeing, personal growth and increased life satisfaction) read on to find out how I designed my personal curriculum for Summer 2026. Also, if you’re not sure what a personal curriculum even is, I’ve also covered this below too.

What is a personal curriculum?

A personal curriculum is a self-designed and self-lead learning plan that enables you to create your own educational journey, developing your skills and knowledge in an area which interests you. Unlike at school, college or university, you play the role of teacher, selecting your own subjects, assignments and, if you wish, learning objectives. You also get to choose how many topics you will cover (I would suggest no more than two or three to get you started), your methods of learning (e.g. books, videos, movies, podcasts, trips, experiences etc.) and the time scale for completion (e.g. one month, one season, one term or one semester). You can also plan study times around other commitments and think about how deep an understanding you wish to have by the end of your ‘module’.

The topics of your personal curriculum can vary greatly but could include academic subjects such as environmental sciences, philosophy, British Classics, Fine Art or Creative writing, hobbies such as baking, photography, knitting or watercolour painting, practical skills such as budgeting, gardening, basic car maintenance or computer literacy, or personal development such as time management, mindfulness, communication skills, learning a new language, emotional resilience or goal setting.

Choosing my focus for my learning plan

I have many, many hobbies an interests which made it difficult to decide where to start and what I wanted to work on. So, I figured that it might be a good idea to make a list of things I enjoy doing in my spare time. These are what came to mind straight away:

Creative journalling and memory keeping
bullet journalling
walking in nature
vegan cookery
drawing
watercolour painting
photography
blogging
fitness related including yoga, Pilates and Zumba

Some of these topics, I feel like I know quite a lot about already and so I’m happy with my current explorations of them and how much time I dedicate to them. Others, I want to learn more about but tend to explore them every now and then when I feel like getting creative (e.g. watercolour painting and drawing. The topic that I decided that I really want to focus on learning about right now was DSLR photography. However, as I’ve done a beginners course focusing on basic techniques and Photoshop, I wanted to explore a very specific type of photography which would uplevel my skills. I know I would love to concentrate on wildlife photography but I’m very aware that suitable zoom lenses and a camera upgrade would be required and I don’t have the finances for this at the moment (if ever!). What I do have though, is a macro lens which I really haven’t got the hang of yet and a love of photographing insects and flowers so I’ve opted for a module on Macro Photography as a good starting point.

What do I want to learn?

I grabbed a piece of paper and brainstormed all of the things I wanted to learn about the topic of macro photography. Then I worked in my bullet journal to made a spread called An Introduction to Macro Photography finalising my ideas by identifying a rough order of action points. I started with the theory behind this style of photography, including tips and tricks, then moved on to practical experiences and opportunities to evaluate my learning and progress. I kept it pretty simple, using stamps and black ink, but if you wanted to, you could set out learning objectives or expected outcomes at each stage and go to town with the decor.

Finding resources to support my learning

There are plenty of resources online about macro photography so I made the decision to stick with web-based information for the whole of my ‘module’. I don’t want to buy books on my chosen topic as these can quickly become outdated or might involve equipment which I haven’t got (e.g. the newer mirrorless cameras) and, although I could go to the library, I like the idea of dipping in and out of online resources when I have a spare few minutes and don’t want to carry heavy books around with me.

To ensure I (almost) always have access to the wealth of webpages, blog posts and YouTube videos I’ve come across, rather than writing them down in my bullet journal, I’ve opted to paste the links into Notion so I can click on them whenever I want, and as long as I have my phone or my computer accessible (which is pretty much all of the time), I can do some self study. Now, I’m not an expert on Notion, so it’s not a fancy set up with items pertaining to different aspects of my curriculum but the titles in the links are enough for me to gauge what the pages or videos are about helping me to establish when they might be useful, and that’s enough for me!

When choosing your resources, it’s important to firstly establish what type of learner you are. Learners can be broadly categorised into the following (bear in mind that you’re likely to be more than one type):

visual learner – prefers images, diagrams and charts
auditory learner – learns best through lectures, discussions and audio materials such as podcasts and audiobooks
kinesthetic learners – prefers hands on learning through physical experiences and practical activities
linguistic learner – excels in reading, writing and verbal communication
logical learners – enjoys solving problems and logical reasoning
social learners – thrives in group settings and prefers to learn through collaboration
solitary learners – prefers to study alone and is self-motivated to learn, keen to independently reflect on own learning

Should I record my learning?

