Creating a sustainable daily routine has helped me show up productively and stay organized during this season. Some days are better than others but most days, this is how I have been able to create a good routine and stay on top of my work and business.
The lockdown already as difficult has thrown a lot of use out of the regular routines we have become used to. From disoriented sleep patterns to early morning zoom calls, and the excessive hunger pangs during each Netflix show, it is very easy to get distracted while working from home but creating a routine seems to be the most effective strategy when trying to make the most out of your day.
Before creating my daily routine, I was excited to include habits such as meditating, working out, reading, etc. However, when experimenting with these, I discovered that more often than not, I seem to fall off my exciting new routine very quickly. One lesson I quickly learned was that I was more excited about trying out these habits short term than deciding to stick with them long term.
I decided to share with you the “real tea” on how I have been able to come up with a sustainable daily routine and what my little routine is now like.
With creating routines, you want to make sure that you're doing little habits that bring you to your end goal consistently over a certain period of time. Click To TweetThe Process
Make a list:
I started out by making a list of short-long term goals I would like to work on during this pandemic and accompanying habits. The reason is this, sticking to a routine allows us to nurture habits that match your goals and aspirations.
These may include; Going to bed early, having breakfast, completing my to-list, reading chapters out of my current book. This helps me decide what to incorporate in the morning or later in the day (will my to-do list be done in the morning or do I workout late at night before reading)
It is easy to build new habits based on motivation, but deciding what your goals are is directly proportional to building a sustainable routine that is easy to keep up with.
Self-Reflect [mental planning]
I mentally decide not to be so rigid with my routine. Habits take time and effort to build and stick to, you may as well give yourself room to fall from your current routine and be patient while consistently working on tweaking your perfect routine.
One activity that keeps me focused during the course of the day is journaling. It helps me make sense of my thoughts, feelings, and actions, so I mentally plan to include journaling as one of my most important activities in the morning to set the tone of my day.
You could choose anything that would be this for you, it could be eating breakfast, or reading or working out just make sure it gives you time to be in your thoughts.
Physical planning and time allocation
When putting together my routine, my top 3 priorities for each day include: reading, having breakfast and going to bed early.
As a career professional who had to wake up early to meet up with my 9-5 job after battling with traffic, and barely had any time for breakfast, not to talk of dinner as I’d usually get home tired after the day, going to bed and having breakfast were top of my list during the long break. I decided to start off with minor changes in my routine, I also made an effort to focus on activities that were important to me – makes it a whole lot easier to stick with it. I also try to fix a time for everything and try to repeat tasks at the same time every day, it helps me stay accountable and helps with habit building.
“A habit is a lifestyle to be lived, not a finish line to be crossed. Make small, sustainable changes you can stick with.”
@JamesClear
My Current Routine
Wake up in the Morning 07:30 am
I wake up and make my bed. I like waking up at this time because it gives me enough time to get my 8 hours of good sleep and also gives me a head start on the day.
Prayer & Devotion 7:40 am
I always like to spend some time with God in the morning because it gives me clarity on how to go about my day. It’s also an opportunity to draw strength and motivation from God and let him pilot my day.
Journal & Affirmation 8:10 am
I always like to write down my thoughts daily, especially things I am grateful for and some words from the Bible that gave me strength and faith to go about my day. I journal thoughts that are important to me (I honestly believe that every individual should journal, it’s just a way to keep in touch with yourself).
Stretch & Meditate 8:35 am
I like to stretch and meditate for some minutes in the morning because stretching helps increase blood flow to my muscles and just makes me feel better especially with the backache I’ve developed while working from home, I’m also currently unable to work out intensely so this ensures I get my physical activity meter up; remember the goal is to find what works for you.
Meditation, on the other hand, improves my emotional health and my attention span.
Selfcare 9:00 am
I like to take my time to do my hygiene routine every morning. I’m not really the hop in and out of the shower kind of girl.
I plan to do another detailed post of how I came up with my hygiene routine. Currently, I shower, brush my teeth, and do a little skincare routine in the morning.
It’s really important to me that I do this each day because it gives me time to take care of my body and make sure that my skin is prepped well.
Breakfast 9:25 am
One thing I am grateful for this period is time to actually have breakfast before starting work. For someone who pretty much lived her entire life thinking breakfast wasn’t important, I’m so glad I finally make time to put soemthing in every morning. My body is so thankful for it; I try to keep it as simple and quick which is one of the many reasons why I have been able Having a healthy breakfast is really important because it gives me the energy to go about my day.
Outline My Day 9:45 am
I like to take out time to break down my daily task as part of my morning routine. Although I use apps like To- do list for my daily task, I just like writing them down and planning how to go about each task.
Work Mood 10 am
I settle down for work at this time and usually silence my phone so notifications don’t distract me; although I pretty much have my Slack notification on as that’s how I keep in touch with the rest of my team.
Reading 17:15 pm
I try to read 3-4 chapters of a book. I like to do this after work when my mind is settled. Reading lets me dive into another world, following a story that isn’t mine – if I learned anything, I’ve learned that I find it easier to consume fiction than self-help literature. I like to light a candle when I do this, my current favorite from Lohn
Final Thoughts
One of the best ways that have helped me stay consistent with my routine is keeping it simple, short, and sweet. It’s easy to get distracted and want to add as many new activities as possible but the key is adding one or two tasks at a time that are important to you.
I personally like having a daily routine because it helps me stay organized throughout the day and it also helps achieve a good level of productivity each day with everything that’s going on in the world.
That’s it loves, I mentioned that I’ll be focusing on the positives as I share anything that has to do with the situation in the world today so I’m grateful that I finally hit my goal of creating a morning routine that really works for me during this period.
Would you be adopting anything from my routine? Is there something you currently do that you’ll like to share and have me incorporate?
I’ll really love to hear from you.
Love & Light,
Valerie 🤎
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