Routines are the cornerstone of productivity.
Implementing routines changed my life. It made me more productive, helped me get more things done, and allowed me to stay consistent with my healthy habits.
If you had read my Week in a Life as a Law Student and Blogger blog post, then you would probably have seen the list of various routines that I use throughout the week.
This blog post is all about the essential routines. You will learn of the different key routines to implement in your life. Whether you are aiming to improve your health, personal development, or productivity, mastering these essential routines is the key to this.
This blog post will list daily, weekly, and monthly routines, so keep reading!
Why Routines are important
Honestly, routines are a game changer. If you haven’t gotten around to formulating some routines, you definitely should. Here’s why:
- First, I see routines as full of habits. Habits are automatic. Once you develop a habit, you always find yourself doing it without even thinking about it. When you formulate into a routine, it becomes automatic… a whole bunch of habits become automatic!
- Now imagine how beneficial it would be if you form your routine with effective and life-changing habits! The best part of having routines is that it’s pretty much automation, you don’t even have to think about it. Sometimes, it’s hard to do things because we have to push ourselves to do them. But, if it’s already automatic, we can do it right away.
- Plus, from personal experience, routines are really fun to have. Having routines changed my life in so many ways, and they help me accomplish the goals that I set for myself. Yes, they do take time to become automatic, but with consistency, you’ll eventually accomplish that!
And a hot tip: You can easily romanticize each of these routines to make it more enjoyable.
ONE thing to remember when formulating your routines
I’ll be honest here, there were countless times when I tried to copy an exact morning routine, night routine, study routine… and many more. However, over time I learned that what matters most is what suits YOU. I learned to watch routine videos for inspiration and pick and choose what works best for me, and the routine became unique to me.
That’s all you need to remember, pick and choose what works for you (like picking your own food at an all-you-can-eat buffet).
DAILY
Morning Routine
This is the most obvious one that you may have seen from so many YouTube videos. There are thousands and thousands of morning routine videos that are both fun and informative to watch!
And honestly, it’s the most important routine of the day!
First, your mornings set your day. How many times have you had a bad morning which turned into a bad day? It’s the same vice-versa. A good morning = a higher chance of having a good day.
I’ll admit though, that things happen in our day beyond our control. While we can’t completely control how the rest of the day goes, we can always control how we start our days through the habits we have in the morning.
Also, another reason why a morning routine is important is because it gives you a chance to have a clearer headspace before proceeding with what you have to do for the day. For instance, it’s always a good idea to walk into school or work with a clear headspace, rather than a chaotic one just because we woke up later in the morning and rushed through it.
How to develop a morning routine
When it comes to picking and choosing what works best for you, I could go on and on in the blog post. This is because everyone is different and there is never a one size fit all morning routine. But, we’ll just simplify it into three steps, along with a couple of examples:
Step 1 – Reflect on how you start your mornings right now
Do you make your bed immediately after you wake up, or do you go on your phone?
Do you drink water first thing in the morning or coffee?
Do you spend time writing in your journal, or watching YouTube videos?
Just write down right now what you do in your mornings from when you wake up until you start work.
By being mindful on what you’re already doing, you’re already taking the first step in making changes. Again, a lot of the things we do in the morning are probably habits. Once we’re aware of the habits, we’re able to know what we need to change or keep the same.
Step 2 – Note down your bad habits in the morning, and make a replacement
I have a lot of blog posts all about habits in this blog, it has its own category! I’ve mentioned a few times that we don’t actually like the habit itself, we like the feeling we get from doing the habit.
For example, I don’t really like brushing my teeth (I just exposed myself didn’t I?), but I only do it because I don’t want to torture the people I speak to. Another example is that we don’t like watching TV in itself, we only like the entertainment we get from it.
The list of bad habits in the morning could go on and on, but the most common one that I had even previously done myself is going on social media first thing in the morning. Since I only like going on social media because I like the feeling of having something to do, I replaced the habit with journaling, gratitude, and reading. They give me something to do and I feel so good after doing them.
Step 3 – Simplify the steps
So if you have multiple steps in your morning routine, it’s probably a good idea to cut out a few. You want this routine to be simple so it’s easy to follow through on.
