[2024-01-01] Tiny changes

This morning, The Guardian published 100 tiny changes to transform your life: from the one-minute rule to pyjama yoga. "Want more health and happiness in the year ahead – without having to work too hard?" the article asks. It then presents 100 user-suggested tweaks that have improved their lives.

The ideas that stuck out for me were these:
  • Doing a timed 10-minute tidy with my partner and kids every day. This has improved the cleanliness of the house significantly. Untidiness no longer drags down the mood. It also means we don’t need to do lengthy chores at the weekend. Polina, software engineer, London
  • No longer saying yes when my gut says no – even if I risk ruffling someone’s feathers. Simply doing what you can, when you can, fuels your own happiness and preserves the gas you have in the tank to be of service to others. Adriene Mishler, yoga instructor
  • Putting motion-sensor lights in the windowless back room of my house. There’s no more scrabbling for the light switch while I trip over a box. Now, when I open the door, surprise! A light comes on. It makes me inordinately happy. Anonymous, Idaho, US
  • Focusing on joy, rather than willpower. I started exercising only when I found activities I adored (tennis, dancing); I started eating copious amounts of vegetables only when I found dishes I loved. And I started writing only when I took to working in sunny cafe windows. Susan Cain, author of Bittersweet and Quiet and host of the Quiet Life community
  • Using a soap that reminds me of a vacation. I use a soap I brought home from Yucatán in Mexico only on weekends and holidays. The smell shifts my mind from work mode to relaxation, with fond memories of the jungle. This small soap makes a big difference. Anonymous, Colorado, US
It was an interesting read, proving what one contributor—writer and editor Amy Fleming—wrote: "there’s no correct way to do life."

Though the article doesn't explicitly reference the new year, its publishing on January 1 suggests that the point of the piece is to inspire readers to commit to making tiny changes in their own lives rather than big resolutions.

For my part, the tiny changes I would like to make in 2024 are these:
  • Take one photo every day. When I was putting together the montage of photos for last night's article and today's post, I discovered large stretches of time in 2023 during which I took no photos at all. I also discovered that I had only a small number of photos of my family (hence the montage of 2023 pics in tonight's visual rather than a single photo). Photos are not just a way to document our lives but also an important keepsake for loved ones for when we're gone.
  • Spend 10 minutes every day tidying my house (beyond cooking and cleaning up the kitchen). I liked this suggestion most from The Guardian's list of 100 tiny changes.
  • Read for 10 minutes every day (social media posts don't count). When my day is done—exercising, cooking, cleaning up, learning Portuguese, spending time with loved ones, writing and publishing a blog post—it's too easy to collapse into bed and start scrolling through my social media feeds. Though such scrolling can be amusing, informative and a way of connecting with friends and family, I do more of it than I'd like. Cracking open a book or reading an e-magazine from the Ottawa Public Library is often more enriching, entertaining and educational.
I think of these less as goals and more as tiny, doable habits. By associating them with other existing activities (something called habit stacking), I'm much more likely to actually do them. Go for a walk: take a photo. Finish lunch: tidy up. Complete my nighttime Duolingo: read for 10 minutes.

When I look back at my Accomplishments log for 2023, most of the achievements I noted were simple things: baking cookies for a friend, making a new dish for my family, extending my streak in Duolingo, playing table tennis with my daughter, writing a blog post. These are the things that bring me joy and peace. So while I don't feel the need to change a lot about my life, a few tweaks here and there are in order.