How To Create a Daily Routine That Sticks
When I first started this blog, the goal was to help my readers develop routines, habits, and, most importantly, a lifestyle that can actually improve their lives. Your daily routine should be built around your life so you can actually stick to it in the long term. In this post, I will show you how to create a daily routine that works for your life.
I detest unrealistic expectations. You know, the jam-packed to-do list where every second of your day is on the schedule, or worse, copying your favorite influencer’s routine when most of their reels highlight their best days.
I am not saying it’s wrong to take inspiration from people you admire, or that you shouldn’t try to make the most of every hour of the day. Far from it. I am saying the best daily routine will be the one you create to suit your life.
I love to routinely change up my routine to reflect the position I am in life. A while ago, the goal was to stay on the same routine for months on end. But I realized how quickly this can get boring. So, I try to change it every couple of weeks…you know, a Fall routine, a Summer routine, sometimes even a November routine.
So, you can trust that I know how to create a daily routine that sticks because I have been experimenting for a minute.
In this particular post, I’ll share some effective, albeit a little cliché ideas to help you create a daily routine that actually works for your life.
You’ll also find a few helpful tips on how to make your routine actually stick.
First Things First: Why Is a Daily Routine Important
You need a routine to create balance and structure in your life.
Without a to-do list or a schedule to follow, you’ll spend hours on end doomscrolling and wasting time you’d otherwise spend on something productive.
A daily routine helps you take charge of every single hour, and trust me, this is how you build the life of your dreams.
Here’s exactly what a simple daily routine can do for you:
- Give you full control of your day
- Reduce procrastination
- Generally improve your time management skills
- Increase your focus and attention and, by extension, your productivity
- It is good for your mental health
- Reduce day-to-day stress
How To Create a Daily Routine
1. Look at Your Current Daily Routine
A quick look at your current day-to-day will help you determine why you’re actually looking to create a daily routine.
I mean, if you want to make changes in your life, the reasons for those changes should be crystal clear if you want to actually stick with the changes long term.
These self-assessment questions can help you reflect on your current daily routine.
- What aspects of your current daily routine work well?
- What aspects no longer work, or never worked, and you’d like to let go of?
- What changes do you want to make in your life at this point?
- Are there any toxic habits that you might be overlooking?
Journal out honest answers to this question so you’ll have a rough list of habits you want to quit and habits you want to try, and most importantly, the changes you want to make and why.
Just remember, you have to be honest with yourself. It won’t do you much good to look at your current daily routine through rose-colored glasses. If you find yourself doomscrolling for hours on end, you need to acknowledge it, recognize it’s a problem, and make it one of those toxic habits you need to quit.
Be kind with yourself, but honest.
2. List of Things/ Habits You Want in Your New Daily Routine.
The second step after analyzing your current routine is to list the habits you want in your new daily routine.
This should be easy after analyzing your current routine.
The things you list don’t necessarily need to be new; they could be habits in your old routine that you intend to keep.
Some common daily habits that wellness experts emphasize include:
- Waking up early
- Creating a positive morning routine
- Eating healthy meals throughout the day
- Drinking water consistently throughout the day
- Following a simple but effective skincare routine
- Exercising every day
- Reading at least 10 pages every day
- Practicing simple mindfulness activities like meditating for 10 minutes or journaling
- Going to bed on time and trying for 7-8 hours of sleep every night.
When creating this list, try to keep it as simple and as realistic as possible. The worst thing you can do is create a list of a million things only to get overwhelmed and quit immediately.
Besides, you’ll have a chance to update this list later when you’re looking to upgrade your routine.
In the beginning, it’s just best to keep things light and easy for yourself.
3. Create a Simple “Draft” Schedule
Okay, now you have a list of habits you’d like to include in your new routine; the next step is to create a rough schedule.
You just need to set time blocks for these daily habits and arrange them in a way that makes sense for your day to create a schedule.
If this is the first time you’re doing this, a flexible schedule is exactly what you need, not a rigid one. The same goes for anyone who struggles to actually stick to a daily routine. Keep it flexible.
However, if you’re a pro or just looking to challenge yourself, you could use time blocking to create a super solid schedule on Google Calendar.
This is what I occasionally do when I am in the mood to really challenge myself.
Here’s my current “flexible” daily routine schedule to help you get a sense of how to structure yours.
