Introduction
The other day I wrote about things I’ve stopped doing or cut back on lately, but today I want to do the opposite: share a few things I’ve started recently (or started doing more), and habits I’m trying to practice intentionally. This is a short post!
Keeping a Journal
I’ve always liked journaling—I’m the type who enjoys keeping records—but last year there was a period when I stopped doing it entirely. There wasn’t a clear reason; habits, for better or worse, tend to stick once they slip into a certain pattern.
Later in the year (my memory is a bit vague), I noticed that I’d fallen out of it and decided to restart and write more intentionally. Since then, I’ve kept it up almost every day.
For me, if I try to write a lot, I won’t last—so I usually keep it to just a few lines. Simple notes like “I was happy that I did X,” or “I learned Y and it made me think about Z.” Journaling has many benefits, but for me, taking a moment at the end of the day to recall what happened and how my feelings shifted helps settle my mind. Even just seeing what went well and what bothered me a little can reduce the lingering fog I might otherwise carry into the next day.
Another thing I try to do is write down moments when I felt happy or genuinely “this is nice.” Life is complicated, and when daily life, work, or relationships don’t go well, it’s easy to feel down without even noticing. That’s why intentionally looking for something positive to write is a small habit that helps me recognize, again and again, that I can still feel happiness in the middle of everything.
Getting Sunlight and Moving My Body
For the past few years I’ve been working as a freelancer, so most of my work happens at home. If I’m not careful, I can easily go an entire day without stepping outside. That’s why I make a point of going out during the day to get some sunlight and take a light walk.
It’s often said that sunlight helps regulate the body clock and can affect sleep at night (including the timing of melatonin release). It’s also well known that when sunlight hits the skin, the body can synthesize vitamin D, and there may be a relationship between daylight and mood changes (including seasonal patterns). For those reasons, I’ve made it a personal rule to take a walk for at least 30 minutes to an hour, even on busy days.
Also, maybe because it improves circulation, walking gives me a sense that my thinking starts to “move.” When debugging is going nowhere or a project feels stuck, stepping outside sometimes makes a solution pop into my head surprisingly quickly. So in a way, when I really want to push work forward, I suspect this kind of time actually increases my productivity.
Finding and Trying Something New in Everyday Life (Try Something New)
When you’re working, it’s easy for each day to start feeling like the same routine repeating. Routine is necessary to keep life running, so I don’t think it’s realistic to change everything.
But the more the same days repeat, the more your thinking and ideas can harden, and you may not notice your perspective narrowing. That’s why I try to intentionally set aside a certain portion of my time for “trying something new.”
It doesn’t have to be a big challenge. I might go into a place I’ve never been, take a different route than usual, try a tool I’ve never touched, or read an article from a genre I normally ignore. Even small changes like these can be stimulating and can lead to unexpected discoveries (serendipity). And sometimes those moments become the trigger for my next step—so the busier I am, the more I try to mix in a little “newness.”
Conclusion
2026 is moving fast—somehow we’re already past March. Personally, I don’t think last year was very satisfying for me, in either work or private life. So this year, I want to avoid slipping into laziness and try to live each day intentionally, aiming for days that feel full and good.
How about you? Is there anything you’ve started recently (or since 2026 began) that you’re glad you did—or anything you’re doing more intentionally? If you’d like, I’d love to hear about it.
Thanks for reading!
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