What are some life hacks that you practice?

Most journal prompts ask what you’re grateful for, ready to release, or hoping to manifest. Useful questions, but after a while, they can become easy to answer without changing anything. So this October, try a more practical reset: use your journal to audit how you actually live—your home, routines, purchases, time, energy, space and attention.

As the days grow shorter, use the seasonal shift as a cue to ask: Does the way I live still make sense for the season I’m entering? Spend 10–15 minutes a day with one prompt. For each, notice the pattern, measure what it costs you, then test one small change.

• Notice: What keeps happening?
• Measure: What is it costing me—in time, money, space, energy or attention?
• Test: What small change can I try?

The goal isn’t to overhaul your life in October. It’s to spot what isn’t working, test what might, and carry the changes that actually make a difference into November. Start with Day 1 and see what you notice.

Week 1: Audit the Way You Actually Live

October 1 — What Has Become Normal That Should Probably Be Fixed?

Look around your home and identify three inconveniences you have stopped noticing: a drawer that never opens properly, a lamp that is always in the wrong place, a chair that has become a clothes pile, or a kitchen item you have to move every time you cook. 

Write: What recurring irritation have I mistaken for “just how things are”? 

Action: Fix one of them today without buying anything. Repeated friction is often a design problem disguised as a personal habit.

October 2 — Which Things Do I Use Because They Are Visible?

Choose one surface such as the kitchen counter, bathroom shelf, bedside table or desk, and list everything currently sitting there. 

Mark each item 

• U = used regularly, 
• O = occasionally used, 
• V = visible because there is nowhere else for it. 

Action: Remove the “V” items for seven days without organising them elsewhere yet. The point is to find out whether the surface becomes easier to use simply because there is less on it.

October 3 — What Did I Buy to Solve a Problem I Still Have?

Think about the last ten things you bought for your home and identify which were supposed to solve a problem. Then ask whether they actually did. 

Write: Which purchase solved the symptom rather than the underlying problem? 

Action: Describe one unresolved problem without mentioning a product. Instead of “I need a bigger storage basket,” write “I have no convenient place to put clean laundry before it is folded.” Defining the problem properly often changes the solution.

October 4 — Which Room Is Designed for an Imaginary Version of Me?

Look at the room you planned around a lifestyle you do not actually live. Perhaps the dining table is rarely used, the reading chair has become storage, the guest room sits mostly empty, or the beautiful desk is really a parcel-drop zone. 

Write: How do I actually use this room on an ordinary Tuesday? 

Action: Rearrange one element according to real behaviour rather than intended behaviour. A useful home should reflect the life that happens there, not the life you once imagined would happen there.

October 5 — What Do I Keep Moving Instead of Giving a Permanent Home?

Choose one object that travels around your house: laundry, bags, chargers, mail, shoes, dog toys or cleaning products. 

Write: Where does this object naturally get dropped? 

Action: Give it a home within one step of where you naturally use or leave it. Good organisation follows behaviour instead of constantly fighting it.

October 6 — Where Does My Home Create Extra Work?

Choose one routine such as getting ready, cooking, cleaning, laundry, leaving the house or going to bed. 

Write down every unnecessary step. For example, if doing laundry means collecting clothes, carrying them upstairs, sorting them, discovering something needs another wash, returning downstairs and then looking for an empty basket, you have identified a process rather than a personality flaw. 

Action: Remove one step and repeat the routine tomorrow.

October 7 — What Can I Remove Before I Organise Anything?

Choose one drawer, cupboard or shelf, but do not buy containers, create categories or make labels. 

Remove everything and divide it into Use / Keep elsewhere / Donate or discard / Unsure. 

Action: Put back only the “Use” items and leave the rest outside the space for a week. You may find that part of the storage problem disappears when the volume changes first.

Week 2: Follow the Light

October 8 — Which Parts of My Home Become Unusable Earlier in Autumn?

As daylight changes, some rooms become darker earlier than they did in summer. Instead of deciding that you need different lighting immediately, observe what actually happens. 

Write: At what time does each frequently used room stop feeling comfortable? 

Action: Record the time for three days. You now have evidence about where lighting changes might genuinely help.

October 9 — Am I Using Artificial Light to Fix a Layout Problem?

Before buying a brighter bulb, look at what is blocking the daylight you already have: furniture, curtains, shelving, plants, dark surfaces or poor placement. 

Write: Where is the daylight coming from, and where does it actually reach? 

Action: Move one piece of furniture temporarily and observe the room at the same time the following day. Sometimes the cheapest lighting improvement is a change in layout.

