Wellness Hacks to Integrate into Your New Year’s Health Strategy - Part 1: Make a Schedule…Write it Down

This time of year, many of us are recommitting to our health—out with the old bad habits and in with the new. Many of us are rolling out new dietary approaches, new workout routines, working on our personal relationships, work-life balance, etc., etc. 

Many of these changes are daunting and often seem nearly impossible to pull off. Let me tell you, you are more than capable of achieving your health goals. The hardest part is simply taking those first steps. Once you take the first step, the second doesn’t seem so bad, and the third looks even better, and so on and so on.  

I thought for the first bit of 2026 that I would offer a few hacks to help make your year better in general. These hacks are easy to incorporate into whatever your bigger goals may be, or they can stand on their own, or maybe they will spark new ideas or inspiration. Here’s the first:

Make a schedule for your week

Whether we like the concept or not, our brains are more at ease with a routine. A steady routine lowers levels of stress, boosts our sense of accomplishment and happiness, optimizes productivity and sleep, and tends to lead to a better diet. 

Having a schedule doesn’t mean feeling forced to be somewhere or do something you don’t want to do. On the contrary, if you make your schedule, you can make it whatever you want it to be. The only thing that is rigid is that you have to follow it (until you decide you want to change it).  

With a defined schedule, you decide when to wake, when to sleep and eat, when to exercise and when to have fun. You can even “schedule” spontaneity! 

With a set schedule, you will find that you have SO MUCH MORE TIME THAN YOU THINK. You will also realize just how much time you waste.  

So do this: get a day planner, paper or app or whatever, and map out each day of your week. Write down what you will be doing for each hour of the day...when you wake, eat, exercise, work, play, relax, sleep...

If you have personal or work projects set aside for the year, define hours throughout the week that you will spend working on those specific projects. I find it helpful to make a list of projects. This way, you can refer to the list and check things off as you go.

I recommend using a format that allows you to check off each item in your schedule every day as it is accomplished. There is something satisfying and confidence-building in checking things off your list, no matter how small each item is.

Try your new schedule for a week or two, and change it if you need to. Once you get it down, stick to it! Down the road, your needs or interests may change, and your schedule may need to be tweaked, but that’s fine. You’ll find your productivity will soar, and so will your happiness and confidence.