Are you wondering how to start a routine so you can be more productive? Are your daily activities not properly organized? You should know that it takes a lot of work, planning, and commitment to start a routine.
Therefore, to help you out, we will discuss things you need to know about routines and how to start one.
Here we delve into some of the unique benefits of having a routine.
We also discuss some practical steps you can take to develop a healthy routine to help you achieve your daily business/work/personal goals.
Furthermore, we understand that creating a routine is one thing, and staying committed to it is a different ball game for most people.
Hence, we’ve included some helpful tips on how to stick to your routine.
Finally, we’ve included some examples of good routines you can develop to help you get started on building a routine.
In all, at the end of this blog post, you should;
- Understand what routine entails
- How having routines will change your life
- The exact steps to take to start a routine
- How to make them stick
Let’s dive right in.
How To Start A Routine; What are Routines All About
As an entrepreneur, having business plans and schedules enables you to pursue your goals with a clear direction in mind.
When it comes to your personal growth and development, you can also have plans and schedules.
This is where routines come in.
Routines are a sequence of actions that are followed regularly.
A lot of people feel that having a fixed schedule limits them from enjoying life.
However, this is not the case for everybody.
Having a routine comes in handy when you are trying to practice healthy habits and be more productive.
For entrepreneurs, daily routines help keep them at the top of their game.
Besides this, there are other benefits accrued to developing routines.
Benefits of Routines – How to Start a Routine
There are several reasons why routines are helpful both mentally and physically.
We are going to be looking at some benefits of routines.
It Enhances Personal Efficiency
Routines help reduce daily decision-making when you follow them properly.
It helps you to know the tasks you have to perform daily without contemplating or overthinking.
Once you are done with a task, you can quickly move on to the next task.
Fixed and repeated activities enable you to become more effective and efficient.
Prevents Time Wastage -How to Start a Routine
The most valuable asset you have is time.
Once lost, it cannot be retrieved.
As an entrepreneur, you should know the importance of time and maximize it in your business.
Hence, having a routine will help you to maximize time also in your personal life.
When you have a daily routine, you’ll spend less time planning, making decisions, and preparing for your day.
A routine predetermines your schedule.
This helps you to know what exactly to do at a set time.
Consequently, helping you save time and use scheduled hours efficiently.
It Promotes Healthy Lifestyles
A routine helps you in practicing healthy habits.
When your routine includes exercising daily, meditating, hydrating, and so on, you will find out that your lifestyle will become healthy.
Most people with good health are the ones who engage in daily health routines.
It Makes You More Capable – How to Start a Routine
Routines make you better at performing certain things you do regularly.
A great way to be proficient at any skill is repetition.
When you practice it over and over again, it becomes part of you.
Therefore, you can make yourself proficient at certain skills/tasks by building a routine around them.
It Creates Organization Your Life
Routines provide organization in your life.
The logical sequence of action creates a framework wherein you live your life and conduct your daily activities.
As you keep following your routine, you become comfortable and familiar with your daily activities.
It gives you a sense of comfort and allows you to experience a stable flow to your day.
It Helps You Focus on Important Tasks – How to Start a Routine
When you follow a carefully designed personal routine, you can focus on important tasks and get them all done.
With a good routine, there will be a lesser possibility of neglect or forgetfulness.
This is because; you are following the important tasks predetermined in your routine.
Routine will help you to focus on important tasks rather than unnecessary activities.
It Prevents Procrastination
Creating a routine helps you build the discipline you need to practice until it becomes part of you, and you do them almost subconsciously.
Procrastination will not help you as an entrepreneur and also not as an individual.
Having a routine will help you to combat procrastination.
It helps you to Relax and Reduce Stress – How to Start a Routine
It is not relatively possible to control everything in your life.
However, with a routine, there are some things you can easily control.
When you work with a routine you have created, it will help to reduce the stress of thinking and worrying about what you need to do.
This helps you to relax and offers a small fraction of control in your life.
Promote Mental Stability and Health – How to Start a Routine
Routines are an excellent way to help keep your mind stable.
They offer comfort and stability.
They help with anxiety and some other mental associated issues.
It keeps your brain sharp and promotes mental health.
