TikTok’s Great Lock In is the anti-resolution. Nobody’s waiting for January or a Monday or some perfect fresh start. People pick a few habits and start now (today, with whatever life they’ve got going on). BuzzFeed noticed the newer round is more holistic too. Sleep, reading, getting organized and mindfulness sit right next to fitness and saving money on people’s lists.
Love that, because a plan that only counts reps falls apart the first time you catch a cold. Put an actual bedtime and a few pages of a book in there, though, and I can see someone keeping it up for months.
So I went hunting for creators who make each piece look doable, plus one doctor who keeps the whole thing in perspective. That’s six habits from six creators, plus a few tools for each.
Make the plan small enough to keep
TikTok’s Great Lock In is basically self-improvement without the dramatic reset fantasy. You pick a handful of goals and start where you are, and BuzzFeed notes that the newer version has gotten more balanced, with sleep, reading, organization and mindfulness sitting next to fitness and saving money.
I like the version that starts smaller than your motivation wants to. UK GP Dr. Suzanne Wylie recommends choosing a few achievable goals that fit around the life you already have, so two or three habits is plenty at first. Once those feel automatic, you can add another.
The healthy version has some give in it. Dr. Wylie says a lock in should still leave room for rest and enjoyment, and if your goals start feeling compulsory, guilt-inducing or like they’re messing with sleep, relationships or work, that’s your sign to step back. Changing the plan as you go doesn’t mean you failed.
Keep the recovery plan realistic
A bad night of sleep isn’t a reset button. The Sleep Doctor team suggests getting daylight, moving your body, drinking water and eating regular meals, while keeping your usual sleep schedule as much as you can. You don’t need to stay in bed all day or force an early bedtime to make up for it.
Same idea for skincare: shorter usually wins. Dermatologist Dr. Joyce Park’s routine has three core steps, plus vitamin C and a tinted SPF in the morning. Her advice is to ease in with active ingredients and protect your skin barrier, because consistency gets you further than trying everything at once.
Start With a Page, Not a Plan
@amandarachlee / Instagram
Nobody makes planning look more fun than @amandarachlee. Amanda Rach Lee designs her own doodle planners in lots of sizes (the compact ones fit in a tote bag). All those stripes and plaids and highlighters somehow make productivity look like a hobby.
That actually matters here. Creators keep coming back to writing goals down because a planner you like opening gets opened. She sells her planners through her own shop, so the cards below are close stand-ins (not her exact book). Clever Fox makes an undated planner with a habit tracker built right in. Mildliner highlighters come in soft, muted colors for color-coding each habit without bleeding through.
Keep the first page short. Two or three habits, each with its own row in the tracker. Color in a box every time you show up for one (yes, even on the days it was a tiny version). Undated pages mean you can start on a random Tuesday without staring down a stack of empty weeks.
One Bad Night Is Not a Reset Button
@thesleepdoctor / Instagram
Sleep is usually the first thing to go. One rough night and it’s over, right? Clinical psychologist and sleep specialist Dr. Michael Breus is kinder about it. His account, @thesleepdoctor, talks to anyone who’s ever written off a whole week over one bad night. One bad night doesn’t erase your progress toward better sleep. You don’t need to spend the next day in bed or force an early bedtime to make up for it.
What helps is boring stuff: get some daylight and move your body, even if it’s only a short walk around the block. Drink water and eat real meals instead of grazing on whatever happens to be closest to your desk at four in the afternoon. Most of all, stick to your usual sleep schedule as much as you can. Their last tip is to give yourself some grace.
For keeping that schedule steady, a sunrise alarm that slowly brightens before you wake up is a gentle nudge. Hatch’s Restore 3 is the splurge. It’s a sound machine and a sunrise light in one that can anchor a screen-free wind-down. An insulated bottle on your desk handles the water part without much thought.
The Walk Counts
@hotgirlwalk / Instagram
Moving more doesn’t have to mean a brutal program. The team behind @hotgirlwalk builds treadmill routines around playlists. This one is for anyone who likes some drama with her cardio. It’s called Hot Girls Cry Too and runs 45 minutes, about 5,000 steps. They tagged it as a beginner workout, which is exactly the energy a lock in needs.
