It’s the time of the year when the internet is full of “new year, new routine” content. Five workouts a week. Perfect morning rituals. Colour-coded planner. Expensive supplements. Entire lives seemingly reset overnight.
Here’s a gentle reminder: what you’re seeing online is not the full picture.
Nobody is suddenly maintaining a five-day workout routine in the middle of a PhD. Most grad students don’t have the money, time, or energy for half the things influencers casually recommend. And most “perfect systems” don’t survive contact with real schedules, research setbacks, or plain exhaustion.
You don’t need to completely reset your life because it looks aesthetic on the internet (this is something I’ve been having to remind myself of this week).
Real progress in grad school is quiet. It’s inconsistent. It’s shaped by funding realities, mental load, supervision dynamics, and energy fluctuations. It’s choosing what’s sustainable, not what looks impressive.
If time spent online feels especially heavy in January, you’re not alone. The pressure to implement new habits and systems is intense this time of year and hard to avoid. But you are already enough exactly as you are and exactly where you are.
No expensive workout class, elaborate skin care routine, or perfectly optimized schedule is going to suddenly transform your life right now – and that’s okay.
You don’t need a full life reset. You just need something that works for where you are right now.
Balanced Academic 
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