5 Things I Learned By Following A Routine For 3 Months

Following a daily routine brought order to my life and increased my productivity.

During a recent conversation, a friend asked me the following question: ‘What’s one that you could never have enough of?’ My answer was time. I know this sounds like a cliche, but if you are a working mom whose husband often travels for work, you’ll certainly agree.

To be honest, I was never quite organized, yet somehow still managed things. But of late, life was getting out of hand. The house was always a mess, my freelance writing business was suffering due to lack of time and most days dinner was take-out.

I wasn’t spending time lazing around though. I hardly even took a break. Still, everything was unfinished and I was always scampering.

In my struggle to finish everything, my little one was getting ignored. Although he was with me almost all day, I could hardly give him the attention he needed. All this was taking a toll on me.

I decided it was time for a change and turned to our friend Google for a solution. This is when I came across routines. I mean, I knew they help bring order to our life, but had never really adopted one.

There were so many successful people vouching for its effectiveness. Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Arianna Huffington, Ellen DeGeneres, Mindy Kaling — the list was endless.

So, I decided to jump on to the ‘routine bandwagon’ and give it a try. I created a routine which was pretty much inspired by (copied from) the internet. I followed it for three months and here’s what I learned.

1. You Should Create Your Own Routine

Soon after starting my new routine, I realized that a routine can’t be something that you copy from others. It has to be custom made by you to suit your needs and situation.

Like many successful women, I too wanted to wake up early and do some exercise. Two weeks in, I realized I needed a change.

I’m not much of a fitness freak and sweating up first thing in the morning wasn’t my thing. Instead, I decided to use this time to catch up on my writing business. The peacefulness of mornings helped me concentrate better and I got more work done than any other time.

This brought in a sense of accomplishment and set the tone for my day. I moved exercise to afternoons when my little one napped and I needed a break from work.

2. Decision Fatigue is a Real Thing

We make about 35,000 decisions in a day. Surprised?

Think about it: we’re always making decisions about what to eat, what to wear, when to sleep, where to go for a vacation etc. Plus there are the other crucial ones like which career path to choose, how to save money for the future and more.

With every decision, no matter how trivial, a little bit of our will power is depleted. So, by the end of the day when we’ve already made a bunch of decisions, our will power is at its lowest.

This is decision fatigue. At this point, our ability to make sensible decision decreases vastly.

This came to my notice when I had to decide about dinner. As part of my daily routine, I did meal prep for the week, which included deciding the menu and prepping the required ingredients.

I noticed that with meal prep, we had healthier food more often and ordered out less compared to those days when I had to decide something an hour before dinner which often ended in ordering out.

Having a routine helps to eliminate decision fatigue.

3. Forming a New Habit is Possible

Like everyone else, I too wanted to add in a few of those healthy habits to my life. I was gradually mastering the ‘early waking up’ habit. I decided to add in a few things like waking up without snoozing, drinking warm water with lemon, saying my affirmations out loud and reviewing my calendar for the day.

Although these things don’t seem to be a big deal, I could never do them because I always woke up late and there was hardly time for anything.

So instead, I added all these activities to my daily routine and set my wake up time accordingly. In a few days, they became habits, and waking up early was no more pain.

4. We Should Schedule Breaks, Too

Before I started the daily routine, I never had time for a break. Life was so unorganized that breaks seemed impossible.

This turned out to be a big pitfall where my productivity and wellbeing were concerned. Breaks help us unwind and relax. They’re the fuel that recharges our system.

So, to avoid repeating my mistake, I included breaks in my routine. A scheduled break may not sound interesting, but it’s still effective. And essential.

5. Sleep is a Crucial Component of a Healthy Life

Whether one is on a routine or not, proper sleep is essential for a healthy life. My disorganised life made this very clear.

I’d usually sleep in late because I worked on my writing assignments late after putting my little one to bed. This did more harm than good. By the time I sat down to work the next day I was already tired and sleepy.

I’d sit staring blankly at the screen and most of the days I ended up browsing through social media or watching videos on youtube. And because I slept late, the next day too wasn’t very productive either, thanks to the sluggish hangover feeling due to lack of sleep.

So when I created my routine, I ensured that getting plenty of sleep was high on the priority list. Also, I enjoyed my new morning ritual so much that I didn’t want to miss it.

An early bedtime became a necessity. Proper sleep, meaning 7–8 hours, helped me stay fresh throughout the day and I could see the positive effects of this on my productivity.

Summary

I started my routine with the hopes of organising my life. In three months, this routine has not only brought order into my life but has also made me a better person in general.

My stress levels have reduced and this is visible on my health and everyday life. I’m checking off things from my ‘to-do’ list instead of putting them off, and my son is happier than ever because now we do a lot more activities together.

If your life could do with a few adjustments, I’d recommend creating a new routine. It’ll work wonders.