It Aids in Accomplishment of Goals
When you have a routine, it helps you to achieve your goals.
This happens when your routines are specifically designed to enable you to achieve a goal.
It makes it easier to tackle your goal by repeating an action.
For example, if you want to build your muscle, you need to exercise regularly or daily.
As you keep repeating those exercises, you’ll build your muscles over time.
Practical Steps for Creating a Routine – How to Start a Routine
There are several habits and tasks you could include in your routine.
However, different things work for different people.
This is why you have to be careful and create what works for you.
Therefore, before starting a routine, ensure you settle down and do the following to help you create a routine suitable just for you:
Create a List
The first step is to write out all your daily tasks, both at work and home.
Try not to bother yourself with how your list is arranged.
This step is just to get things out and not an organized list.
Settle down for some minutes and jot down all the things you do every day and things that need to be accomplished.
If you cannot remember them all in just one sitting, you can try again later.
You could keep a notebook in your possession as you go about your day and use it to take note of that day.
No task or activity is insignificant or too small to add to your list.
A task as mundane as brushing your teeth can be worked into a routine; hence, you can add it to your list.
Decide the Tasks to be Included – How to Start a Routine
After creating your list, the next step is making a decision.
Some tasks are necessary, while some are not.
Things like brushing your teeth and making breakfast are essential in the morning.
Eating vegetables and fruit first thing in the morning or taking a quick jog around the park are mostly healthy but mandatory.
If you feel that including a task or a new habit will be useful and suitable to you, do not hesitate to include them.
So, decide on what you are adding and what you leaving out.
However, do not leave out important tasks.
Breakdown Your Big Goals
As we earlier discussed, routines help you to achieve your goals.
If you aim at achieving a goal, routines can help you do that.
All you need to do is break down your large goals into smaller ones.
If your big goal is to stay physically fit, you have to map out those things to help you stay fit.
It could be exercising regularly or drinking lots of water daily.
Once you have figured out these things, you will break your big goal into smaller goals.
The next thing is to work these tasks or small goals into your routine.
When you continually engage in these tasks, you will realize that you have actualized your big goal over time.
Breaking down your big goals will also help you determine the extra tasks or activities you will include in your routine.
Schedule Your Day – How to Start a Routine
Once you have concluded the tasks/activities to be included in your routine, the next step is to fix them into your daily living.
Some tasks originally come at a particular time in the day, while others do not.
For example, you do not have to think about fixing tasks like making breakfast and taking the kids to school because they are originally morning tasks.
The same applies to evening activities like making dinner, reading your kids a bedtime story, or preparing for the next day.
When you need to fix activities that have no definite specified time into your routine, you have to think of a suitable time to engage in those activities that will work best for you.
For some people reading a book comes easy for them mid-morning while some prefer it in the cool evening.
So, ensure you fix those activities at a suitable time for you.
Be Precise with Time
When creating a routine, it’s best to have a definite time frame for each activity or task.
This is not mandatory; however, it is important if you want to follow your routine properly.
Setting a precise time will help you prioritize and complete your task effectively.
An example of a detailed morning routine;
5 AM: Wake up, a quick meditation
5:20 AM: Brush teeth, use the toilet and shower
6:00 AM: A jog around the park
6:25 AM: Breakfast
7: 15 AM: Leave home
Keeping it precise will help you get the hang of things easily.
Have a Free Time – How to Start a Routine
Even with a detailed schedule, some unexpected things can happen and make you alter your plans.
Set aside some time for flexibility or adjustments in your routine to avoid confusion on how to tackle emergencies and unexpected changes to your routine.
However, this should not discourage you from having a routine; your free time will give you an edge even during emergencies.
Tryout Your Routine
When you have finally gotten your routine in order, the next thing to do is try it out.
Work with your new routine for 20 to 30 days and notice how it feels.
Observe if you are comfortable with it.
If there is anything you have to adjust, the try-out period is when to do that.
However, if the routine does not generally work for you, you should consider creating a new one.
If that is the case for you, ensure that you get it right this time.
The tryout would have given you ideas of what you should or shouldn’t add to your new routine.
