Routines help rebuild a sense of order amidst the chaos. Implementing a routine can help you feel more in control of your circumstances.
Let’s begin with a few FAQs:
What is Routine Management?
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Managing your routine is simply a way of efficiently allocating time towards activities that you want to do, and trying to limit activities that you do not want to do. Identifying a routine that works for you takes time, but the effort is well worth it. Adopting healthy routines has been shown to have positive impacts on your mental health as well.
I'm not the "scheduling" kind of person, I like to go with the flow. Are routines for me?
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Maybe not - that said, even people who prefer to “go with the flow” are likely to have to function within some societal constraints. Meaning that you may want to relax and not plan or schedule anything over the weekends, but if you are a student, parent, or working professional, your weekday activities would help with a little bit of routine management so that you can truly relax over the weekend!
Here are some tips that you can use to establish and maintain routines:
Some of the ways to improve your sleep hygiene are:
- Have a sleep routine before bedtime (brushing your teeth, washing your face, etc.)
- Try not to have electronics around your bed (if you’d like to watch that last episode of The Office, make sure you get out of bed, watch it, and then come back)
- Try sleeping with socks.
- Try going to bed and waking up around the same time each day.
At the start of the day, create a To-Do-list so that you know what’s on your agenda and what you need to achieve on that day.
This can also be a personal to do list and a professional one - making that distinction and writing down your activities helps put them in perspective.
Suddenly, it doesn’t feel like you’re being buried under tons of work!
Such a list will also help you feel a sense of accomplishment and motivate you to keep maintaining your routine.
Being more mindful of your boundary of control helps a great deal -- oftentimes, people’s routines are disrupted because of thoughts and feelings beyond their control.
Will I be laid off? Will I be able to make enough money?
In cases like these, refocusing on what is within your control will help you return to the task at hand (which is in your control).
However, try to restrict the time you spend scrolling on social media as these apps can easily hijack your entire routine.
You can think about using apps that limit the time you spend on certain other apps in case you feel that this is out of your control.
Believe it or not, the clothes that you wear affect how you feel about yourself as well as your levels of motivation to complete work.
When working (or studying) from home, try to dress appropriately - you’ll find that this simple change in your behavior will help you delineate the time between work and home better.
Identify and then integrate activities that you prefer to keep yourself healthy.
That is not necessarily true and places unrealistic expectations on yourself again.
If you choose to integrate exercise into your routine, it doesn’t mean that you have to lose weight as well.
Connecting rigid outcomes to your routines as proof of productivity can actually be.. counterproductive.
