Healthy Habits This Autumn Begin With a Shorter To-Do List

Most to-do lists are not finished: a LinkedIn survey of more than 6,500 professionals in 2012 found that 63 per cent kept one and only 11 per cent finished everything they had planned in a working day.

This autumn the better plan is three tasks a day, done with discipline, and nothing else on the list. The hours that are left go to a second list, a to-be list, which is a few words describing who the reader wants to be between now and Christmas, and to rest. Boots research carried out by Censuswide among 2,000 UK adults in August 2026 found that 44 per cent say September is the ideal time to restart healthy habits and 48 per cent regret not investing in their wellbeing before winter.

The clocks go back on Sunday 25 October, seven weeks from today, and those seven weeks are the window. A habit begun this week is, on the best evidence available, automatic before the evenings have fully closed in.