Happy Monday 🌞

It’s been a little while! Hi 👋 I’m Hailley. I’ve always created systems for my work (as a Marketing leader at Buffer) and life (as a remote worker and mom of two) where I can stay productive, calm, and organized.

If you’ve been subscribed for awhile, you know we recently moved our family from Tennessee to North Carolina for my husband’s work. Moving with two kids (as opposed to one last time we did this) was much more challenging than I expected. I ran low on sleep, I ate poorly, I got frustrated, and weeks later we still have boxes untouched in our garage.

But here’s the thing — despite all the chaos, this major life change created something unexpected: natural momentum for building new routines.

The power of transition moments

Big life changes naturally disrupt our existing patterns, and that disruption creates space for new habits to take root. When everything feels different anyway, it’s much easier to add one more new thing.

In our new house, there’s extra space for a comfy chair in our bedroom. Instead of scrolling my phone before bed (my old habit), I’ve been using this new space to spend time journaling, a habit I’ve wanted to be better at. The change in environment made starting this routine feel natural rather than forced.

This isn’t the first time I’ve experienced this. When we moved from Virginia to Tennessee, I found the motivation to start training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu again after taking two years off. The momentum of one big change made it easier to tackle another.

How to spot and use natural momentum

You don’t need to move to a whole new place to leverage this concept. Here’s a simple system I use to identify and capitalize on natural momentum moments:

1️⃣ Recognize common momentum moments:

• Back-to-school season (even if you’re not in school)
• Starting a new job or role
• Returning from vacation or a big trip
• Beginning of a new month, quarter, or year
• After completing a major project
• Changes in your living situation

2️⃣ Ask yourself these reflection questions:

• What routine have I always wanted to start but haven’t made time for?
• What’s one small change that would make my mornings/evenings better?
• How can I use this transition energy to tackle something I’ve been putting off?

3️⃣ Start small and specific: Pick one routine that feels manageable. For me, it was a few minutes of evening journaling, not an hour-long elaborate self-care routine.

Your natural momentum opportunity

Right now, with back-to-school energy in the air and fall approaching, there’s natural momentum for fresh starts. Even if you don’t have kids, this collective cultural shift with the school season can work in your favor.

The key is recognizing these moments when they happen and using that extra motivation to your advantage, rather than waiting for perfect conditions that may never come.

What routine have you been wanting to start? Can you tie it to a momentum moment happening in your life right now?

I hope you have a lovely week ahead. As always, feel free to reply if this sparks any thoughts or questions — I’d love to hear what momentum moments have worked best for you! ✨

See you next Monday,

Hailley

P.S. If you liked this issue, you might also like: Routines for rest and calm at work or Creating rhythms and not routines.

Re-write your "success" narrative. Sometimes success is getting enough sleep. Sometimes it's doing what you know is right despite the fact that everyone else in your life is looking down on it. Sometimes it's just getting through the day or the month. Lower your expectations.

- Brianna Wiest, 101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think​

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