Whether you take notes on what you read or explore is entirely up to you, but for me, writing and journalling is part of the fun, so I absolutely want to do plenty of recording even if it’s just me writing that I spent ages trying to get the perfect shot of a butterfly and just as I fully depressed the shutter it flew off to pastures new and left me feeling a tad frustrated. Also, as a stationery lover, it was the perfect excuse to go notebook shopping! I got three slim notebooks for £3.50 and as long as I ignore (or get over) the fact that the word ‘notes’ is slightly off centre (grrr), I’m sure I’ll enjoy using one of them for my Macro Photography learning!

Now I just need to decide which design to use. I’m thinking the bright and sunny yellow colour?

Top tips for keeping it fun and interesting

Now you’re no longer studying at school or college, you get to choose exactly what you focus on and the pace of your learning. To ensure you have fun and maintain interest in your personal curriculum, I have the following suggestions and tips which should help:

embrace fluidity Whether your employed, run your own business, or are currently not working, there will be times when you have lots on your plate, times when you have a lighter schedule, times when you’re full of energy and times when you simply need to rest rather than adding more to your to do list. For your personal curriculum to be successful, I think it’s really important to ‘go with the flow’, accepting that your learning can and should flow with the rhythms of life rather than being a rigid set of actions to be completed at a set time or by a set date.

give yourself grace Similarly, if you do carve out a specific time to do a specific activity such as reading a chapter from a book, watching a video or making notes on your learning, if it doesn’t get done, don’t be hard on yourself, instead, spend time considering and questioning why. Maybe you got distracted by social media. Perhaps a more exciting opportunity presented itself that you didn’t want to miss. Or maybe you had low energy that afternoon and didn’t think it was a good time for you.

release perfectionism Strive to do your best with your personal curriculum study rather than demanding flawless results. When you were at school or college, you had particular grades to aim for and may have felt like other people were placing high expectations on you. However, you were probably also told that ‘as long as you try your best, that is all that matters’. Embrace the present and recognise that you are doing the best you can with the energy and resources you have available and that is totally okay.

avoid comparision The term ‘personal curriculum’ is a bit of a buzz word or phrase at the moment and there seem to be plenty of people talking about developing one and often sharing theirs on social media. I’ve seen examples where individuals have picked about four or five topics in a single month and set around six learning objectives or foci for each. Just the thought of doing this, my part time work, housework and spending time with family and friends (which is also a big priority of mine) stressed me out. But, then I came to realise that, although looking at what others are up to can get your creative juices flowing or give you ideas about the scope for your self study, it can also be pretty dangerous for your own wellbeing to compare yourself to others. If, like me, you want to start slowly and dip your toe into setting yourself a personal curriculum, you could try picking a single topic of study and a small part of what might be a vast and open-ended subject. It’s also worth remembering, that these same people who have been sharing their in depth curriculums, might not have done half of what they set out to do, and might be drowning in their own self-directed learning program behind the scenes and wishing they hadn’t set themselves such lofty goals! Remember, learning in your adulthood should be fun and light-hearted and if it stops being these two things, it might be time to reconsider your choices.

Ultimately, when designing your personal curriculum, ‘you do you’ as the saying goes, choosing your own resources and learning styles rather than adopting ideas from others that you’ve seen on social media. And remember, the beauty of learning as an adult, is that you can always tweak bits along the way or completely miss out parts where you feel like you’re not enjoying yourself or that it’s all getting a bit too academic (or formal) for your liking!

Wishing you lots of happiness in your learning, whatever you choose to do,

goal setting, Habit formation, intentional living, personal development, personal growth, Setting goals and intentions, wellbeing, wellness

Steps to Enhance Your Wellness with Easy Habits and Lasting Focus (A guest post from Linda Chase)

Posted on May 1, 2026May 6, 2026 by Laura

Today, I bring you an interesting and informative blog post written by regular guest poster, Linda Chase. In her article, she shares tips, tricks and easy to implement habits for enhancing your wellbeing and developing consistency in doing so. I hope you enjoy reading and find the piece as beneficial and thought provoking as I have.

For adults seeking wellness improvement while balancing work, family, and a busy mind, the hardest part is rarely knowing what’s “healthy”; it’s staying consistent when life gets messy. Common wellness challenges like stress eating, skipped workouts, low energy, and a stalled creative spark can make wellness self-improvement strategies feel like one more project to manage. Beginner health habits work because they lower the pressure and build trust in small wins. With simple stress reduction techniques, wellness starts to feel calmer, clearer, and more doable.

