How have you started 2022? The first full week is drawing to a close, and we’re leaving the celebrational twilight between years. Now is the time to establish the right rhythms of routine and relaxation for the rest of the year.
Learn how to plan your own effective personal routines so you can face the tides of change with strength and stability. Consistent routines save time, money, and mental energy while delivering profound results.
“Keep going every day.” - Dr. Sebi.
Ease into a rewarding relaxation routine with Hemp & Chamomile Tea. Wind down naturally at the end of the day with deep inner comfort and a phytochemical boost to immune system restoration.
8 Rich Rewards of Routine
Routine is an anchor in the rough sea of rapid change, so when the going gets tough you know you can still depend on yourself. Here’s how you would benefit from creating your own optimized personal routine:
1. Control and Confidence
The only constant thing is change; routines create order out of the chaos of everyday life and give us a sense of control. Whatever else happens, knowing you will rise each morning, exercise, and eat at the same time gives you a strong sense of security – and your body thrives on it!
2. Anti-anxiety and Resilience
You never know what each day will bring, and uncertainty breeds anxiety, but routine establishes something you can be certain about and increases confidence in yourself, which equates to mental resilience. When unpredictable events come up, having a routine keeps you more grounded and stable. It helps you maintain your own direction and stop people knocking you off course.
3. Flexible Structure
It is easier to manage your life when there is a structure that tasks can fall into – like putting up shelves in your living area. Structuring your day helps order your mind and highlight genuine priorities. In two to three weeks, you automatically know what you need to do each day to make real progress towards your goals. Structure also reduces wasted time, money, and energy while protecting you from poor choices made during emotional dips.
4. Increased Efficiency
Routines mean we can think less about all the things we need to do every day. We know what needs to be done before we go to bed the night before, so we gain extra time that would be spent planning each day. Repetition is the mother of learning; the more we do something the stronger we make the neural pathways in our brain. As your subconscious learns it takes over, like learning to drive, it gets easier when you don’t have to consciously think about it.
5. Faster Progress
Once you’ve set up the first ‘good habit’ in your routine, you build new ones on top. Habit stacking is where you schedule one activity directly after doing something that’s already a habit (for example, making a healthy green smoothie after you let the cat out). Habit stacking uses pre-existing neural pathways to build upon, increasing your ability to make meaningful progress as you enhance the architecture of your own brain.
6. Easier Prioritization
We all have 24 hours in a day and at least 8 should be spent asleep. There’s no way we can do all the things we want to. Creating a routine forces us to ignore the things that don’t really matter and prioritize the things that are most important to us. It’s easy to get drawn into addictive technology and mind-numbing media when they waste time that could bring you much more happiness. Habits and routines, like not checking your phone before bed, ensures that premium time is spent on quality projects.
7. More Freedom
It might seem like a paradox, but routines give us more freedom. Having a health routine gives you the freedom of robust health, having a money routine gives you the freedom of greater wealth, and having a daily schedule gives you more free time. The more we plan and organize ourselves, the less our brain has to work on planning or coming up with excuses, so more thinking power is freed up. Routines protect you from self-sabotage so you can complete your goals with less resistance.
8. Achieve Your Goals
Success is the result of doing the same things again (and again, and again). Ironically, the path to achieving your dreams can be a boring one, but you build strength of character and resilience along the way. Routine helps you consistently take small steps that eventually add up to massive achievements. Routine creates direction so your goals are kept in sight and not forgotten when things get tough.
Establishing an Effective Routine
Here is how to create your own steps to success:
1. Take the Time
The first thing you need to do is actually schedule time to plan your schedule. Grab a notebook and pen, escape distractions and start writing whatever you come up with in step 2.
2. Reflect on Your Goals
Spend time thinking about:
- How you want to spend time productively.
- Where you waste time.
- What your current routine is like.
- What you want to keep the same about your routine.
- What you want to change about your routine.
- What your long-term goals are.
- The ways your life will get better when you achieve your goals.
3. Translate Goals into Tasks
- Break down your biggest goal into smaller goals.
- Now break this down into actual tasks.
- A task is something you can ‘check’ off your list (plus, you get a little dopamine boost from that check of completion!)
- For example, the goal might be ‘Walk 2 miles per day’, the first task might be ‘map a walking route’ or ‘get comfy socks’ and ‘tell the family I am not available between 7:30 and 8:15 AM).
4. Schedule your Goals
- Print or draw a weekly calendar where you can add your new routines and tasks.
- Set regular times for your tasks and stack them together into named routines.
- Morning routines (e.g. hydrate, exercise, meditate, plan, etc.) are an immensely popular way to get all your priorities checked off at the beginning of the day. Setting you up for a positive day ahead with your body and mind primed for action.
- Evening routines (e.g. relaxing bath, a cup of soothing tea, journal, reflect, read, sleep, etc.) ensure your body is calm and ready for maximum rejuvenation while you sleep.
- Consistency speeds up the process of making the behavior automatic for your brain.
- All work and no play is boring and counterproductive - plan fun activities to look forward to and new ways to stimulate your mind.
Some days unexpected events get in the way of your tasks. Be kind to yourself if things don’t go as planned; reflect on your progress and honor your achievements. Hemp & Chamomile Tea can alleviate the pressure from a stressful day, and allows a full night-time reset, so you can start fresh the next day with enhanced motivation. Combine your relaxation ritual with this fragrant tea blend that prepares your mind and body for the next day.
“Remember that progress is progress, no matter how small.” – Dr. Sebi.
Creating a routine gives you conscious control over where your energy, and time, are spent. Through mindful planning and deliberate repetition, you move slowly, but surely, towards the things you want for your life. Are you in the driver’s seat of your life? If not, it’s time to take the wheel with a routine that navigates you to where you really want to go.