How to Stick To Your New Routine – How to Start a Routine
Creating/starting a routine does not guarantee that you will be faithful to follow it through.
Life hustle and bustle might seem overwhelming, and because the routine is new, you will likely feel lazy to follow through with it.
However, there are things you could do that will help you stick to your new routine.
They include;
Be Consistent
Consistency goes a long way in enabling you to follow through with new routines.
When you do a task at a different time daily, you will notice that you lose motivation to perform that task.
The more this goes on, the more you will get tired of your new routine.
Therefore, to avoid this, perform all your various tasks at an exact time every day.
It will help you get used to doing them and also help you stick to your new routine.
Consistency is essential in a routine.
Ensure Its Fun – How to Start a Routine
Starting a routine most time can be so boring and tiring.
However, there are things you could do to lighten it up and add fun to it.
Think of what you could do to make your routine fun.
An example is playing your favorite song in the background while you do your daily activities, especially those tasks you consider boring or difficult.
Another is getting a friend to work out with you and many more.
Anything that you think will add color to your routine do not hesitate to add them.
Keep Track Of Your Progress
Keeping track of how you have progressed since you started your routine will motivate you to keep going.
You can create a calendar where you cross out the days you completed all your tasks.
Like most people, you might not like seeing a missing day in your calendar or breaking the chain.
That could also push you to do better and stick to your routine.
Reward Yourself – How to Start a Routine
Rewards have always been a means of making people do better.
To help you stick to your routine, you should try rewarding yourself with fun things.
When you see that you are keeping up with your routine, get something for yourself.
You could also give yourself a pep talk while brushing your teeth or taking a quick shower.
Pat yourself on the shoulder and encourage yourself.
Above all, it will help boost your self-confidence and push you to do better.
Now you know how to start a routine and make it become an essential part of you.
Therefore, waste no time and get started ASAP on creating your routine.
Here are some excellent routine examples to give you some ideas and help you get started.
Examples of Tasks/Activities You Could Include In Your Routine – How to Start a Routine
As we earlier discussed, not everything works for everybody.
Moreso, people’s goals for creating a routine differ from individual to individual.
Therefore, your routine has to be specially designed for you; to make you more productive and achieve your goals.
However, there are some tasks, activities, or commonly used actions that can work for you.
Here are some examples of tasks/activities you could include in your routine:
Reading a Book
Research has shown that reading helps boost a person’s intelligence and also increases brainpower.
It also strengthens one’s ability to relate with people.
You gain knowledge, reinforce your self-discipline, and also become a great leader when you read.
In addition to all that, it will make you feel relaxed.
You might not be able to finish a book in a day because of your time.
However, you could read one or two chapters from a book in a day.
You could also read different books every day; read one chapter or more of a particular book today and tomorrow read one chapter or more from another book.
If you continue this way, you will achieve reading up to 50 books a year.
Start Each Day/Morning with a Positive Mantra – How to Start a Routine
This is speaking positively about your day.
It puts you in a state of mind where everything will work out fine that day regardless of any challenges.
You can do this by speaking a positive statement out loud first thing in the morning.
This can also be done before going to bed at night; speak positively into the next day.
You can come up with new ones every day or stick to one e.g. your best productivity quote.
An example of a positive mantra is: “Today will be a great day.”
Exercise
This is one great activity everyone should include in their routine.
Exercises help optimize the body and keep you healthy.
Most people feel reluctant to engage in any exercise because they think it is too much work.
However, that is not the case.
You do not have to engage in rigorous workout sessions to keep fit.
If you are not comfortable with those workout sessions, you could walk for 10- 20 minutes, dance around the house, or stretch.
These exercises and can go a long way in keeping your body healthy.
Get Enough Sleep – How to Start a Routine
Sleep is essential if you want to be a productive entrepreneur
Therefore, it should be included in your routine.
Create time for a power nap in the day and also ensure to sleep properly at night.
It will help keep your body rested and sharp for the next task or activity.
Conclusion on How to Start a Routine
Starting a routine might seem difficult at first.
However, you will see the benefits of following these steps and designing a routine specifically for yourself.
Be sure to follow your routine and stick to it to see the overall result.
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