When the pandemic began at the outset of 2020, daily routines were obliterated into thousands of pieces. Then later, as the lockdown lifted and regulations started easing up, many of us tried to paste our normal lives back together like restoring a shattered vase—but the finished product ended up looking more like Frankenstein’s monster than anything else. The same productive things we used to do just aren’t sticking as easily as we get back to our normal routines. So what can we do to stay committed to the things that matter most? How can we live more sustainably with our health, work, and life goals?

Here are three tips on how to form and rediscover good habits—and keep them!

When it comes to sustainable living, consistency is the key. But in order for something to build into a habit, it also needs to be consistently feasible. In other words, trying to make a routine out of something which is excessively taxing or unenjoyable will only set you up for failure early.

Whether you’re planning to follow a diet, reduce your carbon emissions, or clean up your productivity at work, it’s vital that you be brutally honest with your own abilities and determination. You might feel inspired to pump out one hundred pushups one night before bed, but can you keep that up every single night? Sustainability means you’re both physically and mentally capable of engaging in a new routine at regular intervals—be mindful not to overwork yourself into a fad you try for a week or two before giving up! Be energy-efficient...with your own energy!

Don’t rely on sudden bursts of inspiration to keep you going either; motivation is often fleeting. While inspiration can be great for getting started with a healthy habit, the feeling usually doesn’t last forever. Make sure your new routine is light enough that it can be completed even on days when your well of motivation is bone dry. If you start out small, you can work up to stronger or more difficult regiments by cultivating your discipline. With enough time and effort, a productive chore can turn into a sturdy habit that you perform regardless of how you feel.

Creating or reestablishing a healthy habit can take time, so make sure to set up regular intervals for performing the task and complete it each and every time. Reinforcing a healthy practice by repeating it over and over will eventually enable an automatic response from your body to do the task without thinking too much about it. Not only does this help on days when you’re feeling unmotivated, but recruiting a variety of good habits is the basis for shaping a sustainable lifestyle which lasts for years. In fact, studies have encouraged doctors to start giving habit-forming advice to patients for healthier lifestyles. Imagine how much your body and mind can benefit from a healthy habit that’s stretched out over the course of your entire life!

But every journey begins with a series of small, easy-to-manage steps. As previously discussed, don’t jump right into an activity which tuckers you out or is no fun. Instead, gradually increase the difficultly as though you were adding more weights to an exercise, making sure the task is surmountable while still being challenging. The amount of time it takes to form new habits varies greatly from person to person, so keep that in mind.

For instance, if you want to drink more water every day, start by keeping bottled water with you wherever you go to reinforce the habit before you start measuring the ounces. If you want to take colder, shorter showers in order to use less water, try starting out with lukewarm water to use less energy and natural resources, then decrease the temperature gradually. Cutting on food waste is also a good idea: try saving food scraps, composting, minimizing plastic waste, and visiting your local farmers market to save money and help the community.

In search of more habit ideas? Some eco-friendly habits to reduce your carbon footprint and lessen your environmental impact include starting to recycle, opting for reusable and eco-friendly materials (avoid single-use shopping bags, plastic bags, water bottles, incandescent light bulbs, and plastic straws), and utilizing energy-saving solutions like rechargeable batteries and solar panels. Going paperless with your mail and making use of public transport are great ways to accumulate less waste, fight off global warming, and thwart climate change. You can even try to carpool or go biking to the grocery store if the trip isn't far.

A sustainable lifestyle is only worth building if the end results enhance your life in a healthy manner rather than make it more tedious. Devoting extra time to work or a hobby is great, but what if it takes away quality time from your family? Going for a run each morning is a noble accomplishment, but what if you neglect getting enough sleep for work later in the day?

When making room in your schedule to practice sustainable activities, make sure you consider how that time will affect the other areas of your life. Your life decisions are ultimately up to you, so a careful eye on how your second-hand sustainable practices shape you is crucial.

Devotion to a specific lifestyle can sometimes take a toll on both your mental and physical health if taken too far—always be willing to take a short break if necessary or change your habit entirely if the benefits aren’t outweighing the costs. Cutting back on sustaining a healthy routine can be a difficult decision to make, but sometimes the thrill of accomplishment can eclipse the practical results. Look after yourself first and foremost!

Even something as small as sanitizing your hands regularly can amount to big health benefits in your day-to-day life. Muse Health makes this easy by implementing healing oils in its solution to prevent cracked skin while killing off the most threatening germs.

If a sustainable, healthy lifestyle is in your best interest, why not start by investing in one of the best defenses for your immune system? With a quality hand sanitizer conveniently available wherever you go, your chances of habitually sanitizing in public are much more likely. Check out our Fragrance-Free Hand Sanitizer to start building sustainable health habits today!