The trouble with New Year resolutions is they demand discipline you don't have after a month of Cadbury's Roses and questionable life choices. To my mind, what works better are the small things: habits and rituals that don't require reinvention, just a bit of attention.
If 2025 taught us anything, it's that our brains are fried. Between client emails, algorithm anxiety, and the lingering dread that AI might steal your job, creative work requires focus that feels increasingly impossible to summon. The gym membership will languish by February. The productivity system will gather dust. But a ritual you can do in under ten minutes? That might actually stick.
01. The pre-work walk
Before you open your laptop, walk. Ten minutes minimum. No phone, no podcast, no "optimising" the experience. Haruki Murakami runs at 4am. Anna Wintour plays tennis. You can manage a lap round the block. The point isn't exercise; it's arriving at your desk having already moved through space, rather than sleep-walking straight into email. Your brain needs the transition.
02. One screen-free meal daily
Pick one meal where nothing glows at you. Not the telly, not your phone, not even your laptop propped beside your toast. Just food, and ideally another human. This sounds obvious until you realise you haven't done it in weeks. Maya Angelou wrote in bare hotel rooms to eliminate distraction; you can eat without watching Netflix for 20 minutes.
03. The two-minute reset
Between tasks, stop. Two minutes. Close your eyes. Notice your breath. This isn't meditation; it's damage control. Designer Stefan Sagmeister takes year-long sabbaticals; you can take 120 seconds before your next Zoom. Think of it as Ctrl+Alt+Delete for your nervous system.
04. Physical work for stuck brains
When you're stuck, move differently. Theodore Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss) wore hats until inspiration struck. Radiohead singer Thom Yorke does headstands before performing. But you could just stretch, do desk exercises or press-ups against your desk, or shake out your hands. Creative blocks often live in your body before your head. The goal is to discharge the static, not achieve enlightenment.
05. The evening device curfew
Create a hard stop for screens. Not "when I'm tired"; an actual time. At this time, you need to enter Digital Switzerland: neutral territory where your phone doesn't live. The doom-scrolling will still be there tomorrow. Your focus won't be if you don't sleep properly.
06. A weekly non-negotiable
Friday night curry. Sunday bath. Saturday morning at the gallery. Pick something predictable in the best way; an anchor that gives the week shape. The common thread is consistency, not perfection. You need something to look forward to that isn't deadline-dependent.
07. The seasonal awareness check
Energy isn't constant. And acknowledging that winter asks for different work than summer isn't laziness; it's collaborating with reality rather than fighting it. Virginia Woolf used a standing desk and stepped back regularly, like a painter. Sometimes the ritual is permission to work at a different pace.
08. Morning pages before email
Three pages of longhand, stream-of-consciousness morning writing. Artist and author Julia Cameron's method, borrowed by countless creatives. It doesn't have to be good; it just has to happen. This empties your head's recycling bin before the day fills it up again. Think of it as preventative mental health.
- Explore the most beautiful pens
09. The designated worry window
Anxiety doesn't vanish because you're busy. So spend 15 dedicated minutes, same time daily, to properly worry. Write it down. Then close the notebook. Your catastrophising gets its time; your work gets the rest.
10. The capture system
Carry something to write in. Director Akira Kurosawa kept notebooks, recording observations that later became films. The idea is to capture ideas when they arrive, rather than hope you'll remember later. (You won't.)
11. One analogue hobby
Pottery. Embroidery. Reading actual books with pages. Something you do with your hands that creates nothing Instagram-worthy. Frida Kahlo gardened. Gertrude Stein wrote in her parked car. The point is encountering materials that don't track your engagement or send you notifications.
12. The weekly review that isn't punishment
Friday afternoon, look at what worked, what didn't, what's coming. Not as self-flagellation, but as course correction. Check in weekly without judgment. Five minutes reviewing your week teaches you more than any productivity system.
Make it yours
The ritual that works is the one you'll actually do. Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez read newspapers before writing; his magical realism grew from reality. Your version might be espresso and crosswords. The magic isn't in the specific routine; it's in showing up for it.
These aren't rules. They're experiments. Try three, ditch the ones that feel performative, keep what sticks. Because the goal isn't optimisation. It's being present enough to do the work only you can.
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