How to Be That Girl (Without Burning Out by Week Two)

To be “that girl”, pick five small daily habits that make your day feel chosen, not rushed: a made bed, a walk outside, a real breakfast, getting dressed, and one tidy surface. Then do them every day for 60 days, including the days it isn’t cute. The aesthetic online (the matcha, the linen, the 5am alarm) is the packaging. The habits are the product, and they work with any budget, any wake-up time and any body.

Most people who try to become that girl quit in the second week. Not because they lack discipline, but because they copied a full day from a video, all at once, and a normal Tuesday broke it. This guide does the opposite: fewer habits, kept longer.

What does “that girl” mean?

“That girl” is a TikTok and Pinterest trend from around 2021. It describes a woman who seems to have her life together: she wakes up early, moves her body, eats well, journals, keeps a tidy space and looks put together without trying too hard. Videos usually show a morning in soft light: bed made, green smoothie, workout, skincare, a neat desk.

The good version of the idea is simple: treat your own routine as worth doing well. The bad version is a checklist of things to buy and a body to copy. Everything below is the good version.

How to become that girl: the five habits that do the work

Every that girl routine you will find is a remix of the same few habits. These five carry most of the effect, and each takes under 30 minutes:

1. Bed made before coffee. Two minutes. It is the first finished thing of the day, and it makes the room look like someone is in charge.
2. A walk outside. The “hot girl walk”: 20 to 45 minutes, a podcast or nothing at all. Morning daylight also helps you fall asleep earlier, which is how the early mornings become possible.
3. Breakfast or matcha somewhere other than bed. The table, the balcony, the step outside. Eating sitting up, away from the pillow, splits “waking up” from “being up”.
4. Dressed before 10. Not a full outfit. Just not the clothes you slept in. This is the habit that turns a day that happened to you into one you ran.
5. One surface reset. The desk, the sink or the nightstand, every day. One surface, not the whole room. Tidiness built one surface at a time actually lasts.

That is it. Journaling, a skincare routine, reading and workouts are great to add later. Start with five you can do on your worst day, not your best.

How to be that girl in 60 days

Why 60 days? A habit needs months, not a weekend. Research on habit formation puts the average around two months of repetition before something feels automatic. Here is what each stretch feels like:

• Days 1–10: the honeymoon. It feels cinematic. You will want to add ten more habits. Don’t. Keep the five.
• Days 11–30: the wall. The morning stops feeling like a video and starts feeling like 7am. This is where most people quit. Do it ugly: a five-minute walk counts, a hoodie counts as dressed.
• Days 31–50: the habits get quiet. You make the bed without deciding to. Now you can add one new habit if you want, like ten pages of a book or a short journal entry.
• Days 51–60: it’s just how you live. The challenge stops being a challenge. That is the actual goal of being that girl.

Miss a day? Do the next one. Never miss two in a row. A streak is a tool, not a test.

How to be that girl in school

School mornings are short, so shrink the habits rather than skipping them:

• Make the bed and lay out tomorrow’s outfit the night before, so mornings take zero decisions.
• Your walk can be the walk to school or to the bus. Leave ten minutes early and take the long way.
• Reset your desk or backpack every evening: notes in order, chargers in, rubbish out.
• Pick one subject to be “that girl” at: the clean notes, the homework done the day it is set.

Middle and high school versions are the same; just protect sleep first. Nobody is that girl on five hours.

How to be that girl at work

• Do the five habits before you open email. Even 30 minutes earlier changes how the workday starts.
• Treat your desk as the surface reset: clear it before you leave so tomorrow starts clean.
• Take the walk at lunch if the morning is impossible. Daylight at noon still beats none.
• Pack the lunch or the snack the night before. That girl is mostly a planner, not a morning person.

How to be that girl at home (or as a mom)

Working from home, studying from home or home with kids, the risk is the same: days blur together. Getting dressed and leaving the house once a day matter most here. With kids, the walk can be the school run or the pram walk, and the surface reset can be the kitchen counter after bedtime. A that girl routine that includes the people you look after still counts. The aesthetic was never the point.

The toxic version: what not to copy

• Waking up at 5am because a video did. Wake time matters less than doing it at the same time every day.
• Buying the look. The tumbler, the matching set and the stand mixer are not habits. Start with what you own.
• Diet culture in disguise. “That girl” sometimes means restrictive eating. Eat enough, especially if you are moving more.
• Filming everything. If the routine only happens when it is recorded, it is content, not a routine.
• Comparing your day 3 to someone’s year 3. You are seeing their best morning, edited.

If you would rather slow down than speed up, the soft life is the gentler cousin of this trend. If you want the confidence side, read about main character energy.

Track it in Bloom

Bloom has this plan ready as That Girl Era (“Romanticise your routine”): 60 days, the same five habits. You tick each one off in seconds, watch your streak grow, and an AI check-in partner remembers why you started and nudges you on the quiet days around week three. When you finish, try Main Character 30 or Glow Up 75 next. Bloom is on Android and iPhone, and Bloom+ starts with a 3-day free trial. For the hour-by-hour version of the morning, see our that girl morning routine.

Common questions

How do I become that girl?
Choose five small daily habits (a made bed, a walk outside, breakfast away from bed, getting dressed, one tidy surface) and do them every day for 60 days. Add new habits only once these are automatic.

What does “that girl” mean?
A social media trend for a woman who seems to have her life together: early mornings, movement, healthy food, a tidy space and a put-together look. The useful part is the routine, not the aesthetic.

How long does it take to become that girl?
Plan for about two months. Habits usually take around 60 days of repetition to feel automatic, which is why Bloom’s That Girl Era is 60 days long.

Do I have to wake up at 5am to be that girl?
No. A consistent wake time matters far more than an early one. 7:30 every day beats 5am twice a week.

How can I be that girl in school?
Prepare the night before (outfit, bag, desk), turn your walk to school into the hot girl walk, and protect your sleep. The routine should fit your timetable, not a video.