Realistic habits that will save you 10 hours each week

Practical Habits for Balancing Work, Study, Exercise, and Personal Life

Aaliyah shares ways to make time for daily responsibilities without relying on exhausting weekend catch-up sessions. Her main advice is to reduce friction, use small pockets of time, and adopt only the habits that suit you.

Make It Easier to Follow Through

• Prepare the night before: Keep your evening routine simple. Lay out your gym clothes and pack your bag or lunch to reduce morning decisions.
• Do the hardest task early, if it suits you: Aaliyah prefers exercising before work so other pressures don’t crowd it out. She suggests counting down “5, 4, 3, 2, 1” and getting up before you can talk yourself out of it. Early starts aren’t necessary if they don’t fit your life.
• Start small: Choose habits that work for you. You don’t need to adopt everything at once or sacrifice sleep to follow someone else’s schedule.

Make Use of Small Pockets of Time

• Batch tasks or stack habits: Pair small admin jobs—such as replying to messages, booking appointments, or handling emails—with an existing activity or spare moment, like treadmill time or having coffee. Make sure to keep time for genuine relaxation, too.
• Study in short, regular sessions: Use your commute when possible, or fit in 20–30 minutes after work instead of leaving everything for a long cram session. Aaliyah finds frequent, manageable revision helps her retain information and leaves more of the weekend free.

Keep Your Space and Plans Manageable

• Reset as you go: Tidy your desk after using it and do small daily cleanups, such as loading the dishwasher and clearing the kitchen at night. These “micro-tidies” reduce setup time and the need for major weekend cleaning.
• Plan flexibly: Make a daily to-do list in whatever format works for you. Aaliyah prefers handwritten notes and prioritizes tasks by urgency rather than assigning every task a time.

Presenters and Sources

• Aaliyah — Presenter.
• Unidentified source — Aaliyah recalls the advice to “start your day with the hardest thing,” but says she cannot remember who said it.