For me, routine is everything. I
find that if I do not plan my days & weeks ahead of time, I tend to not get
much done. Whether it’s completing my 5 to 6 workouts per week, or making sure
I find time each day for mindfulness & meditation, I find the best way to
cram as much into my day as possible, is to standardize my day as much as possible.
Over the past 5 weeks, I have
developed a strict pre- & post-work routine that I believe has been a major
key to my success. I wake at the same time & perform the same tasks each
morning, which allows me to feel accomplished before the sun even rises. When I get home from work, my shoes don't even come off as I know it's time to get the gym. By creating these set patterns, I am able to ensure that I find time for all of the activities that I currently view as important in my life.
Below I discuss how to create a
daily routine that will help you achieve the goals that you have set for
yourself while feeling more accomplished & organized in your daily life.
What is a routine
A routine is defined as ‘a sequence of actions regularly followed; a
fixed program.’ For those of us in the exercise community, this is a
no-brainer. If you've been on any type of exercise program, you recognize that consistency, or routine, is a major key to success. What we often don’t think about, is why routine is important. Our days are getting increasingly busier
which means we have to make tons of decisions every single day ranging from what to have for breakfast, to what to wear, to when to get to the gym. Each day you literally make thousands of decisions that can impact
the outcome of your day, & if you don't have a set plan for how you will spend your time, it is easy to get lost in the noise & end up feeling unaccomplished or unsuccessful at the end of the day, even if you were busy the whole time!
For me, a routine helps eliminate at least a few of these extra decisions that I have to make every single
day by standardizing the activities
that I have deemed important enough to repeat daily. By having a set routine
each morning, my brain doesn’t have to work overtime on the day-to-day
decisions, since I have created the neural pathways to complete the actions
without applying too much brain power.This affords me an opportunity for mindfulness & relaxation where I used to feel stress & anxiety.
Incorporating new activities
Before I jump right into how to
set a routine, let us take a step back to look at what we are really trying to
accomplish with a routine. Most likely if you clicked on this post, you thought
of 1 or 2 things that you would love to find time for, but given your current
life schedule, simply cannot. What we are really trying to accomplish with a
new routine is to create a series of new, positive habits that we complete each
day that ideally do not take up too much extra time.
In my post on habit forming,
I discussed the importance of tying new actions or habits that you are looking
to form to contextual cues. These ‘contextual cues’ mean you take the stairs
(action) when you get back for lunch each day (cue), similar to how you put on
your seatbelt (action) each time you get into your car (cue). When you tie a
new habit to a specific contextual cue, your chances of success increase
substantially because it creates stronger neural pathways that contribute to
habit-forming, & it also removes any variability in process that can make it more
difficult to form a habit.
Thus, if you are looking to
incorporate something new into your daily routine, I find it is best to tie it
to a specific time of day or after a specific action, as opposed to using the
blanket ‘once per day’ format that many of us get comfortable with but never seem to be able to put into action.
How to set a routine
Like a diet & exercise
program, jumping straight into a strict daily routine where every minute of your day is
scheduled can feel overwhelming for someone who has had a more haphazard
approach to life in the past. My suggestion would be to start with adding
one new habit to your morning routine, since we often have more control over
our mornings as there is less opportunity for a life event to arise & eat up your time.
My suggestion is to start small.
Really small. It could be as simple as waking up 5 minutes earlier & taking the time to sit on your porch
& have a coffee, or engage in a quick 5-minute meditation session. As you begin to
add this consistency to your morning, you will naturally gravitate towards more
standardization. The beautiful thing about setting one simple, new habit, is that you become more consistent,
& soon you will find that you can fit more into your morning routines than
you ever thought possible!
Start with your ‘stones’
There is a great analogy
regarding fitting stones, gravel, & sand into a jar. If you put the sand
& gravel into the jar first, you will never be able to fit in the stones
which are larger & take up more space. If however, you start with the
stones, you can then pour in the gravel which will fill in the space around the
stones, & finally the sand which will find even the smaller spaces.