October 10 — Which Room Do I Avoid When the Weather Changes?

Do not interpret the behaviour emotionally yet. Find the practical reason. Is the room cold, dark, draughty, cluttered, difficult to clean or uncomfortable to sit in? 

Write: What specifically makes this room less usable? 

Action: Change one physical variable rather than decorating the entire room.

October 11 — Where Is My Lighting Working Against What I Do?

Make three columns: Activity / Where I do it / What the light is actually like and include reading, cooking, working, grooming, relaxing and eating. 

Write: Which everyday activity has the biggest lighting mismatch? 

Action: Solve that one first. Designing lighting around actual tasks is more useful than choosing fixtures purely because they look good in a photograph.

October 12 — What Do I Automatically Do When the Days Get Darker?

Look at behaviour rather than mood. Do you turn on every light, start watching television earlier, stay indoors, go to bed sooner, snack more or stop using a particular room? 

Write: What actually changes? 

Action: Change one behaviour deliberately for three days and see whether it makes a practical difference. Treat the result as information rather than as a judgment about yourself.

October 13 — Where Is My Evening Attention Actually Going?

Estimate yesterday’s evening in blocks: Work / Phone / Television / Household tasks / Conversation / Reading / Nothing in particular. You do not need perfect numbers; approximate them honestly. 

Write: Where did most of my attention actually go? 

Action: Move 20 minutes from one low-value activity to something you repeatedly say you want more time for.

October 14 — Which Room Deserves My Best Evening Light?

This is not about creating an Instagram corner. Choose the room where you genuinely spend your evenings and define what you actually want to do there between 6 pm and bedtime. 

Write: What does that activity require from the room? 

Action: Design the lighting around the activity rather than around the appearance of the room.

Week 3: The Autumn Consumption Audit

October 15 — What Am I About to Buy Because the Season Told Me To?

Autumn marketing can turn a change in weather into a shopping list remarkably quickly. 

Before buying anything seasonal, ask three questions: What problem does this solve? What do I already own that solves 80% of it? Where will it live for the other eleven months? 

Action: Delay the purchase for seven days. If you still need it after seven days, reassess it using the answers rather than the excitement of the purchase.

October 16 — Which Seasonal Things Do I Buy Every Year?

Look at candles, blankets, decorations, clothes, plants, kitchen products and other seasonal purchases. 

Write: What did I buy last autumn that I am tempted to buy again? 

Action: Create three columns — Buy again / Already own / Don’t need — and check your cupboards and storage before spending anything.

October 17 — What Is My Home Telling Me About My Buying Habits?

Choose one category that is overflowing: books, clothes, mugs, beauty products, décor, kitchen equipment or storage products. Count what you own. 

Write: What does the number reveal about how I shop rather than what I claim to value? 

Action: Set a temporary rule for that category, such as one item in and one item out for October.

October 18 — Which Purchase Was Actually a Maintenance Failure?

Look for things you bought because something was inconvenient, damaged, missing or difficult to find. Ask whether maintenance could have solved the problem instead. 

Write: Which purchases might have been prevented by repairing, cleaning, storing or maintaining something properly? 

Action: Create a maintenance list instead of a shopping list and deal with one item this week.

October 19 — What Do I Own That I Only Use Because I Paid for It?

Sometimes we keep using something because we feel the purchase needs to be justified. 

Write: If this item disappeared tomorrow, would I replace it? 

Action: Put it out of sight for 30 days. You do not need to decide immediately whether it should leave permanently; you are testing whether its absence actually affects your life.

October 20 — Which “Storage Problem” Is Actually a Quantity Problem?

Choose a category that keeps overflowing and count how many items you own before buying a larger container. Then ask how many you realistically use. 

Write: Is the problem insufficient storage or excessive volume? 

Action: Reduce the quantity before increasing storage capacity. More storage can sometimes hide an excess problem rather than solve it.

October 21 — What Is My Most Expensive Unused Space?

Think beyond square metres. An unused dining table, balcony used only for storage, desk covered in objects or cupboard filled with things you never access all represent space that costs you something without giving you much back. 

Write: Which part of my home has the lowest useful return? 

Action: Give that space one temporary purpose for a week and see whether your habits change.

Week 4: Design for Real Life

October 22 — Which Routine Is More Difficult Than It Needs to Be?

Choose one routine and time yourself: getting ready, making coffee, preparing your dog’s food, doing laundry, leaving the house or cleaning the kitchen. 

Write: Where are the unnecessary steps? 

Action: Remove one step and repeat the routine tomorrow. Small efficiency improvements repeated every day are often more valuable than occasional major reorganisations.

