I think that moving provides a great opportunity to press reset on a ton of things – your daily routine, your cleaning and eating habits, your exercise routine, etc. Whether it’s the idea of a new space or new surroundings that gives me the ‘fresh start’ mindset, I’m not completely sure. However, I know for a fact that I feel different in our new home and that there are some changes I want to make now that we live here.
I know I only recently shared my personal goals for 2020, but I’m rebooting them with a focus on lifestyle changes I want to make now that we’re in a new house. They’re not all necessarily “goals”, but I do think each and every one of these will contribute to us having an even happier life in our new home.
1. Become a Morning Person
For some reason, this has already naturally happened since we moved into the new house. Part of it is Giorgio’s fault – he’s been quite the nuisance recently, jumping out of bed super early. But, once I’m up, the natural light in the house rejuvenates me and I love starting my day a bit earlier. I have mainly been using the extra time to treat myself to some reading time, but I can see myself becoming more productive as I get more used to it.
2. Reduce Food Waste
This is one of the 2020 goals that I am most passionate about. I don’t consider myself an eco warrior at all, but I do try to cut out single use plastics and make smart environmental choices whenever I can. Last year, I was shocked at how much food we threw away each week and I want to do more to cut that out. So far, my plan for this year is:
- Utilize meal boxes whenever we can. I love our Gousto/HelloFresh/Mindful Chef deliveries so much, but I also love picking out recipes from the cookbooks that we own. I don’t picture us getting a meal box every single week, but I would like to order them consistently. The meal boxes are great because everything is pre-portioned, so there is absolutely no food waste. They’re also perfect for when I’m away – Sean orders a two person box and it cuts out the need for him to do a shop, plus covers all of his dinners & lunches for the week!
- Get creative with food staples & leftover produce. I want to remember to shop our pantry before we go grocery shopping. By taking stock of what we already have, I can come up with creative ways to use up those items instead of just buying more. We also just signed up for Oddbox – I absolutely love this concept and think it will force us to be creative when it comes to meal planning. Oddbox delivers surplus fruit & vegetables (i.e., the stuff farmers couldn’t sell to stores) straight to your door. The contents will be a surprise each week and we will need to build our meal plan around them. I’m sure we won’t get it 100% right the first couple of times, but I hope that we’ll eventually use absolutely everything in the box. If you’re interested in trying Oddbox (London Only), this referral code will get you £5 off your first box.
- Composting! This actually scares me because I have no idea what to do. But we have a garden and composting is good for plants and it’s a way to use food waste. Might make this one Sean’s job though…
3. Exercise at Home
We have been floating the idea of purchasing a Peloton for awhile now and we’re finally going to go for it this spring. I’ve never been big on working out from home, but I love spin classes and hope that the Peloton is the encouragement I need to do them frequently (and in my own backyard). We’re not planning to go overboard on our home gym (we’ll just have a set of weights, resistance bands, and the Peloton), but I really want to get into a routine of exercising more frequently. And, with my new ‘morning person’ status, I actually have time in my day to do so.
4. Learn to Keep Plants Alive
Yes, it’s true, I really want to become a plant person. I love the look of house plants and, now that we have a big garden, want to add some outdoor plants into the mix, as well. However, I cannot for the life of me keep a plant alive. So I’m going to ease myself into it and use sites like Patch that will help me understand how to take care of each plant. We bought a little plant for the downstairs bathroom and will add a few more around the house over time. Eventually, I want to throw in some herbs, too. Wish us luck!
5. Start Journaling
Writing is one of my passions, but for some reason journaling and I just do not get along. I really want to work on our relationship, though, because I think it could ultimately be really good. So I’m going to try to start journaling…again. Maybe it’ll stick this time!
6. Date my Husband
Sean and I have decided to start dating again (each other, of course!). We moved in together 4.5 years ago and have maybe been on 6 actual dates during that time. But, whenever we have a proper date night (dressed up, making actual plans, effort involved), we love every second of it. So, this month, we are kicking off a round of Alphabet Dating. Each week(ish), one of us will tackle the next letter of the alphabet – I’ll be sharing all of our dates on Instagram stories, so follow me there to see what we get up to for each letter.
7. Create a ‘No Phone Zone’
I haven’t decided if I want this to be a space (e.g., the bedroom) or a time frame (e.g., after 8pm), but I really want to restrict phone usage, especially at night. My initial plan was to keep all devices out of the bedroom and charge them downstairs, but then I got paranoid that there would be an emergency and we wouldn’t have phones nearby. But I do want to eliminate the temptation of the phone on the bedside table – it’s way too easy to check the time in the middle of the night and end up scrolling.
8. Hire a Cleaner
I recently read how important it is to outsource where you can, even in your personal/home life. I absolutely hate cleaning, but I hate living in a dirty house even more. While I’m keen to become better about everyday tidying and dusting/wiping things down, I really want our house to feel truly clean. We talked about hiring a cleaning service 1-2 times per month in our old flat and, now that we have a bigger space, I’m going to go ahead and do it. If anything, it’ll mean a good dust and scrub a couple times per month, which will make the everyday tidying that much easier.
I knew that this move would be a big change regardless, but it’s crazy how much happier I already feel in our new space. There’s so much light and so much room and I can actually nap without hearing Sean watching one of his dumb cartoons in the next room. This move has already been a huge improvement to my everyday life, but I’m looking forward to it getting even better.
Leave a comment if you have any tips on how I can make the above happen!