Sample Daily Routine Schedule
- Wake up on time for my 5 a.m. morning routine
- Have breakfast at 8 am
- Work until afternoon with short breaks in between
- Have lunch by 2 pm
- Have another work session until 5 pm
- Simple at-home workout routine at 6 pm
- Shower followed by my skincare routine
- Relaxing watching a comedy while doing dinner
- Dinner by 9 pm
- Simple evening/ night routine until 10 pm
- Evening routine includes a few minutes of meditation/ journaling
- Go to bed by 10:30 pm
This is the bare bones of my daily schedule. It keeps changing from time to time, so you need a flexible daily routine that lets different days work without breaking the core schedule.
And I work from home, so yours might look a little different with commutes here and there.
4. Build One Habit at a Time
Okay, if you want to actually make your daily routine sustainable, build one habit at a time.
Most people try to go after all their desired habits at once, and it’s always a mistake.
This is particularly true if you’re building it from scratch.
Yes, I know you want to have your life figured out immediately with a productive morning routine, working out every day, sleeping 7-8 hours every night, and what have you.
But trust me, if you attempt to build all these habits in a single day, you’ll most probably quit in a few days.
Don’t overwhelm your body and mind with unrealistic goals all at once.
Start with one habit, and work on it for the next few days.
For instance, if your current evening routine is a mess and you find yourself doomscrolling on TikTok and going to sleep at 3 am, focus on that first.
This is what I did a couple of months ago. I gradually shifted my bedtime 30 minutes earlier over 3 weeks until I reached 10:30 pm.
I only had this one habit to work on, so it was easy to stick with it.
After figuring out my sleep schedule, I moved on to my morning routine. I woke up at 5 am well-rested and ready for simple morning activities like morning pages and a protein-rich breakfast.
Focusing on one habit at a time is a huge reason for my current structured daily routine, so I’ll definitely vouch for it.
5. Always Plan Your Day
Another tip that will help is to put your intentions into words.
It’s simple: if you want to cultivate a routine mindset, start using a notebook or your notes app to plan your day every day.
Sure, the first goal is to have a flexible daily routine. This is the bare minimum and only works well for people who have a consistent routine.
However, if your routine changes from day to day, you need to get in the habit of planning each day.
Yes, the goal is to stick to the simple routine you created, but adjusting it for every different day makes it work if your routine is super unpredictable.
Chores may vary from day to day, tasks might need to be modified, and planning your day every day makes this possible.
Start your morning by writing down your plan for the day. Create a to-do list of activities to be completed by the end of the day to ensure you don’t miss anything important.
Tick off tasks as you go about your day. This will boost your dopamine and eventually make scheduling fun, in addition to helping you beat procrastination.
6. Actually Schedule Rest
Being productive does not mean “being busy all the time.” In fact, without rest, your productivity will actually suffer.
That mindset of always being on your toes not only affects your productivity but also your mental health.
And I should know. When I was in college, that was my approach, and it wrecked my mental health.
You need to prioritize rest as much as you prioritize your productivity if you want to get your best self. First of all, aim for 7-8 hours of sleep every night. Quality sleep will boost your performance and keep your mind active during the day.
Secondly, make a point of taking a few short breaks during the day. After completing a task, take a few moments to rest before moving to the next task.
Create a self-care routine you can indulge in when you feel exhausted.
Also, try to make your weekends different so your body can reset for the new week.
7. Be Patient
As I said, you can’t create your daily routine today and be a pro at it in a week. That’s just unrealistic and a recipe for disaster. You’ll get overwhelmed and quit.
Actually, I think most of us struggle to create a sustainable daily routine because we fail to realize it takes time and effort to build new habits.
When you’re starting your new daily routine, expect to have slip-ups and a few low-motivation days. Rome wasn’t built in a day. So be ready to put in the time and effort needed to create your daily routine.
Of course, self-discipline helps, but more than that, you need to be patient. If you stick to your new routine and show up as often as possible, it’s only a matter of time before it becomes a part of you.
Here’s how to keep adjusting your routine while being patient:
- Don’t hesitate to remove what’s not working
- Keep changing your schedules based on the demands in your life
- Even when adjusting, focus on small, achievable, and realistic changes
Final Thoughts on How to Create a Daily Schedule
The quality of your life is in your daily routine and habits. What you do every single day will eventually determine the money in your bank account, where you live, the quality of your relationships, even how you carry yourself. So, yes, a daily routine is that important.
Just don’t be overly strict with yourself, or you’ll end up overwhelmed and quitting on day 3.
In fact, start with a slow and simple schedule and build from there.
Until the next one, loves.
