Hello! Now I know I’m a little late to discuss this as it is now February, but I still feel these projects can be adopted whenever regardless of start time, I just happened to start mine in the New Year. There are a range of personal projects I am undertaking to make 2026 an enjoyable year and not wasted in bed doom-scrolling on social media! I am going to go through 5 of my personal projects to show my attempts to better myself and my life around me!
1. Attempting To Be Healthy
As one of my tags suggests, I have been working on bettering my health and fitness for nearly 6 months now (August 2025) as my partner and I both decided to go on this journey at the same time in our own ways, keeping each other accountable and supporting each other out. Now my journey is taking a lot longer then I thought, I knew it was going to be long but when I started I wanted to be in a better place then I am now… hence the ‘attempting’ in the heading! I have made a lot of progress in many areas but still working in others.
For example, no matter how hard I tried over the last couple years I could not get myself to go to the gym! It is something I’ll probably revisit further down the line, but for now it is not for me. However, Last year I found and started with a personal trainer, who is absolutely fabulous by the way! Shout out to Lorna!! I have been working with her on my fitness for nearly a year now and it has transformed my fitness journey. And to continue on that journey, 2026 is the year I have started going to her evening group ‘fever’ classes. I have only managed to go to one so far due to illness and travelling, but I will be booking plenty for when I am back home! I also would like to start swimming again – I’ll let you know how that turns out!
I have also been attempting to cook more and make more healthy choices, such as actually avoid gluten like I’m meant to instead of ignoring my intolerance, and not just buying freezer or ready meals I can just chuck in the air fryer or microwave! This is still a large work in progress but that’s ok! I am slowly trialling and building a range of healthy meals I can make – some will be shared here of course! – but that are also easy so it doesn’t feel like a lot of effort to be healthy. This will be more of a challenge for me!
2. Changing How I Use My Phone
Over the course of 2025 I was realising how much time in my day i spent wasted doom-scrolling on social media! So a lot of my doom-scrolling was caused by TikTok so in April I deleted it, and it was one of the best things I ever did and since I didn’t use Instagram much it was a good move to reduce using my phone! However, between April and til the new year my Instagram usage grew rapidly turning into a replacement for TikTok. When this became noticeable I tried using a time limit for how long I was on it, as I used it to get a lot of my information and updates on things I enjoyed, but that was ineffective. As a result, before I came away on holiday I deleted Instagram. And it has been extremely refreshing. My screen-times have reduced significantly and have had time to focus on other hobbies I always enjoy doing but never got round to as I got sucked into the doom-scrolling rabbit hole.
Now I cannot avoid using my phone completely as thats how work and family contact me, and breaking the habit to use my phone for dopamine fix will be slow to break. As a result, I have replaced social media with logic and brain training games, such as NYT Games and and app called Almanac, to engage my brain and turn using my phone in a way to better myself instead of doom-scrolling! The goal is to minimise phone usage unless it is necessary such as communication with family etc.
Another approach I have tried to adopt is minimising phone usage first thing in the morning. Ideally I aim to avoid using my phone during the first hour I wake up. In addition from 6am-9am I have a custom ‘focus’ iPhones have which reduces my notifications to just WhatsApp and my logic apps, thats it. This is so I can focus on enjoying the morning and getting a productive start as my day tends to follow how the morning went! I try to get my uni and movement done in the morning so I can spend the afternoon enjoying my hobbies, the only thing that affects this is work.
3. Reducing Negativity and Boosting Positivity
The world at the moment is full of negativity. In the news, social media, everywhere, so that is all most people talk about. I personally get affected quite easily by negativity so I am trying to reduce exposure to it and replacing it with positivity! This is another reason I deleted my personal social media. The news is a large contributor to negativity and so I have altered my notifications so that I can see them but I have chosen what I want notifications for. I do not want to ignore the news completely as I would still like to be aware whats going on but I can acknowledge it and move on to something positive.
Trying to discuss how to boost positivity in life is hard as it varies for individuals and each day! I know for me, what brings me happiness or joy changes each day as my mood and what I fancy doing changes frequently!
In terms of boosting positivity, I find ways whether in a hobby or little things to bring joy in life, to bring joy and light into my day. This varies massively, from opening my windows in the morning, to cleaning one room in my flat a day, as well as my cross stitching or playing my favourite video games. I may even try and tackle my current puzzle or bake another delicious treat for my family. Bringing peace and calm can be so refreshing and has brought a smile to my face. the last two projects do also contribute to boosting positivity in my life!
4. Small Movement Everyday
Until recently, unless I had to leave my flat… I didn’t! This wasn’t the most effective time and it made me unhappy. As a result, I started going out for small walks around my local area, just to get moving, sort of killing two birds with one stone approach, getting some fitness in my day while taking a relaxing pleasurable pace to encourage peace and joy for the day. I started this through planning what I was going to eat/cook everyday and then going out and buying what I needed, walking around to my local shop. This has evolved into longer walks.
I know this section is short but it is rather simple in itself, it is mainly down to individuals how easy it is to adopt, but even if it is just a walk around the block, something is better then nothing!
5. Photo-a-day & 1sec Everyday
Saved my favourite til last! Now this is a two in one as they essentially are doing the same thing just different processes!
Photo-a-day is pretty self explanatory. Take a photo everyday! It can be anything from capturing the memory to the most random thing around you. the world is your oyster! Mine range from days out to cats and dogs to a spare wheel cover on the back of a jeep! For me its just a fun task to see what my photo will be that day and I try to keep them as different a possible so I am always on the look out and aware of my surroundings. This has been very beneficial as I am looking at the world and theres so many happy things happening around you and we nearly miss them! I’ll pop a few of my January ones below:
Side note: another mini project that is similar is my 2026 evidence photo album, just whenever I am doing something towards my goals or something I struggle to do, I take a picture and add it to the album. To show myself that I am and need to show up for yourself as you’re the only obstacle in your way!
Anyways, the other project I am working on this year is 1 second everyday. This has been circling around social media for a while so you may have heard of it. Again it is also pretty self explanatory, film a second everyday! I do try and keep my photos and 1 seconds to be different from each other, just to get different angles of the day but it achieves the same things as the photos but with a bit more to the end result! I have been using an app called 1 second everyday (I think is also goes by 1SE) and it has been compiling my videos into an ever growing video. I’ll be honest this one is a bit more fun for me!
I chose these two projects as I knew I had a lot of fun things going on this year and I want to soak it all in while still capturing memories, and so far its gone quite well!
Overall, those are my 5 highlighted projects that I thought were worth sharing. And see if anyone else wanted to start them too! Thank you so much for reading. It’s a bit of a long one, so I do appreciate it if you have gotten to the end! Please enjoy the rest of your time here, you are always welcome here.
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