Are Your Routines Helping or Sabotaging You?

We all get caught up in daily routines that we don’t put a lot of thought into. Think for a minute about all the routines you currently do on a daily basis that are almost second nature, such as brushing your teeth or combing your hair.

Your current routines might be okay, but are they bringing you closer to your goals? Do they support your values and priorities? Examine your daily routines and determine how well they serve you.

Can you make some small changes here and there that would enable them to serve you better? Even a small change in a routine can make a big difference, because they’re performed consistently. Over time, these actions add up.

Routines are important and powerful and build up to form habits which allow you to save time by not having to make decisions. They can support you in your life and health goals or they can work against what you actually want.

Ask yourself these questions about your routines:

1. Morning routine. From the time your alarm goes off until you’re out the front door, what do you do? What time do you get up? How many times does your alarm go off first? What do you think about while lying in bed? Do you do anything besides eat and prepare for work? What do you do? How much time do you waste that you could be using productively?
   

2. Meals. What are your eating routines? How do you choose your meals? Do you buy your lunch or bring it to work? Do you have a habit of snacking between meals? Do you prepare your meals ahead of time or throw together what you can at the last minute?
   

3. Evening at home. How do you spend your time after you get home from work? Think about your household chores, and the time you spend with your family. Are you making positive memories with your loved ones? How? What time do you go to bed? How do you use the time before bed
   

4. Weekends. How do you spend the weekends? Do you use weekends to catch up with work? What hobbies do you spend time on? Is Saturday afternoon family time? Do you attend any faith-based activities?

Evaluate Your Routines:

What is your general impression of your current routines? Are there any obvious weaknesses or places where you’d like to do something differently?

Identify wasted time. Look at your routines and determine how much time you’re wasting each day. Include all non-value activities, like watching too much TV. You might be shocked by the number of hours you’re wasting. Start thinking about how you could better use that time.

Examine your goals, values, and priorities. Take a few minutes to write these down. This is an important step. If you don’t know what’s important to you and what you want to accomplish, you’re most likely wasting a lot of time.

Also, consider the challenges you’re currently facing in your life. Are your routines helping, harming, or having no effect on solving your challenges?

Now, go back and create routines that make sense for you. Consider your current challenges and goals:

• What's the 1 thing you can do each day that will move you closer to your goals?

• What is the best way to use your time in each of your routines?

You can accomplish so much with effective routines. What are yours?