If you have a bad habit on there that’s hard to replace you can remove it completely. If you have a habit on there that can be done any other time of the day, you can remove it. All it matters is that the steps you have in your routine are habits that make you feel good, and set you up for a good day ahead.
RELATED: How to Ruin Your Morning Routine
Night Routine
Just like a morning routine, having a night routine is just as important. And why’s that? Well, our morning routine begins the night before. Mindblowing kind of?
Well, it’s mindblowing for me, but it makes sense. If you spent the night before staying up late, having too many electronic gadgets, or eating a lot of food right before bed, you’re going to wake up in the morning feeling tired, groggy, and not in the best mood.
Also, having a night routine helps us unwind after a busy day. While a morning routine sets us up for a busy day, a night routine helps us recover from that busy day and gives us the rest we need for the next day.
So a night routine should not be neglected!
How to develop a night routine
It’s pretty much the same as developing a morning routine, but with a few important adjustments.
Step 1 – Decide what time you want to wake up in the morning, and then figure out how many hours of sleep you need.
This is a step that I neglected for a while! There were times when I had woken up at 4:30am, 5am without calculating what time I needed to go to bed to get the sleep I needed.
Like what I had mentioned earlier, the morning routine begins the night before, and that includes the time you go to bed.
So depending on how many hours of sleep you need, figure out what time you want to wake up, and based on those hours calculate what time you need to go to bed.
And it doesn’t stop there! Once you calculate what time you need to go to bed, you also need to go even more backward to include a time to turn off all electronic devices and wind down in general.
Here is an example:
If you want to wake up at 6am and you want 8 hours of sleep, then you need to sleep by 10pm.
But then, you also need to go more backward so you get the chance to unwind. If we were to unwind one hour, it’ll be 9pm.
So really, your night routine begins at 9pm (and technically your morning routine too since it starts the night before)
Step 2 – Pick and choose what helps you unwind without your phone
We say without your phone because if you’ve heard from countless people, using electronics the night before tends to ruin our sleep a bit. It is one of those things that can ruin your night routine.
Again, the list goes on and on, but what matters most is what helps you feel relaxed at night.
Step 3 – Simplify
Same thing as the morning routine. You want to keep this routine with a few steps because you don’t want to make your night chaotic as well.
And of course, you want to have the clearest headspace as much as possible before you go to bed, so it doesn’t go with you in the morning.
Exercise Routine
Do I have to explain why exercise is important?
Honestly, we can ask any doctor or health professional and they will say that exercise is important. The reasons are obvious too.
Just like with all the routines, this is all up to you, it’s based on what is fun for you.
I remember asking a friend why they were having difficulties keeping up with exercise, and the reason they gave was that they could never afford a gym membership.
And this is where the pick and choose is so important! You want to choose an activity that you enjoy and that is going to help you stay consistent with exercise. The more you enjoy an activity, the higher the chance that you’re going to stay consistent with your exercise!
If you don’t like the gym but like runs instead, then do runs!
If you hate running and prefer lifting weights at the gym, then go to the gym!
If you don’t like both and prefer doing something like dancing… then by all means, go for it!
The only step with an exercise routine is to pick an activity that you enjoy doing. If you don’t know yet, it’s the perfect time to experiment with different ways to stay active.
My exercise routine, it may not be exciting for some people but I love my morning walks! I used to go to the gym and loved it, but I couldn’t put the time properly for it. I find exercise so much more fun when I get to walk and go in nature.
When I get the chance, I love coastal walks by the beach and hikes that give me beautiful views… and your favorite activity may be different from this!
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Self-Care Routine
A self-care routine, some may have mixed feelings about. While it is important, some people feel like the word “self-care” has been overused and overdone. Honestly, self-care is important, but the developing self-care culture has made it seem like it’s overused, devaluing the importance of it.
Self-care is important, and you may already know that there are plenty of ideas out there on how to practice self-care. But let me just say here, it’s more than just fancy spa days, face masks, “treating yourself” with shopping, and bubble baths.