The stones are akin to the
activities most important to you. For me currently, my daily workout is a major
‘stone.’ I aim to get 5-6 workouts in per week, so if I know I have an
engagement on a particular evening, I will make an effort to move the workout
earlier in the day, or earlier in the week. I look at my schedule each Sunday
& do not leave anything up to chance – I will get in my workouts for that
week.
For you, your stones could be
sitting down to read for 30 minutes, or having dinner with your spouse each
evening. Whatever it is, make sure you take account of the ‘stones’ in your
life, & make sure that you are fitting them into your schedule first before
all of your other responsibilities fill up your calendar!
Non-negotiables
Recently the Spartan Up podcast spoke
to venture capitalist, mother, & dedicated runner, Elizabeth Weil, who discussed the
idea of ‘non-negotiables.’ Elizabeth has a busy career, twins to raise, &
still finds time for her workouts by making them a ‘non-negotiable.’ Come hell
or high-water, Elizabeth will get out for a run every single day. Whether this
is at 4AM, or 10PM, this is one part of her life that is not open to
negotiation.
I love this idea because it
builds in accountability into your life; you set one thing that no matter what
happens, you are going to complete every single day. This will allow you to feel as if you are in control of your life, regardless of what it throws at you. Of course you want to set
something that is important to you & builds towards achievement of your long-term goals,
however I suggest starting with something small such as a 10-minute meditation
session or having a salad each day. Once you are able to build a small
non-negotiable in your life, you will be poised to work in larger activities
that, no matter what happens, you will achieve every single day.
My daily routine
I follow almost the exact same
routine from Monday to Friday. Although it sounds boring, it helps streamline
many easy decisions for me, & seems to allow me to maximize my productivity
for the day. My day starts at 4:30, upon which time I get up, put on a pot of
coffee & immediately sit down to meditate. For my busy brain, this is the
best time for me to meditate, prior to getting caught up in my thoughts of the
day. After my meditation, I pour myself a cup of coffee, complete a quick daily journal, then post this blog
that you’re reading! After this, I will read until another alarm goes off at
6:15. At this time I jump in the shower & get
dressed for work. By 6:30 (the benefits of being male), I’m dressed & ready to go. I then
blend my shake & pack my lunch for the day & am out the door to work by 7:00.
This morning routine allows me
to have a relaxed start to my day as opposed to my previous routine of waking
up 15 minutes before I have to leave & scrambling out the door.
Additionally, I take care of 4 of the most important parts of my day within the
first few hours of waking; meditating, journaling, blogging, & reading. No
matter what happens after this time, I feel like I’ve been productive &
have held myself accountable to the goals & routines that I have set out
for myself.
Due to the nature of my job, the
hours of 7 to 5 tend to vary considerably, however I do consume the same shake
at 1PM every day & generally try to get home by 5:30. After work,
it’s straight to the gym, come home to make dinner as well as lunch & my shake
for the next day, then around 8:30 I sit down to hang out with my girlfriend
until bed around 10.
Although this schedule seems
jam-packed, I greatly look forward to my ‘wind-down’ time at the very end of the
day, feeling as though I've earned my relaxation time. That said, I do also build in a lot of hours of relaxation throughout my day.
I love all of the activities that I partake in prior to work, & the gym can
be therapeutic to me after a long day. Thus, since I am spending my day doing
things that I enjoy, & that help me feel as though I am being productive, I
don’t feel the need that many have to simply ‘veg out’ on the couch for hours
after work. I am certainly always
fine-tuning my routine, however for the moment that is what I am doing & I
have never been happier!
In conclusion, having a strict
daily routine allows me to fit in everything that I want in a day, ranging from
mindfulness, to this blog, to exercise! By reducing the variability in my
mornings & evenings, I am able to streamline a lot of the repetitive
processes in my life to maximize efficiency. If you are not currently following
a set routine each day (or at least weekday), I highly encourage you to at
least try to standardize your mornings. You will find that you become more
efficient & organized, & you will learn to take pride from
accomplishing your morning check list. For me, my morning routine has become a
staple in my day that ensures I am heading off to work each morning with a
clear mind & a sense of accomplishment before the sun even rises!
100 Day
Spartan
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