“What you do every day matters.”
From the moment we wake up in the morning, we start making decisions. What to wear? What to have for breakfast? Which route to take to work?Being bombarded by these decisions first thing in the morning can throw us into a state of anxiety or stress and that’s not an ideal way to get into your day if you’re planning on having a productive and efficient one.
To ease this tension, it would help if we could establish some structure. That’s where we get to develop routines. I know I know; I’ve heard it too before; “Having routines makes you rigid and kills the creativity and spontaneity.” And here’s my fact-checked response to those allegations:
“Working at Skyrise Business Centre is truly a pleasant experience. I love the wide glass windows that inspire me and bring my thoughts out of the box.”
Geroge Mwangi
Key Highlights:
We live largely in the monotonous, repetition of daily tasks more than the periodic exceptional milestones. Like an athlete – a sprinter for example; For their career to culminate in the glory of an Olympic Gold Medal, they had to sprint or run long enough for that single racing event which was only a fraction in time of their entire career or lifetime. Yet those few exceptional, milestone seconds or minutes came from hours, weeks and years of continuous repetition – the boring mundane stuff.
Thus, we can conclude our lives are made up largely of “the boring stuff.”
Where do routines come in? And how do they help my productivity? Well, for starters, routines help you get your recurring tasks done and completed with minimal or no cognitive effort. Getting these out of your way, opens your mind up to pursue more interesting work and frees it up to be more creative and explore.
Consequently, having routines will reduce your stress levels as it creates structure for your mind. Instead of wading into the unknown, your mind now has a plan to follow which eases the tension and anxiety.
You’re able to then build better habits through repetition of these routines. As per the words of the famous philosopher Aristotle, “We are what we repeatedly do. Success then is not a single act but a habit.” I don’t think I need to follow that up with anything else.
Psychologists as well usually recommend patients suffering with mental health issues to start by developing daily routines to build structure. This goes a long way in regulating the body’s circadian rhythm which also goes on to regulate the body’s nervous and endocrine system which positively impacts health.
Some small steps to put you on that path to building healthy routines; Waking up and going to bed at the same time every day. This plays a significant role in regulating the circadian rhythm and nervous systems of the body. Try to stick to this for most days of the week.
For starters, handle the basics. Make your bed, brush your teeth, exercise, shower, have a healthy breakfast, read or journal. If you do all or some of these every morning, plan and make sure to set aside ample time in the morning for the completion of each of them fully.
Be consistent with it. Start a week at a time and build on it from there. Habits are simply consistent routines over time if you actually look at it. To help with consistency, make it fun. Try a new route to work, a new playlist when you exercise in the morning or a new pancake recipe for breakfast in the morning. There’s no limit to your creativity in enjoying the routines.
Lastly, reward yourself. Once you’ve fallen into a consistent rhythm, reward yourself for it with something fun. Perhaps, you’ve kept your bedtime consistent for a few weeks now; then maybe you can buy yourself that comfy new pair of pyjamas with your favourite childhood cartoon character. (We all know you’d love that, so why not? *wink)
