Starting the New Year with #30DaysOfEarly

Cupcakes and Cashmere is kidding herself. No one’s house is that neat. Just to take this photo I had to remove three pounds of business cards and jewelry from my dresser. Lies CAC.

I admit it – I talk a good game about setting resolutions, having good daily habits, being productive, etc. Nope – it’s mostly a lie, kind of.

I had an excellent routine going around June last year: waking up early to go running, writing every day, being productive and proactive while at work, etc. Then real life happened. As a young twenty-something in New York, I should have known that the summer is not at all the best time to keep a habit going. One thing led to another: first, a random cold in the middle of June, then Governor’s Ball taking away an entire weekend, next a week-long trip to Chicago, after that a long weekend on Fire Island, then I started looking for a new job, then I went to Germany – so on and so forth.

The fact is, with everything I do and the schedule I try to make myself follow, I need to get back into those good habits. Since it takes a while to form a new habit, and I have the attention span of a five-year-old, this year I decided to do something new and have not one, not two, but 12 resolutions for the whole year! How is that possible, you say? Each month is a new resolution that leads to a new habit that I must do every day for 30 days.

The idea is that 30 days isn’t so long of a commitment that I’ll give up halfway through, and since it’s every day, it has to be something small enough that can actually be accomplished. For January, I decided my goal will be #30DaysOfEarly. I might be an anomaly to the rest of twenty-somethings in the world, but I like waking up early. I feel more accomplished,  less tired, and have greater peace of mind. So for January, I am waking up at six am on weekdays and around 9 or 10 am on weekends. I’m going to allow myself only 15 minutes to do the snoozing, lying awake, drinking water, and walking aimlessly around my apartment trying to wake up. After that, I have to do something, whether yoga, writing, clearing out my inbox, etc. What I do doesn’t matter right now, just as long as I am doing something.

Yesterday was the first day of #30DaysOfEarly and I have to admit, it was great. Consequently, since I’m waking up earlier, I have to change my nighttime routine to make sure I get more than six hours of sleep (I like sleep. Sleep is good). I did some yoga, ate a real breakfast, and answered some emails. I got to work on time and was productive all day long.

What do you think of this challenge I’m giving myself? Is it crazy, nuts, brilliant?