When you have a daily routine to cover life’s challenges, it equals balance. Having a balanced life in today’s fast-paced world is difficult, to say the least. If you are not running all over for someone else, then you might have kids whom you are running all over for.
- Time management
There is very little time for the things that matter most. Having a routine gives us a gift. Time. When we know where we are supposed to be and when we are supposed to be there, it is a feeling of having more time.
Being well balanced reduces stress and feelings of being overwhelmed. It can also create a sense of peace. Which I’m sure we all need as we watch all the chaos around us lately.
- Flexibility
When we feel like we have more time, then we are able to be more flexible with our time. The stressor of being late becomes less of an issue because we already know if we take an extra 15 minutes to pick up little Jenny, that we will only be 10 minutes early instead of 30.
I have a nasty habit of leaving an hour early for an appointment I have because I hate being late. If traffic is bad or an accident happens. I don’t have to worry about it. The only problem is that if nothing happens, then I am an hour early! But because of this, I can be a little flexible in some areas.
- Goal orienting
Another good thing about routines is that the more time I have, the more I can focus on specific goals. As long as I make them small goals.
For example, I need to do a certain amount of writing every day. But I need to plan out my writing. I have begun to do the post outline the night before, and then I focus on the actual writing part the next day.
I have 3 small children, so sometimes time just doesn’t go the way I plan it. So I have begun to start planning days before. This post right here is actually 3 days in the making. First was planning how to write it.
Then was the outline, and finally this copy. I have decided I would like to have better, more focused content instead of halfway anything goes. And as I get better with my writing and thinking, hahaha, the posts will be better too. So I hope you bear with me!
How Daily Routine creates productivity
I like to be able to get stuff done. And if I’m focused on what little Jenny did last week instead of what’s in front of me, it’s not gonna happen. Within my routine is a time for the kids, a time for the husband (though, let’s face it, sometimes he suffers), and a time for me.
The time for me is blogging, reading, cleaning, etc. Some of the me-time is house time. I hate living in a pigsty, but sometimes I rebel against housework, and we do. I do not like to clean. When it was just the 2 of us, it was fine. But now that there are 5…I feel the housework is a little unfair!
- Examining our routine
But for each of us, it is different. Might I suggest that you examine your routine and what is important to you? When I started creating my routine, I found certain things important.
Like my kid’s schoolwork, housework, and mealtimes. So my kids and I do our morning routines, which include making the bed, brushing teeth, breakfast, and then they head off to school, and we get to do homework.
Our afternoon routine used to be lunch and then nap time. And then my afternoon routine is writing, cleaning something (usually dishes), and preparing dinner. I also include outside time because kids need some form of outside playtime. But I have sensory kids who need extra sensory activities. But now that the kids are in school, I tend to do the cleaning and then my writing.
Finding routine resources
There are all kinds of resources online. My go-to move is usually to type in the need to Google. But be careful with this method, as Google knows what, everything? You have to be very specific about what you are looking for.
It’s good to check out the related searches too. I have found that I’m not always sure of what I’m looking for, even though when I started, I thought I did!
Taking action to create your routine
So whatever is most important to you is what you put on your routine. It is easy to split it up into easy steps for more action or productivity, depending on your needs.
Remember that creating a routine is just another way of trying to build good habits. Habits take time, and we know bad habits are hard to break.
So if it seems your daily routine isn’t working give it another try or maybe tweak it and bring it down into actionable steps you can complete, It’s for you and therefore customizable according to your needs.