Quick Wellness Takeaways

Start with small daily habits and build lasting motivation through simple, repeatable routines.
Choose practical wellness strategies that fit real life, so healthy changes feel achievable today.
Focus on actionable self-improvement tips that support both wellbeing and creativity in everyday living.
Use quick wellness insights to pick one clear step, then expand as your confidence grows.

Choose Your Starting Point: 10 Beginner-Friendly Upgrades

When wellness feels big, it helps to pick one “upgrade” that matches your energy today. Use this menu like your 60-second action map: chose one small move, make it easy, and repeat it often.

Do a 2-minute “nervous system reset”: Try one stress management method you can do anywhere: inhale for 4, exhale for 6, for 10 breaths. Longer exhales nudge your body toward calm, which can make decisions and cravings easier to handle. Keep it “tiny on purpose”, this is about consistency, not intensity.
Upgrade your sleep with 1–2 changes, not a whole routine: Pick one or two new sleep hygiene practices to test for a week, like a fixed “screens off” time or dimming lights 30 minutes before bed. Small shifts are easier to keep, and better sleep supports mood, appetite, and motivation. If you wake at night, avoid problem-solving, write a one-line note and return to rest.
Build a “balanced plate” you can repeat: Aim for a simple formula most days: a protein + a colorful plant + a fiber-rich carb + a healthy fat. Example: eggs + spinach + whole-grain toast + olive oil, or beans + salsa + brown rice + avocado. Balanced nutrition habits reduce energy crashes, which makes other beginner wellness tips easier to follow.
Add hydration with a visual cue: Put a full glass or bottle where you’ll see it during your first daily anchor (coffee/tea, morning meds, or sitting at your desk). Drink half before you do anything else, then refill once. This removes willpower from the equation and can reduce “mystery fatigue” that’s really just under-hydration.
Try a 10-minute “minimum movement” session: Choose something gentle: a brisk walk, an easy mobility flow, or dancing to two songs. The goal is to create a repeatable win, not to “make up” for anything you ate. When motivation dips, the minimum keeps your identity intact: you’re someone who shows up.
Start a creative hobby with a low-stakes prompt: Set a timer for 5 minutes and do one prompt: “Today I notice…,” “If my stress had a color…,” or a quick collage of words/images that match your mood. Starting creative hobbies gives your brain a safe place to process emotions without needing the “right” words. Keep supplies visible so it’s frictionless.
Practice one mental health basic: name it, then choose one need: When you feel off, try: “I’m noticing , and I might need .” Needs can be simple, water, food, movement, rest, connection, or quiet. This turns overwhelm into a doable choice and supports healthier boundaries in daily life.

Micro-Habits That Keep Wellness Moving

These habits work because they rely on rhythms, not hype: they lower friction, protect your energy, and give you quick feedback. Use them to make simple wellness and creativity feel doable even when motivation dips.

Morning Anchor Check

What it is: Pair water with one fixed cue, like coffee, meds, or opening your laptop.
How often: Daily.
Why it helps: A stable cue turns wellness into autopilot instead of a decision.

Two-Song Movement Break

What it is: Move for two songs: walk, mobility, light strength, or kitchen dancing.
How often: Daily or 5 days weekly.
Why it helps: Small reps build daily fitness routines without needing a perfect workout.

Five-Breath Pause

What it is: Take five slow breaths before snacks, scrolling, or replying to a tense
message.
How often: Per trigger
Why it helps: A quick mindfulness exercise creates space for better choices.

One-Line Boundary Script

What it is: Write and use one sentence based on establishing your limits.
How often: Weekly practice, then as needed.
Why it helps: Clear boundaries protect time, sleep, and emotional bandwidth.

Weekly Reset List

What it is: Make a short Sunday list: rest, meals, movement, connection, and one
creative hour.
How often: Weekly.
Why it helps: Planning reduces decision fatigue and supports practice consistency.

