Simple Changes Can Improve Your Life in 2024

Simple Changes & New Year Resolutions

Many of us promise ourselves that we will change numerous things in our lives with the coming New Year, but very few New Year’s resolutions stick and become habits. We’ve listed some simple changes for many areas of your life that could make sweeping changes in how much you enjoy your life in 2024 and beyond. Enjoy and remember to choose only one thing at a time to change until it becomes a habit, which usually takes at least 21 days.

 

In Bill O’Hanlon’s book “Do One Thing Different” he goes through the various areas in your life where changing one thing can have a major impact. So, we are approaching the New Year and changes for 2024 a little differently this year giving you simple suggestions that are easy to implement and can make lasting changes for 2024 and beyond.

 

Simple Changes in Self-Care

 

How we take care of ourselves fuels what we have to give to our lives and others. So, some simple suggestions for upping your self-care routine:

• Once a week take a no-phone day. If that is too tough try for 4 hours with no phone, computer, or social media. Unhook from your digital life and see how you get your time back.
• Get out in nature and soak up some sun or enjoy a walk in the rain. Taking your dog for a walk gives you both exercise and stress-releasing time outdoors.
• Find a spot outdoors where you can close your eyes and meditate for 5-10 minutes. Start small and see the rewards. Insight Timer is a free application that has so many benefits.
• Find a walking buddy and commit to a short walk once a week. If you like it and see the benefits, increase your walks per week as you can fit them in without stressing your life.

Simple Changes in Your Digital Life

 

Cleaning up our digital life can streamline our days and take away some of the tasks that can rob us of time. Here are some simple suggestions that can help you regain time each day:

• Set a timer when you go on social media so you aren’t endlessly scrolling.
• Go through your emails, find all the emails from a particular sender, and delete all the old ones that aren’t needed.
• Go through your email and unsubscribe from all the emails you no longer wish to receive or use an email unsubscribe program to mass delete subscriptions to emails.

 

Giving Back Makes a Wonderful Change In Your Life

 

Giving back to your community, family, or friends can create a real shift in your life. Mindful moments or a few hours given with nothing expected in return can uplift your spirits and help someone who needs to know that someone cares:

• Save photos or memes from social media to send to friends through texting to let them know you care.
• Volunteer at a local charity. Find a group that aligns with your values and what you are interested in to give a couple of hours a month to make a difference to the charity of your choice. There are so many different ways to volunteer; from dog rescue groups to your local library, local environmental groups to organizations like the Redwood Empire Food Bank to Meals on Wheels, all of which are always looking for volunteers.
• Participate in a community, beach, or river clean-up day.
• Change from buying from online and large department stores to supporting local businesses that reinvest in our community.

Learning & Education Can Change Your Life

 

Some people just love learning new things and others need to be encouraged to move out of their comfort zone and learn new try new ideas or activities. Whichever type of person you are try learning something new in 2024 with some of these suggestions:

• Start learning a new language you’ve always wanted to learn.
• Take on learning a new cooking skill, like trying bread baking, sourdough starter, making your own pasta, sprouting, or planting a vegetable garden.
• Become a mentor to someone else, there are lots of resources locally to find a fit or online. Realize how much you know and with that knowledge can help someone else.
• Build your vocabulary each day; sign up for an app that encourages learning new vocabulary, it’s fun!
• Try journaling, a gratitude list, or trying your hand at artwork, we all have an inner muse waiting to be unleashed!

 

Personal Projects Can Change Your Life

 

It’s funny how learning a new skill, committing to a project or activity can change the projectory of your life. Many times, we say we don’t have time for new commitments, but taking on something for you can have lasting value:

• Create a vision board for the next 12 months of your life and divide your board into different areas of your life instead of objects, places, or tasks, figure out how you would like to feel about each area of your life and assign a positive word to it and then find pictures that support that feeling.
• Decide to do a DIY project for your home that you haven’t undertaken before but you would love the results and then learn the skill.
• Find a local group to join that matches your interests; book club, gourmet club, hiking club, dog meetup, drama group–whatever sparks your interest and helps you meet new people.
• Create a reading list from books you’ve always wanted to read to books suggested by friends and instead of TV in the evening, dive into reading a book!

 

Simple Changes for Your Home & Environment

 

Creating some simple changes to your home environment can be invigorating on many levels. One simple change repeated for 365 days can have a large impact:

• Make a small gift, such as homemade jam or apple butter, and give a jar to everyone who has helped you through this last year or you would like to thank for being in your life.
• Switch from paper bills to receiving your bills electronically, it is so much easier and you know they are paid.
• Switch from plastic products and non-renewable paper products to reusable storage bags, change to bamboo toilet paper and paper towels, from paper towels of any kind to reusable bamboo towels, there are so many options these days that are sustainable choices.
• Try growing your herbs on your windowsill or try a year-round grow tower inside your house to give your family access to organic vegetables year-round.

 

Simple Changes for Positive Effects in Your Relationships

 

Changing our behavior by a little bit with the relationships in our lives can provide large rewards for both the giver and receiver. Try some of these simple ideas and feel the positive effect for months to come:

• Set up a date night with your husband or good friend regularly. It can be something as simple as a talk at a bookstore store to trying a new restaurant together.
• Call an older family member and ask their advice on a subject or ask them if you can interview them about their life and record the calls on a free conference calling application or website.
• Join a local group to make new friends, a choir, a bell-ringing group, a book club, an art class, a cooking group, a mother’s support group, or anything that you enjoy doing will help you make new connections.
• Try resolving a difference of opinion or a lingering conflict by taking responsibility for your part and then consciously listening to the other person and how they feel.
• Go through your photo albums and save your photos to a hard drive that can be shared by saving to a thumb drive with family members.

Whichever simple changes you decide to make to your life in 2024 we are sure you will feel a positive ripple effect in your life. One small change could be delegating house cleaning to Crystal Clear Home so you have more time to do what you love and with who you love. Give us a call at 707-827-3316 or fill out our FREE Estimate Form and one of our cleaning professionals will be in touch with you promptly to make your life simpler and more stress-free. There is nothing like a clean home to brighten your outlook on life!