Hence why having a self-care routine is so important! You prioritize yourself, and your needs, and most importantly, you don’t need to rely on other people. It’s called self-care for a reason… you’re doing it for yourSELF!
How to Develop a Self-Care Routine
Step 1 – Set your non-negotiable, non-productive days
What I mean here is that your self-care is going to be non-negotiable. It is going to be just as important as your work meetings, your exercise, and everything else. Treat this routine just like how you would treat an important meeting… this is for you!
Here is a rule of thumb that I’ve been using for quite a while now, and let me tell you, I’ve felt much more relaxed and rested, and more productive. Ironically, the more time I set for intentional rest, the more productive I became. When I never set rest days, I became burned out!
The rule of thumb is this:
- ONE hour of non-productive time a DAY (minimum!!)
- ONE rest day a WEEK
- Three days (in a row) rest days a MONTH
I’ll go deeper with quarter and half-yearly, but this is a short-term rule of thumb.
Let me emphasize that when it’s a rest day, it’s NOT doing anything productive related nor pressuring yourself to do more work. This is the time for you to be as lazy as you want, and have as much fun as you want. It’s for you.
You may also find yourself wanting to work on something. On my Saturday rest days, I always find myself wanting to do some work, but I stop myself because the rest day is non-negotiable. So as you can see, there’s also that benefit as well… when you have rest days you find yourself having more motivation to work (and that’s what we want!).
Step 2 – Discover your love language
If you haven’t read Gary Chapman’s book, the Five Love Languages , definitely read it! Yes, it’s intended for those in relationships, but you can use them for just yourself as well! You can incorporate the five love languages into your own life to practice self-care.
I have written a separate blog post on how to practice the five love languages on yourself, and there are plenty of ideas that you can use to practice them in your own life when you’re doing self-care!
Step 3 – Brainstorm like crazy & keep a list
As I said, there are plenty of self-care ideas out there, it’s easy to get indecisive. As I said earlier in this blog post, you get to pick and choose what works best for you so you can recharge your batteries the way that works for you.
This is the only routine on here where you’re not simplifying. Instead, this is the routine where you keep a whole list of self-care activities, so when the time comes for your daily, weekly, and monthly non-negotiable rest days, you’ll never run out of ideas.
The best part is that in the process you discover hobbies and passions that you would’ve never discovered if you kept on working 24/7. Rest isn’t just about being lazy, it’s also about discovering things you don’t know about yourself.
“In Between” Routine
If you have never heard of this routine before, it’s because I completely made this up. This routine consists of small and mini tasks that you would do, in between work sessions, and when you have time to spare during the day. This is the only routine during the day that you repeat several times a day (I mean, you only do your morning and night routine once a day right?)
For example, during the study semester, I break up my study sessions to 90 minute blocks, and in between I have a 20 minute break. It is during that 20 minute break that I do my “in between routine”. It consists of the following:
- Answering & Sending Messages – if I don’t do them during the break, then I will never send them out. I commend those who are consistent with replying to messages, because for me it’s a long way to go and needs a lot of work…
- Practice the Piano/Organ – my brain works in mysterious ways, and for some reason, the idea of practicing for one hour makes me procrastinate it, so the only way for me to overcome that procrastination is to break up that one hour of practice, into 5-10 minute blocks the whole day. This is personally what works better for me, because it stops be from going days without practicing.
- Doing my steps – I do want to make sure that I move around every 30 minutes, and my Fitbit helps me track how many steps I have been doing.
I definitely recommend having an “in between routine” of some sort, especially since you do have dead time during your day one way or another. I mean, how many times have you found yourself in the waiting room not sure what to do? How many times did you need to wait for someone you’re meeting up with, and not sure what to do? That’s what dead time is.
The only thing with the “in between routine” is that you do them during your breaks. It is really useful for you if you have little tasks that you have to do, but can’t find the time to fit them in. For example, you may always have a lot of emails to go through that would take over an hour to reply. It may be hard if you still have to do 5 hours worth of work.