Wellness Habit Questions, Answered Simply

Q: What are some effective daily habits to reduce stress and improve overall wellness?
A: Start with tiny, repeatable actions: a glass of water on a cue, a 2-minute stretch, and a five-breath reset before reacting. Keep one “minimum version” for hard days, like a 3-minute walk or one calming song. Consistency matters more than intensity, so make the habit easy enough to keep.
Q: How can I start and maintain a fitness routine when I have a busy schedule?
A: Choose a time you already have, like right after lunch or before your first meeting, and make it a non-negotiable 10 minutes. Research shows time management moderately related to wellbeing, so scheduling even a short slot can pay off. Track “days moved,” not perfect workouts.
Q: What strategies help improve sleep quality naturally without medication?
A: Pick one anchor: a consistent wake time, dimmer lights after dinner, or a 10-minute wind- down routine. Keep screens out of bed, and use a simple brain-dump note to stop mental looping. If you wake at night, focus on slow breathing instead of checking the clock.
Q: How do I create a supportive environment by surrounding myself with positive influences?
A: Curate what you see and hear daily: tidy one small surface, reduce doom-scrolling cues, and follow people who model realistic habits. Ask one friend to be your “check-in buddy” for weekly wins and gentle accountability. Positive influences should make your goals feel normal, not extreme.
Q: What steps can I take to incorporate healthy lifestyle changes when using a wellness app or self-improvement program?
A: Set one clear goal and one “minimum” action, then log it right after you do it. Evidence from a meta-analysis of over 19,000 participants suggests monitoring progress can improve goal attainment. If apps feel noisy, make a printable habit grid and check off just the basics; you can even print posters online to help you keep reminders visible.

Build a Healthier Rhythm with One Simple Daily Habit

When life is full and energy is uneven, wellness can feel like one more thing to manage, and missing a day can drain personal growth motivation fast. A supportive wellness mindset keeps the focus on small, repeatable choices and kind course-corrections, so the habits fit real schedules instead of fighting them. With that approach, emotional wellness encouragement becomes practical: you notice progress, recover quicker from setbacks, and strengthen your healthy lifestyle commitment through consistency. Small steps, repeated kindly, create lasting change. For the next seven days, you can choose one consistent self-improvement step, your minimum version of movement, hydration, or a short creative reset, and do it once daily. That steady follow-through builds resilience and trust in yourself, week after week.

Final words…

Thank you so much to Linda for her wonderful article. There are so many great ideas here for small, actionable steps which you can build in to your daily routine. I’ll certainly be giving some of them a go over the next few weeks with a view to creating helpful micro habits that last. As suggested, I’ll be starting small, with a view to implementing tiny changes which together, are sure to make a huge difference to my future health and wellbeing.

goal setting, housework, mental health, planner girl, productivity, Setting goals and intentions, spring cleaning

Spring cleaning: Tips for setting yourself up for success

Posted on Mar 13, 2026 by Laura

This year, I’m trying really hard to be methodical with my spring cleaning to make sure everything gets done over the next three months. So, today, I’m going to share a number of strategies I’ve adopted which are working really well so far. Obviously, it’s only the second week of March at the moment, but I’m super pleased with the progress that I’ve made so far and the number of items that have been crossed off my various lists.

Getting started

Before Christmas, when I was struggling with motivation to do things, I downloaded an app called Finch onto my phone. This self-care app combines gamification with mental wellness tools, letting you care for a virtual pet called a Birb whilst improving your own habits and mental health. I’ve stuck with using it for over 100 days now and I’ve increased the number of goals I work towards each day, especially now I’m feeling well. At the end of February, app users were encouraged to sign up to a spring cleaning challenge, where you have 14 tasks to complete before the end of March. So far, I’ve done a task each day and the sense of accomplishment I’ve felt as I’ve completed each one has really increased my motivation. And it’s even left me with the urge to do a few more cleaning activities at other points during the day. Of course, you don’t have to sign up to an app to do some spring cleaning, but what you might like to do, is pick out some ‘easy wins’ that will only take 5 or 10 minutes to complete and hopefully, this will encourage you to do more.

Some examples of 5 minute decluttering and cleaning tasks include:

clean light switches and door handles
polish a mirror
dust the corners of the main rooms in your house
bin out of date cosmetics / toiletries
remove stains from cups and mugs
vacuum under the sofa cushions
dust pendant lights or lamps
tackle soap scum on your shower screen
check the fridge for items that are ‘past their best’ or out of date

Adopting The 5 Minute Clean Routine

This is the name of a book written by popular Instagrammer Anna Louisa who offers cleaning tips and advice. I purchased this handy cleaning bible a number of months ago but only dedicated time to reading it when I was feeling better and more motivated to get my house clean and tidy. In it, as well as providing lots of cleaning tips, she shares her ‘5 Minute Clean Routine’ with the basic premise that most household tasks can be achieved in minutes (unless your home needs a serious declutter first), or at least broken down into five minute chunks of time. The idea being that tiny tasks lead to small and satisfying wins which make ‘…you feel like you’re in the driving seat of your own life, rather than a backseat passenger.’ It helps readers to see that cleaning routines, checklists, five minute bursts of activity plus a carefully curated cleaning kit can make such a difference to your home and your happiness in it.

