The hot girl to-do list

👋 The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and I am trying my best not to live in my swimming costume (we did buy a paddling pool for the garden last weekend). Usually, this kind of weather solves all my problems.

So tell me why, during the hottest summer in years—when I’m getting six months’ worth of vitamin D in about three hours—things are feeling… not fucking good at all.

Sorry! Sorry to bring the mood down!

The thing is, I can look around and honestly say: life is fine! I’m busy! I’m happy! Nothing major is going wrong!

But this rut hasn’t come from boredom. It comes from living completely outside of a routine, and subsequently, not looking after myself.

I’ve been deep in social mode for the last couple of months (I meant it when I said I believe in being part of the village!). But the dinners out, late nights, back-to-back plans, and wine by the bottle, have officially caught up with me.

I’ve been saying yes to everything and everyone, and forcing myself out of the house as much as possible (because who knows how long this weather will last??).

But it does mean I’m not leaving much time to check in with myself. And that is almost definitely why I’ve felt a bit scrambled, stuck, and just generally like a ginormous sack of potatoes.

I’ve felt like this for about a month now, and I’ve been putting off changing things because I felt like I ‘owed’ myself the time to rot away. But, as I’ve found out recently, life does not work like that.

I know pretty much everyone can relate to being in a rut (a couple of my friends have actually said that they’re right here with me), so I thought I’d share what clicked, and how I’m pulling myself out.

Disclaimer: I have no idea wtf I’m doing, but I’m trying my best.

So, on Wednesday night, after not achieving anything on my to-do list and spending the entire day indoors (again), I decided I needed to get a fucking grip and pull myself together.

All evening, I’d been haunted by a quote I saw a couple of years ago that read, “how you spend your day is how you live your life”.

And all I could think of was: “What if I die tomorrow, and the last thing I did with my day was scroll on TikTok for 5 hours and didn’t leave the house???”

Safe to say, this thought process kicked me into action.

Of course, there is a time and place for rotting in bed for hours on TikTok, but I’d say it is exclusively reserved for being hungover, and maybe shouldn’t be the main event of your Monday. If it’s the latter, that’s a big bloody problem, isn’t it?

So, I got off the sofa, grabbed my diary (which has also fallen victim to my rut), and the gratitude journal a friend gave me for my birthday, and started writing.

I caught my diary up on everything that had happened over the last month. Then I made myself list some things I was grateful for that day. Thankfully, Fraser had come home with flowers for me, so that did pretty much all of the heavy lifting.

I also (sob) deleted TikTok from my phone, because I know it’s rotting my brain and I am fully addicted.

And then I got out my Notes app and started writing my to-do list for the next day, in the same way I have been writing to-do lists for the past 3 years.

Hot Girl Thursday To-Do List:

• Wake up at 8

• Work from Gail’s (with full work to-do list)

• Go to the gym

• Go to the shops

• Bake cake for Saturday’s hen do

• Clean bedroom and put clothes away

And guess what? I bloody did every. Single. Thing.

It’s all in the power of the hot girl’s to-do list!

I’m not embarrassed to admit I’ve been writing hot girl lists since that TikTok trend back in 2022. Because writing a hot girl to-do list simply makes me want to be a hot girl.

And in my head, hot girls take care of themselves. They move their bodies. They get shit done. They make time for things that actually matter.

Obviously, for me, it’s not just about calling myself a hot girl. It’s about making space for myself in a time when a lot of my energy is going outwards. I love being busy, I love being around people, but it’s easy to use it as an excuse to put yourself last. And I truly believe there can be a balance.

When I’m in a rut, I find myself in a cycle of thinking ‘what’s the point?’ during the day, and then being angry at myself in the evening when nothing’s been done.

So the list isn’t about achieving loads, at all, it’s about reminding myself that I can follow through, I can gain back control, and I can build my life the way I want to live it.

It’s how I spell out (literally) what I need from the day, instead of just whacking it on a mental list and ignoring the gym kit I have on, because other ‘things’ (not being arsed) have got in the way.

I’m not pretending one good Thursday solves everything. But it reminded me how I feel when I prioritise myself. So, I’ve kept it going.

On that Thursday, I had no other plans, and the list was fully built around me. But Friday and Saturday were busier. So I had to figure out how to make time for myself, like going to the gym before dinner with friends on Friday, or going for a walk and a coffee before hosting a hen do on Saturday.

And I managed it, it just took a little bit of proactivity, rather than waiting for motivation to hit.

I’m still desperate to get the paddling pool out. Still saying yes to plans. But I’m also writing the lists again. Moving my body. Making space for myself.

And that feels like the right kind of summer. ✨

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Sunday Reset Week #3: How is the bedtime going?

I am thrilled to say that I am finally taking it seriously!

The first week was a hot mess, and the second week, I had a couple of days where I went to bed at 10pm.

But this week, I’ve been getting into bed by 10pm and asleep by 11pm every weeknight.

Writing it out, it sounds so easy, but I’ve found it HARD. It turns out, as we’ve discovered in this blog, I have a chronic TikTok addiction, which is fuelling my revenge bedtime procrastination.

✨ Revenge Bedtime Procrastination is basically when you stay up way past your bedtime to reclaim some personal time and autonomy when you’re super busy. It’s the center of the Mel Robbins podcast mentioned in my first newsletter.

So, with what I’ve built so far, I’m not moving onto a new habit just yet. I am going to concentrate on being an early-to-bed, early-to-rise, girly.

And honestly, since this whole newsletter turned into a Sunday Reset in itself, I feel like I’ve provided enough tips to take you into the new week. It’s time to reclaim some time for yourself, and bring that hot girl energy to your day-to-day. Yes, even you, Dad. 👋