So I am sure I am not alone in finding the demands of daily life a difficult balancing act, what with work, running a home, child care, care for elderly relatives, and numerous other responsibilities that we all face it can be challenging. This is where a simple routine can come in handy and can help to reduce stress and lead to a more relaxed day. A simple routine is a series of actions or tasks that are performed regularly, often daily, it helps us create a sense of control and order in our lives. The key focus of a simple routine is simplicity, enabling us to do it effortlessly and easily. It took me years to figure this out. It was only through debilitating chronic illness that I finally added simplicity to my routine. Before that, it just felt like another endless to-do list that I could beat myself up with for failing to complete. Not anymore, read on to find out the advantages of a simple routine and how to create one.

So what are the advantages of a simple routine?

Reduces stress and anxiety

A good routine creates predictability and control. They can serve as coping mechanisms at times of high stress. For example, my daily yoga, which is very much part of my routine, allows me to decompress and reset regardless of how bad the day has been, and was genuinely a life saver during difficult periods.

Promotes healthy habits

Whether you want to drink more water, exercise more, eat healthily or any other thing that helps maintain your well-being, having a simple routine can help promote this.

Can improve your mental health

Having a simple routine can help improve your mental health as it helps provide a sense of accomplishment and build healthy habits.

Supports physical health

As already stated it can help with taking regular physical activity and can help improve sleep.

Steps to creating a simple routine

So the advantages of a simple routine are clear. Read on to find out how to go about creating a simple routine. Here are my top tips:

1. Assess Your Current Habits

You can use my How to Spend Time Where it Matters post to help you. Essentially though you want to reflect on your daily activities and identify any time-wasters and any productive habits.

2. Be clear about what you want your routine to look like and why

Here is about thinking about what your priorities are, and these are going to be different for everyone, is it more time with your children? More time to go to the gym? More time to start your side hustle? Time to go see your favourite bands?

3. Create a morning routine

Again here you must do you. What are your priorities? What is going to set you up for a good day? For me, I like to exercise and have a good breakfast. That works with my priorities which are long-term health. Having experienced poor health and the limitations that it brings, this will always be a priority for me. On a workday this is pretty much my morning routine, I don’t have much time for anything else other than packing my lunch and heading to work, but on a weekend that day-to-day routine varies slightly.

4. Structure your workday

This one can be more challenging depending on the role that you do. I appreciate we don’t all have control over our days and a lot is planned by the companies that we work for, I include myself in that category. However, do you think about how you structure your workday? For example, I tend to pencil in the harder parts of my day in the morning when I focus better. If you are someone that doesn’t get going until lunchtime you may want to do this in the afternoon. I also have an admin power hour in my week where I can catch up with all those smaller admin tasks. Again I put this in the morning as that is when I work best, and therefore get much more done than the same hour at the end of the day. So the idea here is to figure out what works best for you, whether that is morning or afternoon, and structure your work day accordingly.

5. Establish an evening routine

Having an evening routine is essential, especially if you have been at work all day. It allows you to relax and prepare for sleep. Incorporating relaxing activities such as reading, journaling, or yoga can help you destress and reduce anxiety. You can read additional tips for a good sleep routine here.

The other thing that is helpful as part of your evening routine is to prep for the next day, especially if the next day is a work day. This means that you can start your day off in a calm and relaxed way. No more hastily making lunch or searching for your keys. This will make your mornings much calmer, leading to a more successful day.

6. Consider a different routine at the weekend

So as said earlier my routine varies at the weekend, though I still like to have a routine in place. I find fit works best if I stick to the same one I have on a workday, but everything is just a little (or sometimes a lot) slower. If I don’t have a routine at the weekend I find I can just fritter it away without doing anything that gives me value or meaning.

7. Reflect and adjust your routine

Finally, it is unlikely that you are going to hit on your perfect routine the first time that you try. It is also likely that your routine will need to change and adapt depending on the seasons of your life. For example, if you have children the routine may be different between term time and school holidays. This makes reflecting on your routine important, continuing to ask which bits work for you and which bits don’t, and then adjusting. Eventually, this step will also become part of your routine.

So having a simple routine can have many benefits including, reducing stress, improving physical and mental health, and helping us to achieve our goals. Hopefully, you will be keen to start to improve your routine, if so start small and build it up gradually.