Routine Habits You Can Enjoy

Helly
Jan 29, 2023
4 min read

ROUTINE & REFRESH

BE CAUTIOUS! Routines can become ridiculous without remembering to REFRESH.

Effective routines are beneficial. There are countless studies that show how routines aid in attaining goals, maintaining mental health, and managing daily stress. There is no doubt that routines are, and can be helpful for people, especially the routines that account for the things that make you happy.

We did a small study on routines one day and found the internet's top trending routine-related topics. Here are our two major findings:

82.2% of top searches on “Routine” included creating or managing a routine
65% of the searches included articles detailing examples of those routines

Following are some of the routine examples we came across:

Example Routine A

Get up early
Make your bed
Exercise
Eat breakfast at X time
Work
Lunch between X and X time
Take cold showers
Prep goals for next day

Example Routine B

Breakfast at X time
Kids school at X time
Exercise/ Walk
Eat breakfast at X time
Work
Get kids from school
Read a book or do a light work out
Dinner
2 House chores
Read
Start bed routine at 9PM

These are great examples, but we want to stress the importance of you in your routines.

When many think of routines, they only account for daily tasks. For example, doing laundry on this day, have breakfast at this time, and pick up little Billy at this time. While this is an essential component for modelling a routine, we want to emphasize that you and everyone involved in your routine needs to take out time to refresh. Studies show that the number one reason a routine doesn’t work is that people end up suffering a “burnout”.

Have you ever heard a friend or family member say, “we are just surviving at this point”? People often get to this point because as they follow their routine everyday for weeks, months and maybe even years, they fill their entire day with tasks, events, and errands. Before they know it, it’s bedtime and rinse and repeat in the morning. Yes, the house is clean, the kids are fed, and the dogs have been walked, but you as an individual are utterly exhausted.

Here’s an analogy to explain how your routine can affect you:

Let's start by imagining a car. Every single day, this car has to stop at three destinations. For a few days, the car is able to reach each destination without any events. Then one day, the car kicks up and comes to a stop. Turns out, it ran out of gas. The car gets a fuel refill and gets back to its routine of making the three stops everyday. After months and years of doing this, the car one day just suddenly comes to a stop, but this time, it's not an empty tank. Turns out that the car was due for an oil change long ago, but not getting one has caused wear and tear in the engine. The car gets an oil change and immediately returns to the grind. However, now it always takes longer to start up, and breaks down even more often. Even the gas station visits have increased in frequency. The simple daily routine takes longer and requires more effort. Finally, one day the car just stops on the way and is unable to get going again. An oil change doesn't help either. This time, the car needs an engine replacement. Until that happens, the daily routine will have to stay on hold.

The car in this analogy represents you in your daily routine. The gas station is the local Chick-fil-a or Tim Hortons that your grab on your way out. You can refill as much "gas" as you want, but one day you will need an oil change. What's important to remember is to get your oil change at the right time.

The moral of this story is that you need to make time for things that help you refresh.

Don’t be the car that runs its engine out of commission or runs its tires flat. You must factor in some of your time for the small things that make you happy. Studies have shown that you become more productive at accomplishing other tasks as the days and months go by just by adding simple enjoyable task to your routine.

Here are a couple examples of swapping tasks to things you enjoy.

We love yoga. One day in your routine, swap the 2 loads of laundry for 2 hours worth of yoga.
Swap a “make breakfast,” for 1 hour at your favorite breakfast spot and BONUS invite your favorite friend.
Insert time on a day that works for you to do an activity you want. This could be a pottery class, painting, or sleeping.

Don’t be afraid to PERMANENTLY design your routine to have things you enjoy.

Here’s an example for someone who loves reading.