PRODUCTIVITY
Developing Your Daily Routine
Start Simple And Build Consistency
When building a house, the foundation is laid with one brick placed on top of another until a structure is formed.
At first, it may not look like much and the rooms might appear small but as the building progresses, the roof is fixed and other components are added, the building starts to make sense and look beautiful.
The same principle applies to our daily routine. Initially, it may not feel like anything is changing or improving but as we keep taking one day at a time, laying one brick on another, we gradually start to form a system. We begin to see noticeable results and the impact of our routine.
Setting up a daily routine is crucial for our well-being and requires a lot of effort, discipline, and motivation, and might sometimes be overwhelming especially when facing a busy schedule.
The challenges most people face are taking on too many tasks at once, lacking proper time management skills, not knowing how to prioritize tasks, or failing to create a flexible routine that accommodates changes.
As someone who gets easily overwhelmed, I have struggled to stay consistent with my daily routines. But I've learned one important thing: starting simple is key.
Here are a few tips on how I started with simple routines and gradually built them up.
Identify Important Activities
I made a comprehensive list of all the activities I needed to do in a day, including tasks such as making my bed, drinking a glass of water before breakfast, writing in my journal, and anything else I could think of.
Once I had finished the list, I reorganized it and identified the top 5 tasks that were most important for me to complete a day.
This helped me prioritize my tasks and prevented me from adding tasks that I would normally do without any motivation such as brushing my teeth.
Start With Small Tasks
I started with the 5 tasks I prioritized and allocated enough time for each task while making sure that the timing for each task was flexible in case of unexpected events.
You don’t need a million things in your routine when starting. The less you have the more likely you are to stick with them. The goal here is to stay consistent.
Be Realistic with your goals
One big mistake I made was being unrealistic with my daily routines. I would often have a long list of tasks to complete in a day, and although I could finish them, it would be overwhelming for me to stay consistent.
Sometimes, I would set up too many tasks for a day and would have to move some over to the next day because I was either too exhausted or too busy to complete all of them.
Be realistic with yourself, know what works for you and don’t try to pressure yourself with unnecessary and unrealistic routines.
Gradually Add On More Tasks
Once I established consistency with my simple routine, I started introducing other tasks gradually, one or two at a time. I would add another task only after I am sure I have been consistent with my routine.
This helped me avoid feeling overwhelmed and allowed me to maintain a sense of accomplishment.
The benefits of daily routines cannot be overemphasized.
The secret of your future is hidden in your daily routine — Mike Murdock
Routines are an excellent way to improve the quality of your life and give you a sense of fulfilment and accomplishment.
Always start simple and build consistency over time.
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