Let me guess, you’ve recently been hitting that glorious snooze button more times than you’d like to admit and you’ve been rushing around, feeling defeated, before the day has even begun. This vicious and never ending cycle can seem like a merry-go-round that you can never get off. But there is a really simple answer to it all.

Routine.

Making a daily routine for yourself is something that appears so simple on the surface but in actual fact, a lot of us are going (or stumbling) through life without one. So, what exactly is it?

In simple terms, a routine is a structured set of activities, tasks and habits that we intentionally plan and follow throughout the day. Essentially, it acts as a framework for organising our time. Think of your school timetable. All your lessons were laid out for you and you didn’t have to think about where to go for them. It was all there for you in black and white.

When done correctly – and trust us there is definitely an incorrect way – routines can help to unlock a day full of productivity. It can also do wonders for our mental wellbeing, so it really is a win. In short, there a a lot of benefits of nailing a daily routine, such as:

• Increased productivity and efficiency
• Better time management
• Improved mental health and stress reduction
• Enhanced work-life balance

Step 1: Assessing Your Current Lifestyle

If you’re here, I’m going to take a stab in the dark and guess that you’re in need of regaining some control in your life and perhaps need a little help getting started. 

Reflect on your current habits

The first step here is to reflect on your current daily habits. Grab a pen and paper or open your Notes app, and write down your current routine – from the moment you wake up to the moment your head is back on your pillow.

Here are some questions you may want to consider:

• What time do you typically wake up?
• How do you start your mornings?
• What is your typical work or study schedule?
• How do you manage tasks and deadlines during this time?
• Do you take breaks, and if so, how do you spend them?
• Are there any recurring commitments or responsibilities?
• How do you wind down in the evening?
• What time do you usually go to bed?

Once you’ve realised what your routine generally is, it’s time to check for areas of improvement.

Identify areas of improvement

Now you’ve got your routine at your fingertips. Next to each activity you’ve written down, think about how each one makes you feel. For example, maybe you’ve realised you only give yourself 30 minutes in the morning to get ready for work, and this makes you feel rushed and disorganised. Perhaps in an ideal situation, you’d have closer to an hour so you can actually enjoy your time in the mornings. Here are a few more reflective questions you may consider when going back through your current routine:

• Am I effectively managing my time throughout the day?
• How is my energy level throughout the day?
• Is there enough time for relaxation and activities I enjoy?
• Are there self-care practices I want to incorporate?
• Do I have a clear understanding of what I want to achieve each day?

Ultimately, on a scale of 1 to 10, how satisfied are you with your current routine? Highlight the areas you want to improve.

Goal Setting

The time has come to set yourself some goals and one thing we’re going to stress here, make sure they are realistic. There is nothing more demotivating than setting the bar too high and realising what you want to achieve is it not achievable.

Split this into 2 clear sections: Short-term and Long-term goals

We like to think of it like this. Your short-term goals should be actions that you take and your long-term goal should be around how it makes you feel.

When writing out your short-term goals, make sure they are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART). For example, instead of saying ‘exercise more,’ a SMART goal would be ‘walk for 30 minutes every morning before breakfast, around the park.’

Prioritising Tasks

One of the first activities to do is to realise what tasks you should prioritise. You may decide to categorise these tasks based on their importance or the time it will take to achieve them. This comes back to knowing yourself. If it takes you a little while to get going in the morning, you may decide to start on the tasks that will take you the least amount of time/brain power. Equally if you’ve got a deadline to meet for midday, you may decide to leave the self-care asks until the afternoon.

Prioritising your tasks in your routine may be something that comes fairly easily, but it may also take a whilst to establish what you consider to be important.

Step 2: Creating a Realistic Routine for yourself

Now is the fun part. Time to create your actual schedule! First things first, you need to figure out how you best work with different time management techniques. There are a lot of effective strategies out there, but we will summarise the most popular ones below:

• Time Blocking: This involves allocating specific blocks of time to different tasks or activities throughout the day.
• Pomodoro Technique: This method emphasises working in short, focused bursts, typically 25 minutes, followed by a short break.
• Eisenhower Matrix: Tasks here are organised into four separate quadrants, sorting them by important vs. unimportant and urgent vs. not urgent
• Getting Things Done (GTD) Method: This time management technique helps you get things done by recording tasks on paper and then breaking them down into more actionable work items.
• To do Lists: Oldie but a goldie. These lists are simple yet powerful tools for organising your tasks.

Whilst these are popular techniques, they’re certainly not the only ones. If you’re not sure which one will suit you best, you can just try them out! You don’t have to stick to just one.

Either way, allocate a realistic time slot for the different activities in you day. Please do not underestimate to make it seem as though you are being more productive. If you’ve scheduled that completing a work task will take you 1 hour when in reality it will take 2 hours, you can say goodbye to completing all of the other tasks you had on your schedule.

Whatever method you go for, allow for flexibility and breaks throughout the day.

It’s all about consistency

Like pretty much anything in life, to get results that will stick, it’s all about consistency.

It’s easy to assume you just need motivation to achieve a good routine for yourself, but unfortunately motivation will only get you so far. Dedication and consistency are absolutely key.

Developing habits will help here.

Habit is the intersection of knowledge (what to do), skill (how to do), and desire (want to do).

Stephen R. Covey

In the pursuit of a well-structured daily routine, habits help foster consistency. Once habits have been ingrained, they almost become automatic.

Some habits you may want to consider:

• Morning and evening rituals
• Exercise routine
• Regular breaks
• Daily reflection
• Digital detox

Remember, the key to leveraging habits for consistency is to start small and gradually build on them. Over time, these habits become an integral part of your routine, contributing to a more organised, productive, and fulfilling lifestyle.

Incorporate healthy habits

Whilst it can be an easy oversight, mindfulness, nutrition and physical exercise should be integrated into your daily routine. As these may not come naturally, it will take a lot of effort for these to eventually stick. But we promise you, if you put in the hard work, it will be 100% worth it.

Spend time incorporating these one-by-one into your routine. You may decide to start with a 5 minute mindfulness practice in the evening, such as meditation or journalling.

Step 3: Track progress and make adjustments

Everything we do should be intentional, so it is important to recognise if your new routine is working for you or not. There is absolutely no point in pretending to be productive, if you are not getting positive results from it. At the end of the day, week or month, evaluate if your routine has been effective or not. It’s equally important to recognise what went well and what elements of your new routine you have enjoyed.

• Have I been consistent in following the routine, or are there frequent deviations?
• How did I feel throughout the day in terms of energy and focus?
• On a scale of 1 to 10, how satisfied am I with my new routine?

Again, this is a time to reflect on the changes you’ve made and see if they have been beneficial or not. Repeat the activity of writing down your routine and identify areas of improvement and alter them. Ultimately, you want to repeat this process until you look at your routine and you are happy with the entirety of it.

Rome was not built in a day, and your routine won’t be either!

Conclusion

In this article, we covered 3 main steps for how to make a routine for yourself. This won’t be something you get right first time round, and it will take some time to perfect and dedicate yourself to. But think of it like this. You’re not just creating a routine — you’re cultivating a lifestyle that aligns with your goals and aspirations. Embrace the process, stay committed to improvement, and watch your routine evolve.

Taking small steps everyday to form habits will only have positive results, helping you become That Girl. Consistent efforts will help you make a routine that you will be able to stick to. Get ready to revel in the positive results that come from your work.