Towards the back of the book, there’s a long spring cleaning list of tasks which you might do once or twice a year. Again, these can be split up into 5 minute blocks or longer if you’re feeling particularly motivated. However, this year, I chose to create my own lists for the different rooms of my home and also a more general list of chores around the home. Of course, as Anna Louisa says in her book, you don’t have to get everything done over the springtime. You might tick things off over the course of six weeks, 3 months or longer, depending on what works best for you.

Creating my cleaning lists

Rather than writing my room by room lists on scraps of paper or on a list pad, I chose to create something I could tweak and come back to again and again. I wanted to create digital documents but also print them off to stick in my bullet journal. As I currently have a Canva Pro subscription, I had a look on there to see if there was anything I could adapt. Although I generally use photographs and images, there’s also another feature of Canva where you can search thousands of templates for all manner of documents. In the search box, I typed ‘Spring cleaning list’ and was excited by the many examples available which would save me lots of time and energy. I opted for a pretty floral design and got to work setting up files for each of the main rooms in our home.

To ensure I had listed everything for the rooms I wanted to work on, I physically went to each room in turn (over a number of days) and looked around and noted down all of the different items and places I wanted to focus on (on paper to be transferred to my digital lists). This was much better than doing it by memory as it’s easy to forget small areas that often get overlooked. I also tried to think of some tasks that I do every week anyway (such as cleaning the toilet and vacuuming floors) along with tasks which aren’t done so regularly (such as cleaning the extractor fan in the bathroom and vacuuming under and behind the sofa).

Designing your own cleaning schedule

What you do and when you do it can be very much personalised to you and your circumstances. Perhaps you have a really busy work schedule and find yourself exhausted in the evenings and want to do the bulk of your cleaning on a weekend. Or maybe you have a small child you care for and want to get a few chores done during nap time. Whatever your circumstances and life commitments, you need to work around your existing routines and carve out regular tidying and cleaning time, either in quick 5 or 10 minute bursts or a longer time period when you feel up to it. Even an hour of housework can be broken down into five minute chunks to help prevent overwhelm. Just like scheduling an appointment in your planner or on your calendar, try to use time-blocking to map out your spring cleaning sessions to ensure you stick to your commitments.

Also to be considered, is your attitude to cleaning and any short or long term physical or mental health difficulties you’re currently facing. Perhaps you really struggle with motivation to clean right now but you want to make your home environment a priority and know some spring cleaning would make you feel much better. If that’s the case, you want to start slowly with a few quick win tasks (maybe from some of the above suggestions) that hopefully spur you on to do a little bit more. Maybe you become exhausted quite quickly due to the physical nature of cleaning or are easily distracted so find that a little and often approach works best for you. However you organise your cleaning time, remember to do it with plenty of self-kindness and compassion, celebrating each of your small wins or recognising and accepting that you don’t have enough spoons that day and it’s okay to rest and plan some cleaning time for another day – you have the whole of spring (and beyond if you so wish) after all.

Final words…

I hope you’ve found today’s blog post useful and it’s either given you the motivation to get started on your spring cleaning or some ideas about how to proceed. My lists are pretty thorough but I’ve still thought of a few things I missed which I intend to add to the space at the bottom. For me, the tasks are very much pick and choose, rather than the lists being a room by room work through from top to bottom over the course of a day as I prefer a little and often approach. I’ll be delegating some of the tasks to my husband or asking for assistance as I’ve already attempted to move the sofa and found it stuck to the carpet (ha ha!) and will definitely need help with moving the other heavier items of furniture. There are also some household tasks that I would be getting in a professional for, such as deep cleaning carpets (although ours don’t require this), cleaning the upstairs exterior windows or the outside of a conservatory (if we had one) as I feel there are some jobs that make sense to pay someone else to do.

Thanks for reading and happy spring cleaning!