Will a Daily Routine Help With Building Habits?

Let's face it there's a huge personal development movement happening, and a big shift in how we approach life in general since the dreaded C word appeared on the scenes in 2020, otherwise known by so many as the year of doom. And whilst I'm glad things have subsided a little and I don't want to rush back there any time soon, I am forever grateful for the way it has taught us about changing how we look at and value our lives.

So in answer to the question, 'will a daily routine help with building habits?', here's my two cents for what it's worth.

In my opinion we can't answer this question without looking at the quote by author, John C. Maxwell, “You'll never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine.” Again reinforced by the age old quote by another great thought leader, the famous Albert Einstein, when he said, "the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results". From which I take it to mean if you want to see different results, you gotta be prepared to change things up a little.

It should be no surprise to hear that therefore yes, your daily routine will help foster a conducive environment with structure that helps you not only build habits, but also track them effectively. Let’s see how a daily routine will help you…

?? Reduces decision fatigue

Every single day when you wake up, you have a finite amount of energy to last you throughout the day. The more decisions you make, the more mental energy you use up. #decisionfatigueisreal (FYI if you want to learn more about this jump over to my FB Group where I have done multiple teachings on this)

When your energy levels get depleted, your willpower will drop too – since you need energy to maintain it.

When you have a daily routine, you’ll know what to do without having to think too much. For example, your routine may have you going to the gym or out for a morning walk at 7 AM, and you might have 30mins with a book blocked out at 12.30 PM or a 10 minute meditation between morning and afternoon client calls and so on.?

All you need to do is follow the routine without hesitation and you’ll build the habits of exercising and reading (or insert whatever habit it is you are trying to build). All while strengthening and conditioning that willpower muscle. If you didn’t have a routine and left these habits to chance, or whenever you have time (which let's face it is never in your book), you can bet that there will be days when you miss one or both… and you’ll never build the habit because of a lack of consistency.

The best part is that you’ll not constantly have to think about what you’re going to do, therefore no unnecessary decision fatigue being added to your load. This is why some entrepreneurs like Mark Zuckerberg and his grey tshirts, Steve Jobs and his black turtlenecks, or perhaps the most intriguing of all, Giorgio Armani, known for making possibly the best suits in the world, and yet is said to only ever wear navy slacks and cashmere sweaters. But why?

Well so they don't have to use up any of the willpower and energy we just talked about unnecessarily on trivial decisions like what to wear. It's said the average person makes?35,000 decisions?every day. What to eat for breakfast? What shirt to wear? Which door to go through? Where to go for lunch?

A simple way to save brain power is to cut down on the number of decisions you need to make. Some of the most successful people have already figured this out. They simply wear the same thing each and every day. It's like having a uniform so to speak.

?? It gives you clarity

To achieve your goals, you need clarity. What are the actions you will take? What work needs to get done? What sacrifices will you make?

These pertinent questions need answers… and your answers will be woven into your daily routine as actions you need to take. Once you follow the routine, you’ll know that you’re on your way to achieving your goals. The actions become habits which lay the foundation for future success.

?? Ending bad habits require new routines

Very often, a bad habit has a trigger to it. Don't forget we are creatures of habit, and as humans we will only make change when it is necessary to avoid pain, not simply just for the pleasure. For example, you may notice that you consume snacks daily and this habit is holding you back from losing weight. You probably already had thought to yourself it would be great to lose weight, fit into those size 8 skinny jeans from your early 20s that are still lying at the back of your wardrobe taunting you each time you see them. But the desire to lose weight alone, for the pleasure of losing weight and to look better isn't always enough to motivate us to take action. Instead we need to feel like we want to avoid pain before we will take the action. So you have probably caught yourself in the bad habit of eating several snacks daily, which you only really took notice of when your now size 14's are starting to feel a little too tight for comfort, and if you're honest with yourself, you keep taking that elevator in the mornings so you aren't a sweaty mess walking in the office door like you just came from a half sprint of the London Marathon, puffing and wheezing, because you are definitely feeling a little bit out of puff carrying this extra weight, in fact it's causing some discomfort on the knees and back.

But why are you doing it?

With observation, you may note that you stay off snacks the whole day until the evening when you sit down to watch TV. Now you can deduce that watching TV is the trigger that gets you eating the snacks.

From here, it’s just a matter of changing your routine. Either you watch TV earlier in the day with no snacks available, or you cut out all TV until you’ve eliminated the snacking habit… or you just throw out all the snacks in your fridge and maintain a snack-free home. This may sound a bit extreme, but if like a lot of us, you are an all or nothing kind of person, it may be called for in the short term.

However a more balanced approach would be to say, okay well I can't really watch tv earlier in the day because I've got work. But I know that when I watch it late in the evenings I'm guilty of snacking way too much. So how about I cut down the amount of time I watch tv, and spend the rest doing another helpful behaviour like reading or yoga. If I still feel like I'm reaching for the snacks in the shorter period of tv time, it's okay because I will be fully equipped with healthier options. It can be hard to go cold turkey as they say, so when you feel your hand reach for something, why not grab an apple or some carrot ticks and hummus. That way you are retraining your brain and implementing a new better habit, which can be easier than just quitting a bad one outright.

All these measures are a part of your new daily routine. Adopting any one of them may help you eliminate the habit you wish to get rid of.

?? Increases focus and productivity

There’s no denying the fact that routine will help you be more productive – provided you focus on your tasks and eliminate distractions. With a routine, you’ll train your mind to be ready for work at a specific time daily. Much like having a morning ritual to signify the start of a working day, especially if working from home and even more importantly an evening shut down one, representing it's now time to switch off, and into personal mode for the rest of the day.

This will not only eliminate procrastination, but you’ll face less resistance within yourself.

By now you’ll realise that having a daily routine does NOT restrict you. Contrary to popular belief, much like systems, a routine actually gives you more freedom to do what you want to. You’ll master new habits faster and your progress in life will be accelerated. This is a win-win.?

Create a daily routine that works well for you, and then work it.?

I'd love to know how you get on with it. Let me know in the comments, what is one habit you are commiting to changing today, and let us cheer you on ??