Think of it like this. If you are going to take one hour to answer emails, and you still have 5 hours worth of work to do, you can use the “in between routine” like this:
- 1 hour & 30 minutes of work -> 20 minute of emails
- Another 1 hour & 30 minutes of work (3 hours work in total) -> another 20 minutes of emails (40 minutes total)
- Another 2 hours of work (5 hours in total) -> another 20 minutes of emails (60 minutes in total!)
So as you can see, you can break down the amount of small tasks that you have during the day.
I understand that this may be a bit of a debatable one. I’ve heard of “batching” emails and messages into one big block instead of doing in between, but personally for me, I could never find the time to do that.
This is the only routine here that it is not an “essential routine”. While it did work wonders for me, you can decide if it works for you!
How to develop an “In Between Routine”
So, if you decide that an “In Between Routine” may be of benefit to you, here is how you can develop it!
Step 1 – List down the small & mini tasks that you have that you can do in short amounts of time & anywhere.
These are all the tasks that you can do anywhere you go, and take short blocks of time. These include answering messages, sending emails, brainstorming, doing some reading, or listening to podcasts… they are all small tasks!
All you have to do is note down the small tasks that you do that you know that you can do anywhere, and that it takes a short chunk of time to do.
Step 2 -Simplify
Of course, the steps for developing a routine is to have simplifying steps. You may have found that you have tons of small tasks listed down.
Just note that your “In Between Routine” doesn’t have to be the same every time you have a break. For example, in your first break, your “in between routine” may consist of answering emails and messages. In your second break, your “in between routine” may consist of reading a book, then in the breaks following, the rest may be a mix of those three.
You can be as flexible as you need to be, especially if you find that you have a long list of tasks that you need to do. You can just prioritize from what is of most importance to least importance, and then do those tasks in that order each time you do the “In Between Routine”.
RELATED: 10 Actual Ways to Live a More Productive Life
Study Routine
So this is probably not applicable for those who do not study anymore. Either way, the reasons why a study routine is important are pretty clear. You do need some sort of system and regular study routine to help you get the grades that you want… we don’t need to go deeper into that 😂
How to Develop a Study Routine
So there are a few steps that are to be taken into consideration here. Yes, you may see a whole bunch of study routines on YouTube as well. However, everyone has different ways that they study, and just copying exactly another person’s study routine may not be the most beneficial thing.
Feel free to watch study routines on YouTube for inspiration, but just remember, you get to pick and choose what works best for you. Here are some steps to help you out with that.
Step 1 – Figure out how much study that you actually need to get done for each subject
I never did this in high school, and I only started doing this during my third year of university… and my goodness I wish I did this so much earlier.
At the beginning of the recent semester, I figured out how many hours per subject I needed to get done, based on the amount of content that was going to be taught. By doing this, there were absolutely no surprises when all the work and assignments came in.
By knowing how many hours I needed to set aside for each subject ahead of time, I was able to get a clearer idea with how I was going to allocate my time each week. This is also so no subject is neglected.
There are a few ways that you figure out how many hours it would take. First, find out how long each lecture and class for each subject are. For me, for some classes I had 2 hours lectures, and for others I had one hour lectures.
With my actual classes, they were all one hour each. So I already knew ahead of time that I was going to spend two to three hours a week attending lectures and classes.
Then, you can also find out how long each of the required readings are. This is a bit tricky if the amount of readings that you get each week are different. If you’re able to find out what the readings are ahead of time, you can note down how long each reading is, and estimate how much time it would take for you to read them.
Other ways is also setting time for homework no matter what (whether they’re counting towards your grade or not). But regardless, you do need to allocate time of the assignments and quizzes that pop up.
It may seem like a lot of hours added up already, but don’t stress too much, we’ll outline how to deal with this in the next step.
Step 2 – Simplify
Yes, this step is needed in every single routine. Simplify.
The only challenging part here is that it’s hard to take away certain tasks because every task for each subject is important and they contribute to your grades.
Every routine mentioned so far used simplifying in terms of cutting down the amount of tasks and steps. For this routine, simplifying is going to be used in terms of simplifying what day you’re going to work on every task for every class.
An example of how to do this will be mentioned below:
My Study Routine
This how a typical study day would look like:
- Watch ONE lecture – I personally prefer to watch one lecture (each subject has one lecture each) a day, rather than all at once, just because it doesn’t drive me crazy that way. Every day except for Friday, I am watching a lecture.
