(This post was last updated on: 10/19/2024.) Can you believe that 2020 is only a week away? I am trying to prepare so I start the year off in a good spot. I am looking at my priorities, organizational systems, how I want to spend my time and how to be more productive. Along those lines I have reviewed some goals that I set for myself last year that I achieved and a few that fell by the wayside. I have zeroed in on some goals to set for 2020 and that includes establishing some new habits. Here are 20 habits to start in 2020 that I plan to focus on in the new year.
If you feel stuck in a rut or are having a hard time narrowing down what you want to accomplish in 2020, here is a list of ideas for you. These are all habits that you could start in the new year. I would suggest picking 1 or 2 that you feel would have the biggest impact on your life and develop a plan on how to turn these ideas into a habit. If you plan to make too many changes in your life all at one time, you will probably end up accomplishing nothing. Don’t overwhelm yourself. Start with one item and when you feel that you have fully incorporated the first one into your daily routine, add another.
So you have your primary goal set of which new habit you want to start. Think about how you will actually be able to accomplish this; will it be all at once or do you need to break it up into small steps? There is no shame in starting small. Write it down if you need to and celebrate the small accomplishments. One step closer to making this a new habit for yourself is one step above where you were the day before.
Experts seem to disagree on how long it takes to establish a new habit, but 30 days seems pretty realistic. If you can implement your plan for 30 days, afterwards your new habit should be ingrained in your daily routine. And hopefully to the point that you won’t really have to think about it anymore, it will just come naturally. This would be the point in time to begin on habit number two that you were interested in establishing.
20 Habits to Start in 2020
- Make the bed every morning when you wake up. This is a common suggestion among many top successful individuals and advisors. Accomplishing this task in the morning sets you up for success throughout the day to complete more tasks.
- Volunteer your time at a local nonprofit or charity that you feel passionate about.
- Carve out time to spend with close friends or family. For me, I want to make sure I get together with my girlfriends more regularly in the new year. I also want to schedule date nights with my husband.
- Increase your productivity by being more organized. Check out our post on setting up an electronic calendar for your family and how to track your to-do list.
- Take time to meal plan- it will save you money and help you eat healthy. Most of the time I use Sundays to meal plan and meal prep for the week.
- Get up and get active. You don’t need to pay for a gym membership, you probably have plenty of exercise options at home that require little to no equipment. A walk around the neighborhood is always free!
- Order your groceries online and schedule a pick up. This is such a time and money saver. I use Walmart‘s grocery pick up every week.
- Unplug and unwind. I love taking time to disconnect from the internet especially social media. Start out with a day at a time and increase it to a weekend or long weekend.
- Plan out more travel throughout the year, even if it’s just a weekend getaway close to home. It’s a great way to relax and reconnect with your spouse.
- Cook dinner at home every weeknight. If you need to improve your cooking skills or if you are tired of making the same things, try out several new recipes from one cookbook. I bet you have one laying around your house and you don’t even have to buy a new one. Start marking the recipes you want to try out. You can also ask your family to mark pages of food they want to test out. Cooking at home is also a great way to save money.
- Read more books, any kind of books. Pick up a few and set a goal for yourself. We have a few recommendations to get you started. Reading for 20-30 minutes before bed helps me sleep better.
- Practice more self care in the new year. It could be something simple like taking a bath every Sunday to relax before the next work week begins. Buy yourself some luxurious bath products. This could also be something more extravagant like booking a massage for yourself once a month.
- Knock one thing off your to-do list everyday. If you are feeling overwhelmed by how much you need to get done in a day, commit to checking one item off your list daily. Here is how we track our ever growing to-do list.
- Eat less processed and packaged foods; swap them out for more whole foods.
- Collect your pocket change in one place. After awhile you will have a handful of cash that you can spend on whatever you want.
- Improve your vocabulary. I used to have an app on my phone that would send me a word of the day. I probably should restart that this year.
- Learn a new skill by taking a class either in person or online.
- Do your best to empower other women. That means not listening to gossip at work, stopping yourself if you were about to say something negative about another woman and to look for opportunities to do something nice to help out another woman.
- Pack lunch every weekday for your entire family. Yes it will take some forethought, but it will save you money and calories.
- Add more fun into your daily life. Any way you can, especially at work.
I would love to hear which of these 20 habits to start in 2020 you plan to work on and how you plan to make it happen. Leave me a comment below!
