Eden Havel | Head Editor & Newsroom Manager
February 14, 2024
Since the start of the New Year, many have cited a healthier, happier lifestyle as their 2024 resolution. Whether through fitness, consistent sleep schedules, a sustainable diet, self-care scheduling, or more sunshine; prioritizing health has become a universal focus. Despite such ideal intentions, however, many struggle to keep up with the efforts required to achieve the replenishment we desire. With our busy lives, how can we implement routines that fuel our bodies, energy, mentality, and spirit?
Sleep
For high school students in particular, sleep is often one of the most commonly rejected healthy habits. Alongside schedules that require developing individuals to wake up earlier, stare at blue light screens more frequently, and even go to bed later, students often resort to artificial means of achieving the energy they require. The consumption of caffeine and other energy boosters delays our sleep schedule, resulting in an impermanent and unbalanced cycle. For an improved mood, a productive mentality, a restored immune system, and regulated heart and blood sugar, sleep is essential. So this year, try creating a routine schedule, try staying off of screens at least 30 minutes before bedtime, make a comfortable and safe sleeping space for yourself, and avoid caffeine in the hours leading up to your bedtime.
Diet
Nutritious food simply makes us feel better. And depending on your lifestyle, culture, and the resources in your area; healthy foods may vary in their accessibility and definition for each person. While organic foods are good for our stomachs, it is underestimated how much they benefit our immune system and mental health as a whole. With improved focus and productivity and a reduction in frequent colds and infections, eating good food one of the most beneficial decisions we could make. So try incorporating more plants, fruits, grains, and nuts; and reduce the sodium, fats, and sugars that have become such a constant in our daily diets. The extra time it takes to wash, slice, and prepare our healthier meals is a sacrifice worth making for a healthier, happier lifestyle.
Reduce Screentime
Many of the health issues that our technologically advanced society faces are connected to the consistent use of screens. Apathy, stress, depression, fatigue, and musculoskeletal issues result from endless scrolling and exposure to blue light. So let’s challenge ourselves this year: less social media, texting, notifications, and apps. More screen-free meals, socializing, nature, and brain-boosting activities. Even though our lives require at least some usage of technology, by instilling screen time limits (and not clicking “15 more minutes” when they go off) and charging our technology away from our beds, these habits will become more comfortable. And who knows, before long, you could be in your Gossip Girl flip phone era!
Nature
From beaches to hiking trails to camping grounds, San Clemente is filled with the luxury of access to beautiful nature. One of the best ways to practice staying present in our daily lives is by connecting to the grounding source of the environment. So for 2024, let’s go outside on purpose. Let’s start gardens, roll down the windows, hike with friends, read under trees, swim in the oceans, and bask in the sunshine as often as possible. Life is too short to forget the beauty around us—live adventurously.
Meditate
Meditation can help calm our busy, overwhelmed minds. Especially during seasons of stress and exhaustion, connecting with our breath is the best way to get out of our heads. Apps like Calm, Headspace, Smiling Mind, and The Mindfulness App are great ways to practice meditation consistently. Resources such as YouTube, Spotify, and iTunes are filled with free content ranging from 3 minutes to 30 minutes to guide your meditation with any purpose—whether to help with procrastination, sleep, calmness, energy, anxiety, anger, or sadness. And if it feels embarrassing to sit in your room and meditate, rest assured that roughly 275 million people around the world are practicing along with you.
Read
Although Americans read less now than ever before, the desire to pick up a book has steadily been increasing among individuals over the past year. Alongside the desire to put down our phones and reconnect, reading a book can expand our healthy intentions in ways that enhance our vocabulary and creative inspiration. So whether you’d like to pick up an exciting brand new novel, a classic, or a fan favorite, you won’t regret filling your 2024 with the vibrant and beautiful imagination of authors from around the world and throughout history.
Exercise
Especially leading into the second semester, it’s incredibly common for students can unintentionally neglect their desire to get more activity and exercise to focus on their studies. While sports seasons may be slowly coming to an end and access to a gym may become less frequent as we get busier, there are still ways to implement daily rejuvenating exercise into our schedule. Whether it’s when we first wake up or before bedtime, connecting exercise to sleep is an easy way to make time for and remember to workout. Find the activities that sound most appealing to you, whether it’s running, yoga, weight-lifting, or a simple exercise that you dedicate yourself to daily. And if you’d like to hold yourself accountable, find friends, family members, or communities that will go through this with you. The impact of movement, though simple, has immeasurable benefits to our mentality and motivation.
Drink more water
Dehydration is a leading factor in procrastination and a lack of motivation. However, it can be challenging to remember or even access water as often as we should. Though the average person should drink around 44 ounces of water a day (about 5.5 full cups), most consume roughly half of the necessary amount on a daily basis. For 2024, we can make drinking water an exciting, daily habit that we look forward to. Fill your water with lemons and ice this year; get bottles that are large and easy to access at any time of the day; put a glass by your bedside. At the end of the day, there’s nothing healthier than proper hydration.
Though forming new habits can be challenging (and breaking old habits can be even harder), we can find the most growth this year in simply the practice of developing the lifestyle that brings us joy. How do you hope to feel this year—physically, mentally, emotionally? And how are you going to evolve your routines and schedules to match that? I hope 2024 is the beginning of a new normal for us all; one that is full of activity, nutrition, and joy; and one that inspires our loved ones to do the same.
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