Slaying the metaphorical dragon of January

Yes! January's almost over! We've nearly slayed the, er, ice dragon of broken resolutions.

This month's always a slog. In the past I've found that little routines help make the trudge a bit easier. That might be anything from emptying the bin, to a regular food haunt, to scheduled writing sessions.

Here are three small routines that helped this January. They're largely trivial, but they've added a spark to my month.

1. A tiny tweet

On every other day, I've tweeted a “you should be listening to” Spotify link. I might as well let you know what I'm plopping into my ears, and it somehow feels I'm being generous, despite it taking very little effort. See those tweets in my feed.

2. Blogging!

I've blogged every third day. The blog posts have been small: little notelets flapping on the thermals of the internet. It somehow centres me: this here website has been home to me for nearly 15 years. More importantly, it's kept my writing brain in gear. (Thank you for reading, by the way.)

3. Total narcissism

I've kept a weekly list of pats-on-the-back. A collection of private congratulations. It's all pretty dull. Things like hanging out with friends listening to Kraftwerk, completing a writing deadline, buying socks. In this most slushiest of seasons, it helps me remember the good things which so easily fade into the cold night.

From the tweets to the blog posts to the lists, I've ended January feeling more positive than I usually go. Take THAT, metaphorical time dragon. Maybe you should try some tiny routines. Nothing big. Largely trivial. Something to add a spark.