If you’re like me, you’ll get what I mean when I say I struggle to keep up with my week and sometimes I even struggle to make it through a day.
I don’t know why, but I swear, as we all get older those 24 hours in a day seem to just slip past.
So with a limited amount of time, not only do you have to work through your “adult” responsibilities, but you still need to carve out time for loved ones and most importantly, yourself. It’s a lot to pack in! But to be persistently living, it means making the most of the life you’re creating…So what can you do?
Find a daily routine that helps you balance life.
Although you may look at other people that seem like they have it together and are able to keep up with things, the truth is, everyone has their own daily routines that help! I know that routines seem boring and dull but in most cases, everyone who can make it through their day in tact (or mostly in tact) has a routine to help. Even the most un-routine-like people, kind of have a way of going about their day to make it through—almost like a checklist that they do subconsciously that works for them! Routines can be very ridged or err on the side of relaxed. No matter the type, it’s there!
Let me add, this doesn’t mean that everyone who has a daily routine has their life fully “together”. Even people with great routines can struggle to make it through their day/week without missing out on things or feeling overwhelmed. But a routine can help you keep life in balance or lets you have control of a few minor aspects, like when you’ll eat breakfast.
Starting A Routine: Decide What You Want Your Day To Look Like
If you find your life is haywire, think about the small aspects of it that you can change and what your overall day will look like. Example: You may not be able to change your annoying coworker, but you can change your night routine to have a small mediation session to de-stress.
Get down to the to-do’s of your day and see what you want your day to shape up like. Here are a couple of common to-do’s that you can think about in your routine.
1) What time you will wake up and how
Pick a time to wake up, and actually wake up. You will feel like crap the first few times you do this, but after a few days, you’ll thank yourself for doing it. Your day will have the same starting time and your body will feel like that’s the right time to be awake. When you decide on a time to wake up, you may also want to decide on how you’ll shake your sleepiness.
Personally, as soon as I wake up I make sure to grab a shower, and make my bed right after. Some people like to wake up and work out, and some people like to wake up and eat breakfast. When you decide on the follow up activity to waking up, waking up seems like it at least leads to something YOU want to do.
2) When You’ll Eat and What You’ll Be Eating
If you can plan out your meal times or approximate meal times, it will help your body stay on a schedule and it will give you timed-windows that you can dedicate to nourishing your body. Part of this is also planning what you’ll be eating.
Now, some people go extremely-routine and have a meal prep day where they plan and cook all their food for the week. If the thought of that makes you shudder, go a little bit more relaxed. When you plan your shopping list, have a general idea of foods you’d like to eat through the week. That way, you’ll have everything you want in your fridge and you can decide when you’d like to eat it as you go!
3) When you’ll start winding down for the day
Having a time in the day that you start winding down is good for a few reasons. It gives you time away from the rest of the world to focus on yourself, and it gives your body a pattern that makes sleeping and waking less of a chore. It also gives you an approximate time that you should stop stressing over the details of whatever has happened in your day.
There will likely be some exceptions to this routine, like when you have a friend’s birthday dinner or dealing with a long commute that means your routine for the night and evening get thrown off. But having a time in mind to wind down, helps you relax. Personally, I like leaving myself an hour or two before sleeping to deal with skincare, sneak in a few TV shows and read. But some people may enjoy some night-time yoga or having a cup of bedtime tea.
Bonus Tip…To Stay Motivated: Create 3 Daily Goals In Your Routine
You can go beyond these three daily-to-do’s to create as much or as little structure in your routine as you need. But if you find that you lack a lot of motivation in your day, inject the habit of making 3 daily goals into your routine. I started doing this with my *Day Designer last year, and it helps me keep perspective. If I can check off all three goals, or even just one of the three, I feel like I’ve done something I really wanted to do.
Overall takeaway for finding your daily routine
Add or subtract as much rigidness in your routine as you need to help you feel like it’s working for you. Ideally, you’ll want to strike a balance that makes you feel like you can manage your daily life without feeling robotic or detached from living. If you find yourself on opposite ends of the routine spectrum—planning too much, or planning too little, there are two important things to keep in mind:
1) Having a routine doesn’t mean that everything will go according to the routine all the time. Be a little bit flexible and allow for mistakes in the day.
2) Not having current routine means you can inject some stability in your day. Be okay with having a few daily things that you need to do and stick to them
What will you be doing in your daily routine? Are you more of a minute-by-minute planner or more relaxed? Let me know in the comments down below!
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