October 23 — Where Does Clutter Actually Enter My Home?

Most people organise clutter after it appears. Instead, follow it backwards through the house: parcels, shopping bags, mail, laundry, packaging, work items and things brought home from elsewhere. 

October 25 — Which “Beautiful” Decision Is Making the Room Less Functional?

Write: Where is the first point at which clutter enters? 

Action: Create one landing zone at that point. The strongest clutter system often sits before the mess rather than after it.

October 24 — What Is My Home Making Difficult for My Future Self?

Think about tomorrow morning and identify what you will have to search for, move, clean, remember or prepare. 

Write: What could I do tonight that would make tomorrow easier? 

Action: Choose one five-minute preparation and repeat it for seven days. The goal is not perfection; it is reducing avoidable work for yourself.

This is one of the more uncomfortable interior-design questions. Is the coffee table too large? Is the open shelving difficult to maintain? Is the rug impractical? Is the chair beautiful but uncomfortable? Is the lighting designed for photographs rather than reading? 

Write: Where has appearance won over use? 

Action: Make one functional adjustment without worrying whether the room looks better.

October 26 — What Does My Home Need to Support More Reliably?

Do not answer with an aesthetic word such as “cosy.” Choose an activity: reading, cooking, working, sleeping, exercising, entertaining, being alone or spending time with your pet. 

Write: What does this activity physically require from the room? 

Action: Change the environment around the activity rather than buying decorative objects.

October 27 — What Is One Thing I Can Repair Instead of Replace?

Walk around your home looking for small failures: loose handles, scratched furniture, broken zips, wobbly legs, damaged baskets, missing hooks or chipped objects. 

Write: What have I mentally classified as “not worth fixing”? 

Action: Repair one thing before buying its replacement. Repair is not only a financial decision; it also changes the relationship you have with your possessions.

October 28 — Which Part of My Home Is Working Hardest?

Some rooms perform several jobs every day. A kitchen may be a workplace, dining area and social space; a bedroom may also be a dressing room and storage area. 

Write: Which room carries the most functions, and which function creates the most friction? 

Action: Improve only that one function rather than redesigning the entire room.

Week 5: Decide What Comes Forward

October 29 — What Would I Stop Maintaining If I Started Again Today?

Apply this to possessions, subscriptions, routines, commitments, hobbies and even rooms. 

Write: What am I continuing simply because I already started? 

Action: Pause one thing for 30 days. You can always restart it; a pause gives you better information than maintaining something by inertia.

October 30 — What Actually Improved My Life This Month?

Review your notes from October and ignore the most impressive-looking change. Look for the one that produced an observable benefit: saving money, finding something faster, using a room more often, stopping duplicate purchases, reducing evening screen time or fixing an irritating routine. 

Write: Which experiment produced the clearest result? 

Action: Keep that change and discard the ones that did not make enough difference.

October 31 — What Should November Not Have to Deal With?

Finish the month with a practical audit of unfinished tasks, unnecessary purchases, broken items, clutter, postponed decisions and recurring annoyances. 

Write: What am I carrying into November that I already know needs resolving? 

Action: Divide the list into DO / DELEGATE / DELETE / DELAY, then complete one item from DO before the day ends.

THE OCTOBER AUDIT SHEET

Do not finish this exercise with a vague statement about how much better you feel. Record what actually changed.At the end of the month, answer these five questions:

What did I stop buying?

What did I stop doing?

What did I fix?

What became easier?

What still needs a proper solution?

The Point Of This Exercise

A journal is not automatically useful because it contains honest feelings. It becomes useful when observation leads to a better decision. That is why this October exercise deliberately moves between your inner life and your physical environment. Your home is not separate from your routines: the things you buy affect the space you maintain, the layout affects how you move, lighting affects how rooms are used, storage affects what stays, and repeated friction affects what you avoid.

The useful question is therefore not How do I want my life to feel? But,

What is actually happening?

Once you know that, the next question becomes much more productive:

What am I going to do about it?

And that is a far better way to enter November than another list of things you think you should become.

Step Into Odin’s Wisdom

October doesn’t need another self-improvement project. Use these prompts to notice what isn’t working, question what you’ve normalised, and make one small change that gives you back space, time or attention. 

Save this guide for October, share it with someone who needs a practical seasonal reset, and return to it whenever you need a fresh start.

Your Turn

Which prompt made you stop and think? Tell us in the comments—your observation might give someone else an idea for their own home. 

If you found this useful, share or reblog it, and subscribe to Odin’s Wisdom for more thoughtful ideas on intentional interiors, design and everyday living.