Daily routines and why it's important

"Your future is found in your daily routine. Successful people do daily what others do occasionally." ~ Paula White

As a 23-year-old who has been out of college for almost 1 year, my routine is still being shaped and solidified. During my school years, my classes and extracurriculars laid out how I would spend my days. It became my routine. Then post-graduation, my daily regime was drastically changed and it took me a long time to figure it out. Now with the quarantine, my routine has again been thrown for a loop. My friends, you are not alone in feeling overwhelmed with this new normal. But, the best piece of advice that I can give you is to plan out your week/day and take advantage of your mornings.

Planning your week

On a Sunday night, pull out a journal or planner and write down all that you hope to accomplish throughout the week. Create your daily schedule. 12-15 tasks, max. From those 12-15 tasks, only focus on 1-2 behaviors for the first week. Then, to increase the chances of your behavior sticking, place the wanted task on top of a consistent habit that you already do, or habit stacking. For example, one new task might be to workout 30 min a day. With habit stacking, if you have kids at home and they have a designated PE time, take that free time to exercise. Once these habits become more solidified, you can start to add more and more behaviors until you have created your ideal routine. Check out these two blogs for more information: https://www.busybudgeter.com/daily-routines-that-work/ and https://jamesclear.com/habit-stacking

Planning out your day

This task can be completed during your morning routine. In reality, don't overcomplicate things.

What I do is write what I'd like to get accomplished throughout the day 0n a blank sheet of paper- including tasks concerning my job and tasks on my own. Next to each task, I'll draw a box where I'm able to put a checkmark. You can utilize this sheet of paper however you would like, laying out the tasks in 15-60 min increments or, just putting all your tasks down in a line.

Morning routines

Along with creating your daily routine, improving or establishing a morning routine may be something to focus on. Your morning habits will greatly affect the tone of your day. It's your time. Everyone will have slightly different mornings but, it's important that your routine is consistent and sets you up for a successful day. For me, having a routine morning schedule helps me to be more productive.

If you're wondering how to set up your morning routine, below are some helpful habits to choose from.

• Wake up no later than 6:30 AM. The more time in the day that you have to accomplish things, the better. HOWEVER, make sure you're going to bed at a time that allows you to get at least 8 hours of sleep.
• Movement. This could be through going for a walk, doing a workout, or anything else that works up a sweat.
• Make your bed. Research has shown how important this simple task is.
• Drink a tall glass of water before coffee. HYDRATE, HYDRATE, HYDRATE.
• Write in a journal for 10 minutes. This could be daily gratitude, your dreams, thoughts for the day- anything. Let the pen speak what the mind thinks. It'll help to relieve stress.
• Take your vitamins.
• Take a cold shower. This habit I haven't tried yet but, it's actually really great at waking you up and allowing you to feel more energized.
• Meditate. Before the bustle of the day, slow down and find your breath. Maybe while you're drinking your coffee, take some deep breaths (try doing 10 with a 4 second inhale and 8 seconds exhale).
• Avoid technology before you complete your morning checklist.

Even if you would consider yourself a free spirit, all humans thrive on routine. We need it to retain our sanity, even if it's just a simple habit. After reading the above text, start small. There's no need to overwhelm yourself. Try to maintain the chosen habits for at least a week then go from there. If you're looking for more information on routine formation, check out these blogs as well: https://stevecorona.com/build-your-own-morning-routine, https://www.lifehack.org/677367/powerful-daily-routine.

If you're wondering about how I'm currently doing with my quarantine routine, I'm still developing it. But while writing this blog, I've decided to focus on 1) waking up at 5:30 AM EVERY MORNING and 2) 20 minutes of mobility and stretching. Ask me how I'm doing in a week and I'll let you know if I've maintained these behaviors. ;)

~ Coach Karina- CF L1, USAW Sports Performance Coach, BS-Kinesiology