Why Routines Are Important

Let’s be honest here: routines lack creativity and excitement, and most of us don’t look forward to doing them. However, they play an integral role to structuring certain parts of our day and the success of our achievements. Following a routine helps maintain self-discipline and can lay out a variety of positive outcomes to set your days up for success.

So first, we must come to terms with accepting and knowing that yes, routines can be boring, but they play an important part in structuring our days and helping us get important things done. Which in turn will leave us with more time and space for the things we really enjoy doing!

photo-1610289982320-3891f7c9fd6d.jpeg

As we’ve established: creating a solid routine is so important because it helps you get things done. This is also why highly successful people swear by them.

Benefits of having a routine

  • Boost confidence

  • Instill good habits

  • Become more efficient

  • Add structure to your life

  • Increase mental sharpness

  • Learn how to prioritize

  • Can positively influence your sleep-wake cycle

However, finding a successful routine that works for each individual person may take some trial and error because it should be based on your personality and schedule in order to be sustainable! 

The good news -- I’m here to show you how  to create a realistic routine that works for your lifestyle! Again, with that being said, remember that routines should vary from person to person, so if you’re looking to change your life with an amazing routine, don’t expect to see Steve Jobs morning ritual on here. Instead, remind yourself that in order to have a sustainable routine it must be personalized to your lifestyle and needs, not someone else’s! Because what works for someone else may not always work for you.

That’s where trial and error comes into play! I say this because it’s important to establish what works for you and what doesn’t through trial and error. You may come to find bits and pieces of highly successful people’s routines that work for you and mesh them into your own and others that don’t, this is a good sign and means you’re getting somewhere! 

So, where to start?

Start by doing something -- anything! First you will want to establish a few things as follows:

  1. What do you want to achieve from your routine

  2. What time do you want your routine to begin/end

  3. Remember this: not everything will stick and that’s okay

Once you’ve established what you want out of a routine, now it’s time for the fun part -- trial and error!

Through this trial and error stage, you will pick a few habits to incorporate into your daily routine and test them out for a week or so. At the end of the week you can start to get a feel for what vibes with you, and what feels like more of a chore, meaning it might not be so sustainable. From then you continue on this “trial and error” path until habits start working with you and for you, then voila, results start happening!

What are some effective habits I can try? 

  • Create a morning ritual

  • Meditate

  • Stretch

  • Read

  • Journal

  • Exercise

  • Drink water

  • Daily affirmations

  • Self-care

  • Give back

  • Singletask

  • Show gratitude

  • Learn to say no

  • Make a healthy breakfast

  • Make a list of daily priorities

  • Read one inspirational quote

  • Walk 10,000 steps daily

  • Take vitamin supplements

  • Make tea/coffee/smoothie/etc.

  • Make more time for people that lift you up and less for those who don’t

THE TAKEAWAY

  • Having a routine is important because it helps you get things done

  • It takes trial and error to creating a successful and sustainable routine

  • Figure out what you want to achieve with your routine

  • Incorporate new daily habits until you find what sticks with your lifestyle and needs

By practicing new habits you can become a better version of yourself each day and develop a healthy routine that actually sticks with you to help you build the life you want and deserve. Today is a new day, tomorrow is a new day, what I’m trying to say here is it’s never too late to get started on your own routine!

My Simple Morning Routine

  1. Drink my greens powder with filtered water

  2. Read one chapter of whatever book I’m reading at the time

  3. Make my nutrient packed iced coffee or matcha (click here for recipe)

  4. Check emails, texts, etc

  5. Workout on my Peloton (minimum 30 minutes)

  6. Have a late breakfast or lunch

  7. Shower

  8. Start on my freelance work

So you see, having a routine doesn’t have to be complicated. It can be quite simple, it just has to work for you and your life!

“Our habits either make us, or they break us,

we become what we repeatedly do”

-Sean Covey

Kali Pappas