When you hear the work routine do you immediately calm or recoil in disdain? Some of us naturally lean into the idea of routine while others find the concept restrictive, but if we utilize routines in a healthy manner they can be powerful. Strong routines provide us with confidence in our day as we progress in the direction of our goals. Setting up a routine can be as simple as one or two activities at the start of our day or setting aside brain breaks throughout our day. Each individual will have their own way of going about their routine, but the end goals should always point in the direction of wellness!

When we establish a routine, we are creating a roadmap for our minds to understand what we need to achieve on a daily and even weekly basis. This consistency and structure helps our mental health by providing us with a baseline to hold on to when schedules begin to drift and other responsibilities begin to demand our attention. When we have something solid to go back to, it can be easier to pivot our schedules as needed and always know how to pick up where we left off!   

Dr. Brenner tells the Therapy Group of NYC that “for mental routine… creating predictable scenarios through habits allows your mind to adjust, understand what to expect, and alleviate anxiety over the unknown.” Conquering some of the fear associated with the unknown is an effective alleviation tactic for helping calm the mind and support mental wellness. Trust in a routine can be a solid foundation to build other health practices on or a lifeline in times of challenge. 

Getting in the Habit
When we discuss changing certain aspects of our work life, it can seem daunting at first, but simplifying the process of beginning a routine can bring many things about our work life into perspective. When developing a routine, focusing on the most important parts of our day can be an easy starting place.

Mornings set the tone for our whole day, and the tasks we choose to complete during that time can set the tone for your feeling of an overall successful day. 

Our midday informs us of whether or not our morning routine was successful as this is the time when nourishing breakfasts, morning cardio, or even a purposeful bit of personal time show their benefits. We can get tasks done during this time that requires the most focus and demand on our mental capacity and takes advantage of our morning routine boosts! It is healthy to take at least a ten-minute break for every 90 minutes of work to prevent overworking and fatigue so keeping that in mind while building a routine can give us some good goal markers for building around!

By the end of our day, tasks that urgently need our attention and the bulk of our mental heavy lifting begin to take a toll on our focus. It is important during this time, to be honest, and compassionate with ourselves about what we are able to accomplish and have our routine reflect those findings. It can be helpful to ask ourselves “what am I able to accomplish in this chunk of time?” and plan for tasks that are less mentally draining to be completed as the day winds down.

Control over how our day looks is a reliable asset in maintaining mental well-being as it encourages us to ruminate on the ways we tackle an effective day and make plans to encourage every day to be similar. Even if plans need to change and a different approach is needed to complete certain tasks, having the foundation of a healthy routine gives us a place to start and to come back to.

Renegade Routines

Every person has a unique way they approach setting their daily routines, and some prefer day-to-day schedules that are more loose and able to be flexed. This does not mean, however, that they cannot benefit from a routine, just that they need one more tailored to their goals. 

Thinking of a routine as a series of activities all working toward a goal is a flexible way to go about planning an effective work day. Asking ourselves what, globally, we hope to accomplish puts in perspective all the little tasks that need completing before that goal is obtained and can be beneficial when the next steps of a project aren’t clear. 

Taking some time to ourselves in the morning to plan out our day can be an effective morning routine. The repetition of a morning reminder can make planning not only easier, but faster if we work that routine muscle every day and remind ourselves of what our daily goals look like. We can rely on this task when we feel the pressure of being pulled in too many directions and fall back on our past surety to reorient us in times of mental challenge. Having as many mental safety nets as possible makes us more confident in our ability to handle daily deviations and routine can be a part of that arsenal.

Changing It Up

The goal of any healthy routine is to set a roadmap for our future success. When we start to feel the discomfort of keeping to a set schedule, we may need to reevaluate our routine to make sure it is still the right fit for our working style. 

It helps to narrow down what we are ultimately looking for when looking at switching up our routines. Keeping on top of tasks that take time but do not require a lot of focus could involve a routine of setting aside chunks of our day to complete them piece by piece at a time when our brains are ready for that kind of task style. Mentally demanding tasks could require special circumstances, and knowing that can help us plan a day that is orbital to that task’s needs. By knowing what goal we are looking for the routine to achieve, we can personalize the one that works best for us!

Keeping it Well

Routines can be something to set the course of our day to, or something to fall back on when the day seems to lose direction. However we utilize them, the routines we set for ourselves are a beneficial way to go about organizing our day into consistent and understandable chunks of time for us to work in. Beginning our days with a game plan takes the guesswork out of planning each event moment to moment and provides us with a place marker as the day offers various deviations. Routine can be a promise we make to ourselves to traverse our days with wellness!