Daily routines have been found to have numerous benefits for your physical and mental health. Many use them to make time for healthy eating and exercise – two important but difficult-to-maintain habits. Gain time life with the optimization of some routines and having a daily schedule with many benefits such as reducing stress and anxiety.
The overall benefits daily schedule come about in two main ways. The first is by preventing decision fatigue. Studies have determined that as the day progresses, our brains get tired and are less capable of making good decisions. With a routine, many choices are made for you, saving your brain power for later in the day.
Routines Optimization
Routines also reduce the cognitive load or the mental effort required to complete a process. Repeating the same actions daily teaches you how to accomplish daily tasks without thinking about them too much. This frees up space in your mind to learn new tasks or direct more focus toward difficult ones.
As mentioned earlier, rituals help switch mindsets when starting a new task. For example, if you have a cup of coffee before work, you will slowly attach meaning (it’s time to work) to a routine (your breakfast. Eventually, your morning cup will help put your mind in the mood to get things done.
Therefore, rituals are beneficial if you have trouble focusing. Using a ritual trains your brain to help you approach work – or any other task you have trouble focusing on – in a more productive frame of mind.
Routines x Rituals
While routines and rituals may seem similar, there is a difference between them. Though subtle, this difference significantly affects how each of these habits works to optimize your daily life. Let’s briefly recap them:
A routine is a set of habits you develop regularly, such as daily exercise or laundry. With time, these habits require less thought and planning. By implementing routines, you can streamline your days by decreasing the decisions you need to make.
Rituals are routines to which you’ve attached a particular meaning. They help change your mindset to prepare for certain situations. Gathering your work materials before sitting at your desk could be a ritual to prepare your mind for work. Drinking a cup of tea in the evening could prepare you to sleep.
Routines and rituals can work together to systematize your daily tasks and help you smoothly transition between them. Knowing their differences will help you understand how they function and incorporate them into your life optimally.
Life Optimization With Routines To Gain Time
Routines and rituals are highly personal, so you must invest many of your preferences and personality into yours. We’ve provided 3 tips to help get you started and point you in the right direction.
Morning Routines Optimization
Earlier in this article, we discussed the concept of decision fatigue and how cutting down on the decisions you make early in the day can help save this energy for later. The morning routines are key for cutting down on decision fatigue. By eliminating the choices, we’re presented with each morning.
You may not normally think of them as decisions, but each day after you wake up, you must decide what to wear and eat for breakfast. There are also the matters of whether you should take a shower, where to get your coffee if you should exercise before work, and which priorities you need to tackle that day.
Though seemingly insignificant, these choices take energy. With a routine, you’ll know before waking that you laid out your clothes the night before, and you’ll have yogurt with fruit for breakfast. You’ll know you need to shower after your run and have a to-do list for the day ready.
Some enjoy incorporating habits to increase productivity, such as making bed or waking up early. Others claim drinking a glass of water improves their physical well-being or that journaling improves their creativity. Any of these habits could spruce up your morning routine.
Health Routines
When balancing a busy work schedule with the demands of your personal life, it’s easy to forget to practice self-care. This is why exercise and eating healthy foods are difficult to keep up with. Working them into your daily routine can help ensure they don’t slip through the cracks.
When creating your daily routine, try scheduling time for exercise. You might run right after you wake up, for example, or stop by an early yoga class on your way to work. Try heading straight to the gym from the office every day.
By adding these optimizations into your daily routines, you won’t spend as much time thinking about when you’ll exercise or if you’re in the mood to do it. It will be part of your day, like brushing your teeth or eating dinner.
As for food, consider creating a menu of a few core meal plans for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. Unhealthy foods become less appealing when you reduce your options and eat the same foods daily. Going grocery shopping on the same day each week and preparing meals simultaneously can help ensure you always have healthy meals.
Even so, ensuring you’re still eating a balanced diet is important. Paying close attention to your menu’s ingredients, or rotating certain dishes on and off the menu occasionally, can help ensure your healthy eating routine doesn’t accidentally cause problems instead of solving them.
Adds Meaning to Your Daily Habits
Whether you realize it or not, you already have some daily practices that, with minor adjustments, could become productivity-boosting rituals. Setting a few guidelines around those habits and intentionally practicing them can make it easier to switch gears throughout the day.
Noting the places where you need help with focusing is an excellent place to start. We’ve already discussed the example of turning your morning coffee into a ritual to begin work. Perhaps you have trouble relaxing at the end of the day or want to get better at a hobby such as playing an instrument or reading.
Conclusion on Daily Schedule & its Benefits
Other routine optimization-building techniques incorporate objects, such as journal pens or special walking shoes. By associating this object with specific behavior, using it becomes a ritual. For example, picking up your journaling pen signals it’s time to write. Putting on your walking shoes puts you in the mindset of a relaxing walk.
We hope this article on optimization of life and time gain due to having routines with a daily schedule bringing benefits such as reducing stress and anxiety has helped you.