- Read TWO required readings – I also personally prefer to do required readings for two subjects a day, rather than trying to do them all in one day. The reason for this is because the readings for law are very long and lengthy, and honestly I need more time in the day to work on my assignments and such. It’s also another way to keep me from losing my mind.
- Do Pre-TUTORIAL work – This is something that I would have no choice to do. All of my tutorials all have discussion questions that do class discussion and participation. It’s different for every subject. Personally with this one, these are the only tasks that I would do all subjects in one day to do.
- Work on Assignments – I would work on my Top 3 assignments that need priority on, and then if there are little assignments that come (such as compulsory homework or weekly quizzes), they are included as well. Typically, if I get to, I would only want to work on three assignments a day. This is so I don’t burnt out and get too stressed out.
Work Routine
I’m not going to expand too deeply with this routine, because this is one of the routines where it’s different for everyone. Some people just study, work, or do both, or even balance two jobs, or have a business. Everyone’s situation is different.
It’s also very obvious why you should have a work routine. When we don’t have consistency and organized systems set in place for our jobs or business (whatever we do, really), it’s going to be hard to succeed.
And plus, as we mentioned earlier, routines are automatic in our lives, and when we have good work habits set in place in a routine, we have a higher chance of doing well at whatever we do.
How to develop a work routine
As mentioned, everyone’s work routine is different. So the steps will include things to consider when developing a work routine:
Step 1 – Prioritise Your Goals, Projects and Commitments
What I mean here is ordering the work that you need to get done, by order of priority. When it comes to managing your time, it’s so important to consider the consequences of not completing a particular commitment. Be aware of your non-negotiable commitments outside of work, so that you don’t neglect those things.
Prioritising is key. I’ve felt how hard it was when I didn’t prioritize my assignments and my personal life.
Step 2 – Create a NOT-to-do-list
To-do lists are magic but the only thing they don’t give us what NOT to do, aka our distractions.
For example, if we have a to-do list when completing an assignment, it may include to-do research, writing, and proofreading. However, it doesn’t consider the distractions that may come in the way of that, such as social media, procrastination, and TV.
That’s why a not-to-do list is very helpful (read the blog post here). Your not-to-do list will include those very distractions. Since there’s something so intriguing about ticking things off, we can use that to our advantage, and NOT do the things on that list, just so we can tick something off.
So list down the distractions that prevent you from effectively working on your important tasks, and just not do them!
Step 3 – Plan ahead of time
I’ve mentioned how important it is to plan your schedule at the start of the week. This is because, whenever you plan your day on the day you have a busy day (count how many times I said day in this sentence), you actually waste valuable time that you could’ve used to get work done already.
That’s why everyone could benefit from planning their week ahead of time, so they know exactly what they need to get done. How to plan your week will be discussed in the next routine below!
RELATED: How to Ruin Your Work Routine
WEEKLY
Now, we have the weekly routines. There are only two main routines that I do weekly, that I personally found very beneficial. They include my weekly reset routine and weekly finance routine. Each of these has their own blog posts.
Weekly Reset Routine
I’ve mentioned in this blog a few times the importance and benefit of planning your day… at the start of the week. I’ve used this for almost two years now, and I have seen the difference it made to my organization and productivity.
Here are some reasons why having a weekly reset & planning routine is so essential:
- You save valuable time each day – Any time you’re planning your day on the day you’re supposed to get work done, is valuable time wasted that you could’ve used to get started on work already.
- Reassurance that everything you need to get done will get done on time.
- Make less decisions throughout the week – When you think about it, we spend a lot of time making decisions. Like the outfit we are going to wear, the food we’re going to eat, what we’re going to do next. That’s why a weekly reset routine allows you to deal with all of those things beforehand so you can save time making those small decisions daily.
How to Develop a Weekly Reset Routine
My blog post on what to do during your weekly reset outlines all of these steps listed below… I recommend that you have a read of it if you want a better idea on how to set yourself up for a good week!
