Often you hear people referring to routines as dull or boring. Some people even go to the extreme and say they don’t want ANY routines because they limit their creativity. At first it sounds like fun, but eventually things never get done. These people are “routine rejectors” – they reject routines because they think live without routine means they can be adventurous and “go with the flow.”
The truth is, I used to be like that…until I discovered the secret benefit of daily habits. In short, once you get yourself started on a good schedule with daily habits, your day can be much more fun and enjoyable!
I learned from some mentors that the right daily habits and routines are a secret that happy, productive people all share in common. Routines and rituals are a way to ensure your work gets done, ensure your household is running smoothly, and help you get the daily work and home tasks completed so you can focus on the non work, more creative tasks that you may really enjoy more.
Let’s take a closer look at how daily routines and habits keep our lives running smoothly.
Routines Keep Family Life Running Smoothly
If you have children you will be able to relate to this – you set up daily routines to keep your family running smoothly. For example, making the kids lunches each morning. Leaving the house to take them to the bus or drive them to school each morning. Picking them up at school at specific time. Setting aside homework time at night. Having them help out around the house with chores. When they get older, it may include an allowance.
And for the adults running the house, the routines might include daily or weekly cleaning up around the house, paying bills and so forth.
Do these all sound familiar? That is because they are all routines that make your life easier.
Having a Routine Ensures You’re Being Productive
When you have a daily routine, it also helps to minimize the need to make decisions each day. When you make the routine to begin with, you have already decided what you’re going to do and how that routine will proceed. So you’ve already made the decision and don’t need to re-think it every single day. Instead, you can focus on actually doing or completing the task. You are freeing up wasted energy that was going toward making small unimportant decisions. Instead, your new routine helps you standardize regular mundane tasks so you can be effective and free up your energy for the more important things you want to do!
Routines Help Maintain Order
Do you ever wake up feeling like you’ll never get things accomplished? Most women I know have had that gut wrenching stressful feeling.
With a daily routine though, you’ll be MUCH more likely to finish the things on your to do list.
Why? Because you’ll be using your time more efficiently and productively. And that helps you get things done.
Routines Help Reduce Stress And Anxiety
Do you ever feel really frazzled or stressed or anxious because you are having a chaotic day where nothing is getting done?
A daily routine helps to eliminate this stress by putting yourself on a new automatic path so those types of days will almost never happen anymore.
Goodbye to frazzled, chaotic days!
Related: Micro Habits – Simple and Effective Ways to Make BIG Life Changes!
Routines Help you make Time for What Really Matters to You
The final reward from routines is that by managing your time better and streamlining the things that must get done, you end up freeing time to pursue your passions and the things that you really enjoy. And that helps to recharge your batteries and improve your mood.
And it can help you create a routine out of whatever daily practice brings you joy and fulfillment.
Maybe it is gardening. Or Yoga. Or writing. Or painting. Or meditation. (Check out our post on chakra meditation for beginners).
Whatever it is, you will now have the space in your daily life to pursue those things that bring you joy.