Walking is the easiest habit here to keep because it asks almost nothing of you. There’s no class schedule and no new wardrobe. Put on a playlist you love, pick a time you can hit most days and walk until the last song ends (even if the songs feel very, very long that first week).
Short on time or stuck at a desk all day? Walking pads slide under a standing desk and turn phone calls into steps. UREVO’s pad tops out at 4 mph, which is plenty for walking. There’s also an app that tracks steps and distance (for anyone who likes watching the numbers go up).
UREVO Smart Walking Pad
A compact under-desk treadmill for walking speeds up to 4 mph with app tracking.
Around $134.99 · Shop
Three Skincare Steps, Done Every Day
@teawithmd / Instagram
Board-certified dermatologist Dr. Joyce Park of @teawithmd calls her routine a holy trinity: azelaic acid, tretinoin and Cicaplast or another barrier cream. Mornings get vitamin C, azelaic acid and a tinted SPF. At night it’s tretinoin with the barrier cream on top. Her point that consistency gets you further than trying everything at once could honestly be the motto for this whole post.
Dr. Park also suggests easing into the actives and keeping your skin barrier happy. Good to know if you’re tempted to overhaul everything on day one! Tretinoin needs a prescription. That step goes through your own doctor or dermatologist, who can also help you figure out how often to use it.
La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Balm B5 is the exact barrier cream she names. No brands are named for the azelaic acid or the sunscreen, which makes those two cards close picks that fit her routine. The Ordinary’s 10% azelaic acid can help with uneven tone and rough texture. For the morning step, La Roche-Posay’s tinted mineral SPF 50 has you covered.
La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Balm B5
A fragrance-free panthenol and shea balm for dry, irritated skin.
Around $13.69 · Shop
The Ordinary Azelaic Acid Suspension 10%
A cream-like azelaic acid formula for uneven tone and rough texture.
Around $12.20 · Shop
La Roche-Posay Anthelios Tinted Mineral SPF 50
A lightweight tinted mineral sunscreen with a matte finish.
Around $39.99 · Shop
Read Before You Scroll
@charrlottepratt / Instagram
Charlotte Pratt of @charrlottepratt is one of the creators BuzzFeed highlighted for the trend. For her it’s about getting “really intentional about your goals, your routines, your habits,” in her words. Her new bookshelf is the cozy version of that idea, with trailing plants, candles and Gabrielle Zevin’s Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow.
Reading keeps popping up in this round of the lock in. It’s also a really nice swap for that last half hour of scrolling before bed. Pick a book you’re actually curious about and leave it somewhere you’ll see it, like your nightstand. Aim for a chapter a night instead of some page count.
Phone keeps winning anyway? An e-reader helps, because there’s nothing else on it to tap. Kindle’s Paperwhite has a glare-free screen with no social media or notifications, and the battery can go for weeks on one charge. It is a splurge, though, and a library card works just as well.
Kindle Paperwhite 16GB
A glare-free 7-inch e-reader with no distracting apps and weeks of battery life.
Around $199.99 · Shop
Consistency Over Perfection
@wellnessmae / Instagram
The creator behind @wellnessmae is all about the calmer side of the Great Lock In. Think quiet corners and a tablet and stylus, nothing that looks like a punishing schedule. Her focus stays on herself, and her two big words are consistency and focus. I think that’s the right note to end on.
UK GP Dr. Suzanne Wylie talked to BuzzFeed about the trend. Motivation “tends to be much more sustainable when the focus is on consistency rather than perfection,” she said. That’s why she suggests a few achievable goals that fit around the life you already have. A healthy lock in, she says, still leaves room for flexibility, rest and enjoyment.
Dr. Wylie also points out when it stops helping. Maybe your goals start to feel compulsory or make you feel guilty. Maybe they cut into your sleep, relationships, work or downtime. In her view that’s a useful sign to step back and look at the balance again. Journaling for a few minutes a day is a low-pressure way to check in with yourself. Intelligent Change’s Five Minute Journal has short guided prompts for morning and night. Honestly, that’s about all the reflection a busy week has room for.
The Five Minute Journal
A linen-bound guided journal with short daily gratitude and reflection prompts.
Around $29.99 · Shop
Pick two habits and go easy on yourself while the streak builds. This post is for general information and isn’t a substitute for advice from your own doctor.