- Reflect on your week
- Brain Dump
- Keep Current – this means staying up to date with important events, appointments, and meetings.
- Achievement List – a nicer way to say “to-do list“.
- Plan Out Your Calendar & Schedule
- Finance Check-Up – this routine will be mentioned next
- Plan your outfits – because one less small decision a day right?
- Meal Preparation – another one less small decision a day 🙂
- Clean Out Everything
- Self-Care and Relax – use your self-care routine that you have developed the last time!
Weekly Finance Routine
One of the steps in the weekly reset is to do a finance check-up. My blog post on having a weekly finance routine mentions why we should manage our finances like a self-care routine.
Just like any productivity tip, being aware of where our money is going, and how much we are earning is going to help us in the long-run. Just like with productivity where we need to be mindful on where our time goes, we also need to be mindful where our money goes.
It may seem like a hassle keeping track of your finances and spending every week. But honestly, doing this regularly will save us so much time is going back to weeks of spending and income if something were to go wrong.
If you’ve read books on personal finance or learn about the topic in any way, you may notice that they all mention one thing in common:
Regularly track where your money is going.
Based on some of the personal finance books I’ve read, and the other informative resources I’ve learned about finances, I was able to develop weekly financial habits that made managing money a lot less… annoying.
Just note though that I am not a financial expert in any way. I have just developed financial habits that I learned through the books I have read, and other useful sources. You can pick and choose what works best for your situation, but further specific financial advice should be sought from experts.
How to develop a finance routine
This blog post on developing a financial routine will outline each of the steps in detail.
First, before actually beginning a weekly financial planning routine, you need to become aware of what you’re spending, and what you need to allocate your money for. You can do this in the following ways:
- Become aware first what you’re currently spending and earning.
- Cut down any spending that you don’t use – e.g. a gym membership you never use, or an Apple Music subscription that you never use.
- Note down your non-negotiable spending – this includes your rent, utilities, phone plan, etc.
- Create a Not-to-Spend list
Then, after you have become more self-aware of your current spending, you can proceed with doing the weekly financial routine:
- Note down the week’s expenses
- Note down deductions – to make tax time so much easier!
- Note down the income you were paid
- Optimize spending plan for the week
- Transfer your savings (if they are not already automatic)
MONTHLY
Last but not least, we got the monthly routines…. which actually only consist of ONE routine, the monthly reset routine (in a separate blog post!!)
The number one main reason why you should have a monthly reset routine, is to help you (of course), reset your month and become more self-aware with your life.
Doing the monthly reset at the end of the month is the perfect time, because you then can start fresh for the new month!
There are two main things that you want to “reset” in the monthly reset routine. These include your personal development and your work development. Your work development depends on what you currently do regularly, whether that is studying, working, or running a business.
How to develop a monthly reset routine
Now, this has it’s own separate blog post, so if I definitely recommend you have a read of the monthly reset routine blog post, so you can have a fresh start to your new month!
- Brain Dump
- Set Goals (and then revise your systems)
- Reflect on your habits!
- Reflect on any new negative self-talk – you don’t want to bring that into the new month don’t you?
- Pick ONE area of your life that you want to improve on this month.
- Revise your routines
- Self-Care – prioritise! Prioritise! Prioritise!!!
Let the Good Things Become Automatic
Before I wrap up this blog post, I just want to say that having routines with good habits in place is something you want to make automatic in your life!
I mean, how many bad habits have we had that became automatic in our lives, and it wasn’t the most benefit to us? That’s why, it’s always good to make that change, and begin implementing things that are good for us.
Just remember that developing routines and habits in itself takes time. It takes time to make things automatic. Consistency is clear here. You want to stay consistent with your new routines so that you can do them without even thinking about it.
And as always, stay kind to yourself as you develop these new things. Since they take time, stay kind to yourself with patience. You can do this.
-Lauren 😊
P.S I suggest you check these out:
For more blog posts on routines – ROUTINES
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Hi, this is Lauren! I’m a law grad from Melbourne, Australia. On laurenbarri.com, I create content on all things personal development, productivity, self-care, and habits! I am super passionate about these topics because of how they helped me in all areas of my life, and I want to share it with others!
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