Elevating your lifestyle is actually easier than many people think. Many people hear that and think you need to save up thousands to buy the most luxurious and expensive items and services but in reality it's more so about just improving your current state to what you're comfortable with. For example going from being disorganized and having your items placed wherever to maybe creating a system to reorganize everything to make it less stressful for you. Not saying you have to be label crazy or buy hundreds of toes because what might work for one person might not work for the next. These are a few ways that I specifically elevate my lifestyle that I just simply wanted to document and share in case somebody else gets inspired.

1. Create a standard daily routine

First things first I focus on creating a standard regular degular routine that’s not super complicated to maintain but keeps things and myself in order and not overwhelmed. I'm a working woman outside of my business so I made sure to get a work schedule that works for me and what works for me when it comes to work is never getting to 40hr work weeks or not working every weekday especially Monday or Friday or weekends because I assign those days to my non work activities such as grocery shopping and gardening on Sunday, making juice and meal prepping on Monday and for Friday evening since I still work Fridays is for prepping for the weekends errands and activities. Realistically I clean a little everyday because that is the easiest way to not have things pile up but my set cleaning days are Sunday and Thursday ,but outside of that I clean for about 10 minutes in each room so when I get to my designated cleaning day the workload isn't as heavy. Keeping a regular daily routine does take time to build and get used to but once the trial-and-error phase is over, and you figure out your flow you'll notice a positive difference.

2. Incorporate plants to cleanse the air and

Not only are they pretty and interesting to explore, but plants are also very helpful when it comes to keeping the air in your home clean and refreshed. Of course having plants requires care and maintenance and if you have pets or children you do want to keep in mind what can work best for their safety as well as what you feel comfortable with maintaining like i explained in the previous point. A Few plants that check the boxes of being safe, easy to maintain, and are great decor are listed below. Still do your own research to determine what might fit best for you as I did.

3. Customize a gallery wall

This is a fun one simply because it involves shopping and just browsing on pinterest or other socials which we all already do on a daily basis. Now instead of doom scrolling watching wild discourse or fleeting trends you can build your art collection overtime by simply searching for your interest and adding “art”at the end and the let your algorithm adjust and push related work to you. If you prefer to build your collection by getting pieces in person then search up local markets or art pop ups and make sure to ask artists that you do like the work of but may not be ready to get for their socials to keep up with them to get art in the future. Although that's the best practice to find art from growing artists there are still big corporations that collaborate with smaller creators which allows easier access to their art. I personally like to frame my artwork and the best place to get frames for me would be Walmart and Michaels. My focus for my gallery wall is to showcase work from growing artists that are a part of my community. Work that focuses on empowering, beautiful, unique etc. are the type of pieces I gravitate towards, and I stick to my frames being the same color as black or white with very few being in different colors or floating frames or other styles.

4. Making Natural lighting the standard

Now don't get me wrong I am not anti-black out curtains because those do come in handy when it's time to sleep or block out heat because I do live in the very warm and hot state of Texas. With that being said, natural lighting is the best to have in my space because it is the perfect pick me up on those tough days. Just like when people say they enjoy the feeling of sunlight on their skin when they're down or just been in the house too long is the same way I feel about how natural light brightens my home allowing me to see its unique beauty. I actually use natural light as my default light before I turn on any room lights or lamps not just to save energy but to let the sun do what it's intended to do.

5. Staying active even if it’s for a few minutes each day.

I fear I may have lost a few people with this, but I promise im no gym influencer or muscle mami trying to get you to hit the gym 6 days a week for 2 hours. a day however if that is your choice then right on and keep doing you! When I speak about staying active it's mainly because I work from home, and I sit for hours a day, and I even feel the stiffness in my body every time I log out and get up after the workday. What I decided to do was incorporate stretching for at least 20 minutes a day and I use one of my breaks to do this. What also motivated me was my job offering a fitness rebate and connecting me to sessions that workout for me and my schedule and comfortability. Also staying active to me looks like taking a walk around the neighborhood once or twice a week, taking a dance class or dancing to music on my work breaks, a refreshing yoga session, gardening, picking and arranging flowers from the garden, etc.

6. Find an outside hobby or activity.

This is related to my previous point because gardening and going on nature walks are my outside activities even though I do garden more than go on nature walks. However, that is a goal I have this year which is to visit more gardens and parks whether it's a community garden, botanical garden etc. Another outside activity I want to incorporate is drawing or painting in the areas I visit. Art is in everything I do and sometimes that change of scenery is what's needed to get me in a better mindset. Other activities that could work out for you could be like, swimming, photography, skating etc.

7. Write it out and Journal weekly.

I recently adopted this although I do have the habit of not being super consistent but I do make sure to catch up and write twice that week or longer. This is the easiest thing to do when you're down, happy, overwhelmed or just needing some sort of breakthrough but don't have somebody to talk to or want to keep certain things to yourself. I personally started journaling weekly again to get all the things that were overwhelming me and piling up in my head just simply out of my head and on paper for me to revisit or just get out for good. I do use it to reflect and better myself as a person but as well as to affirm and manifest my desires. What helps with being consistent and even getting started is looking for nice stationary which I have in my shop and will be adding more soon but also like I said many times in this post is to do what works for you and what works for me is journaling once a week or sometimes biweekly.

If you got this far thank you for sticking around and reading my shortlist on how I elevate my lifestyle. I hope this inspires you to build your own routine, find a new hobby, or even adopt some new home decor ideas and more. It's a journey and not everything needs to or will happen overnight and it's okay if you're not 100% at first as long as you're doing as you please.

Until next time…

- Hailey Michelle (@DesignerHaileyM)

7 Ways that I elevate my Lifestyle