My Daily Habits

The Preface Before my Daily Habits

My birthday is on Thursday and I’ll be heading out of country for a bit of a birthday celebration and some much needed relaxation, so I spent yesterday catching up with family members who were eager to give me well-wishes as they won’t be able to speak to me on my special day. Whilst on the phone with my grandmother and grandfather in India {they literally sat on two separate phones to speak to me at the same time/bicker when the other spoke too much to me}, my grandmother started talking to me about how I was always a regimented person—I grew up with them in the house and visiting them often in India. She continued by saying how I often asked for my bottle or my meal at the exact same time everyday, wanted the same meal, followed my a nap. Even if you sat me down on the floor with a bowl full of lentils and rice, I would be sure to eat it without a complete mess and then put myself to bed.

“You were an angel child,” my grandfather continued, “and you still are.” My grandfather is who I take after, actually both of my grandfathers. They both followed their days and had the same routine and though I’m trying to break from that habit time and again, I started to reflect on and assess my day-to-day. I then asked my flatmate and best friend of 10 years and she chuckled and said “yes, there are things that you do that are like clockwork.” From that instance, I started to write down my rough daily schedule and thought I’d share my daily habits with you that I do!

My Daily Habits

Make my Bed

Every morning the second I get up, I have to make my bed. I rather be 5 minutes late than to leave my house without it done. Even when I’m staying at a hotel, I always have to tidy up the bed, as it seems like messy beds are blackholes for getting things lost! I love the feeling of coming back home and seeing a put together space and a set bed is just one of them. This habit came from my mom as it was something she made me do after my shower and before I was served breakfast.

Wash my Face

If you have ever traveled or lived with me, you will know that I will always {without fail} wash my face before bed. Even if I’ve had a long night out, I still manage to take all my make up off. Even if I stayed home all day, I will always have my nightly skincare routine down. I usually can’t sleep until I’ve done it and I’m proud of that fact. PS - I have shared some skincare reviews on my Instagram Stories under highlights recently!

Communicate with my Family

Be it FaceTime, text or even just a mention on Instagram, I have some sort of a communication with my parents and/or brother. We usually spend weekends having longer digests and big gossip sessions (with mom, mostly), but there is always something to show them that I’m still alive.

Physical Activity

I stretch, do a single plank, go for a walk/run or full workout in—there is always some sort of physical or fitness element. I grew up a very active child with tennis lessons, soccer matches and dance practice, so my joints need all the oiling and oxygen now that I’m mostly behind a desk during the week. By the way, I’ve been loving this 15-minute HIIT workout that I can do at home.

5-Minutes Tech Free Meditation

I’m glued to my phone and am guilty of the checking Instagram and e-mail right when I wake up, but one thing I always do during the day is have a 5-minute tech free meditation. I don’t necessarily put my palms together, close my eyes and exhale as I say “om.” But I do just turn my phone on airplane mode, step away from my computer and stare blankly outside my window or close my eyes. It is the one time that I force myself to not think at all.

Read before Bed

Another thing my mom made my brother and I do that ended up as a healthy habit is to read before bed. It helps me get to sleep as my body unwinds. I’ll read anything from a book, the newspaper or a magazine article. With that said, I really need to get cracking on sharing some things I’ve read recently!

Drink lots of Water

This is something I started doing this year. I noticed that I was getting fine lines around my eyes back in December and desperately ran to my nearest department store to look at eye creams. A woman at one of the counters told me that I can start using some oils or serums as a preventative measure, but I should also consider drinking my water as hydration helps with lines and wrinkles. Since them, I have been fairly religious about getting lots of water in my day and found that skin completely changed!

Assess my Todoist

You all definitely know my love for Todoist and how I use it to manage my day-to-day tasks. Usually Sunday afternoons, I’ll put together my todoist for the upcoming week and then check it daily for a few minutes on my commute just to add little tidbits in like “clay mask in the evening” or “charge camera batteries” or “fix up bouquet of flowers” or “sew button on blue shirt” - just little bits like that.

Morning Coffee Routine

This is something my flatmate mentioned that cracked us both up. She basically acted me out making my morning coffee. So I either use a french press or a chemex to make my coffee and pick up ground beans from some of my favorite coffeeshops around London. As my coffee is brewing, I will put away all the dried clean dishes from the evening before and prepare my lunch for the day if I’m working away from home. It doesn’t require much thinking and I love the slowness, yet still productiveness to it all.

Eat a Warm Meal

Most people can get by with snacking throughout the day or have a salad for dinner, but I always need a warm meal. I grew up having three warm meals everyday with a hot breakfast in the morning, my lunch was often in either a thermos or a glass container so I could heat my lunch up at school. Dinner was always a freshly made Indian meal of greens, lentils, bread and rice. I recently started making açaí bowls for breakfast, but often start my breakfast with warm oats made over a stove. I meal plan either soups or something like a sweet potato and a protein for lunch (my favorite right now is my summer chicken soup recipe. For dinner, I always make a meal I truly enjoy–something that I’m craving since my other meals are pretty healthy.

4PM Break

Aside from my 5 minute meditation, I do take a 4pm break no matter what. Either I make a cup of herbal tea or have a cheeky snack, it’s the only 20 minutes in the day that I don’t do any work. I’m very full-on the second I wake up to until I go to bed, so this is a chance for me to just stop doing everything and be a little silly or relax.

And since I shared my daily habits, I would love to know what daily habits you have if any in the comments. I feel as if I typed out “daily habits” a million times. Daily habits.