Small changes, big impacts

The little things that have made all the difference to my daily routine

Last Tuesday morning, I woke up to a grey city, the sky painted graphite. It wanted to rain – pour, even – but was holding off. I like to think it was holding off for me especially, since I was to head out on my morning walk, taking in the Botanic Gardens on this occasion. I am lucky to call it one of my local loops. And as I walked through the gardens, I found myself sheltered from the scant light emanating behind the clouds as the trees canopied above me. I walked the Rose Garden and didn’t see a single hare, which I have become accustomed to. It was, overall, drab, not helped by the depressing subject matter of the podcast I was listening to. Then I came to the Dahlia Garden, in bloom for the first time in months after being significantly pruned what felt like only weeks earlier. Suddenly, the morning was bright.

In the first quarter of this year, there have been a small number of rituals I have maintained as part of my (almost) daily routine, for which I know I am the better. One of these is a daily morning walk, something that if I hadn’t instigated, I wouldn’t have been able to take in the Dahlias on a particularly dreary day. I would have gone about the morning, sluggish and uninspired. And from these little additions, I am sure there’s been many other small moments of happenstance along the way, that have largely gone unnoticed but occurred nonetheless because I have added in these rituals.

Like being able to contort myself into strange positions while seated on the sofa that, while comfortable for me, baffle my boyfriend, a result of my nightly stretching. Or knowing that ‘dorp’ means 'village’ in Dutch when it flashed up on the screen while watching the Tour of Flanders, because of the time set aside to learn a language.

And I’m human. Sometimes not all of this happens in a day, but most days, they do because I am conscious of it. I’d like to think they are small pieces anyone could include in their routine, and are below for consideration.

A daily morning walk

Every weekday morning, I am out the door no later than 7:30am for a morning walk. This isn’t a walk that is going to exert me or have me coming home sweaty. It is a time where I am waking up my body, actively, undertaking moderate movement to usher in the day. My walks in the Botanic Gardens always bring me joy, whether it be from the Hares flitting around the place, hiding behind bushes once they realise I am upon them, or admiring the nature around me. When I instead walk a city loop, I love seeing cafes filled with the early morning crowd and the runners finishing their route primed for a flat white – or whatever it is coffee drinkers drink.

I feel awake after this walk. More energised than I would if I simply woke up, dressed myself and left. It also makes me feel like I have more time in my day dedicated to me and my body, not beholden to the schedule of others. I also add in a lunchtime walk where I can, with much the same ethos underscoring it.

Intentionally snacking

Discussing food swaps or eating ‘better’ I find can be a tough conversation. There is a lot of shameful dialogue when it comes to this topic, so this is what I did for me that works for me. I found myself towards the end of 2025 becoming lazier with my snacking and, yes, the scales reflected this. I am more of the mindset that as long as I fit into my jeans, I’m happy, but then I realised this was a lie. And I rarely wear jeans so this isn’t actually a good marker to have!

I made some intentional changes to my snacking habits, where a little goes a long way. Popcorn over potato chips because firstly it’s delicious and secondly you don’t feel heavy after. Dark chocolate over milk (I only have two squares a day, chips are my weakness), lightly salted. Greek yoghurt (not Greek STYLE) for breakfast with a teaspoon of honey and a handful of walnuts, always.

Stretching nightly

This is not an exhaustive stretching session – simply 10 minutes on the living room floor while I watch the news or whatever show we’re making our way through. I had a goal this year of being able to do the splits again like I had most of my life, thanks to being a gymnast as a teenager. As I’d neglected my stretching in 2024-2025, I lost the ability and with it I lost my fun party trick (get more than two wines in me and I’ll be doing the splits). I can happily say as of late February, the splits is back, and it’s already made one appearance at a wine tour earlier this month. But more than this, stretching nightly relaxes me as I literally unwind from the day often spent sitting for hours on end.

No phone blocks

From 7pm-9pm, I am completely off of my phone. My friends find this hilarious, alongside the fact I don’t have my phone on my bedside table at night. It charges in the living room, my boyfriend is my alarm alongside an old iPhone that has no internet or function other than the alarm. After spending all day staring at a screen, getting offline is a balm I love. I feel my smooth brain is coming alive for a few hours. It’s hard at first, but you get there, and it becomes a habit.

Dare I say… Duolingo

Look, I have a love-hate relationship with Duolingo. I think I’ve learnt as much as I can from that app at this point and honestly don’t know where to go from here in my Dutch exercises beyond moving to the Netherlands (as we know, a current WIP). But, when you are on your phone, wouldn’t you rather be scrolling and using your phone to do something mildly stimulating rather than just Instagram or TikTok? I feel mildly smug about the very small time I set aside for this, and when my ‘battery’ runs out, I usually switch to Substack for the remaining 20 minutes to read some articles I have saved.

Read – every day!

This isn’t new to me but I do want to shout out how getting my nose in a book each day, usually in my no-phone block, is the part of my day I most look forward to. I read at least 50 pages a day and am taken into completely different worlds – fact of fiction. Absolutely bliss. If you’re not a book reader, may I recommend picking up a magazine? Support print media! They also make a fabulous addition to your coffee table