6 Steps to Build the Most Satisfying Daily Routine
Original Post Date: September 20th, 2023
Maybe you’re a student and you’re trying to juggle class, work, and your personal life. Maybe you’re a professional who wants to make sure they have a work-life balance. Either way, you need a routine that allows you to show up as your best self. When we discuss routines, we usually search for the combination of activities that makes us the most productive. My experiences have shown me that the perfect routine doesn’t just include productivity, it includes satisfaction too.
At the beginning of the year, I tested out waking up around 5 a.m. Now that I have later classes, I’ve been starting my day closer to 7. I found that I’ve happily carried out both and seen high productivity. As we go through life, our responsibilities and schedules will always be shifting. This means our priorities and activities will change too. So let’s learn what is needed to create the best routines.
Steps
1. Be Flexible
The motivational and self-help books will make you think you need to wake up at 4 a.m. to be productive. They’ll tell you you must work out and finish 5 to-do items before 9 a.m. That’s just not true. Just because some millionaire wakes up at that time doesn’t mean you have to adapt to that. The reality is some of us are morning people and some people are night owls. What sense does it make to force yourself to wake up at a time when you know you can’t be productive? Maybe you like waking up early, but can’t jump into more grueling tasks right away. I love easing into my morning. I enjoy an early start, but I find it more beneficial to work out later in the day. This is your routine, you can customize it any way that you want. Being flexible will be important when your day doesn’t go as planned. When you have a general understanding of how you want your day to go, it will be easy to adjust to inconveniences.
2. A/B Routine
One thing that has hindered me in the past is trying to carry out the same routine every day. In reality, all of my days aren’t the same. Somedays I have a class for 2 hours out of my day and on others I spend (what feels like) an eternity on campus. On busier days, I work out in the morning, because I know I wouldn’t with the little time I have after class and work. This way I still have time for self-care at night. When I have more free time, I let myself ease into the morning and work on my assignments and projects early. Then I have the evening to do workouts and have downtime. Remember, the goal of developing an efficient routine is to find a plan for makes your work best and feel your best.
3. Include the fun parts/downtime
As I just mentioned, downtime is an important event in your day. It may seem dramatic, but I try to reward myself daily. Why? Because that’s what I know will make me show up best for the next day. Your reward doesn’t have to be expensive or extensive. It can be scheduling time for a morning walk or taking 30 minutes before bed to read. It can be as simple as adding a snack time after dinner.
4. Bring in the tech
We can’t deny that we are glued to our phones, tablets, and computers. They’ve become essential to our lives so we need to find ways to make them benefit us. I love to use platforms that help me organize everything and I mean everything. From scheduling social media and blog posts to tracking my current goals. You can use a variety of iPhone apps to manage your life or an app, like Notion. I use Notion and have sections for school, work, to-dos, and even a wishlist. It helps me stay on track with my routine because I can rank my priorities, reference my current goals, and ensure that I target them with my daily activities.
5. Be Honest With Yourself
I’m one of those people that’s gonna hit snooze 6 times. I will hit snooze and turn on a 3-minute timer just to get some more sleep. Since I know this about myself, I have to put practices in place to keep me on track. For example, I set my alarm on my iPad. This forces me to get out my bed to turn my alarm off. Another example is my usage of timers. I have scheduled downtime on my phone to remove the distraction of social media in the morning. Without the screens, I feel calmer and more productive in the mornings.
6. Revaluate and Try again
When I first tried my 5 a.m. morning routine, I was still scheduling myself to work out very early in the morning. I think morning workouts can be very energizing, but I don’t think I perform as well. My ultimate concern is to have an efficient workout and see actual results. So, I switched it up. I’ve always enjoyed evening workouts, despite the busy gym. Now, the gym is one of my last stops for the day but it’s the perfect way to end my day. Figuring out what works best will require trial and error, but that’s okay. You don’t have to have the perfect plan from the start.
I hope these 6 steps will put you on the right path to developing your own perfect routine. Just remember we can customize and change our schedules to best suit us.
With Love,
Allie
