Routine is good. It’s one way to be more efficient. Why? Because we don’t have to ask ourselves what to do, we just do it. We have a limited number of choices each day. Routines conserve our decision-making energy for the most important things.
Habits are therefore excellent for our mental health. The end and beginning of the year are a good time to think about this and review our habits to feel better. I take a tour of the different time scales that punctuate our lives: day, week and year. For each time-space, I invite you to reflect on your current situation, then measure your level of satisfaction and finally add a new habit, however short and simple it may be, to make you feel better.
The daily routine
Our daily rhythm follows two periods: work (usually during the week) and relaxation (weekends and vacations). Every morning, I get up, get dressed and open the curtains. It’s said that our first moments guide our entire day. Some people therefore have very “healthy” habits: meditation, sport or drinking a large glass of water as soon as they get up. I stopped listening to the radio more than 20 years ago, as listing all catastrophes in the morning is indeed a bad start. Social networking isn’t the best way to start your day, and neither is e-mail, a stressful way start to your day. So I concentrate on my breakfast and getting everyone ready to be on time. I can’t go running on an empty stomach.
Your daily routine helps you to go along with a minimum of effort every day. Imagine if every morning you ate at a different place, changed your route, had to ask yourself what you should do to start the day. Even if we sometimes feel on autopilot (especially with a lack of sleep), we’re mostly in energy-saving mode.
- What are your morning habits?
- Do you have daytime routines at work?
- And in the evening?
- What habits put a smile on your face?
- Which ones increase your stress level (positively or negatively)?
- What could you add or replace in these routines?
Here are a few simple habits to get you started:
- Drink a glass of water
- Breathe consciously for 1 minute (or more)
- Thanking someone
- Putting your phone away
- Look around (clouds, trees, cars)
- Walk outside for 5 minutes
- Smiling at someone
- Take the stairs instead of the elevator
- Keep a gratitude journal (write down something you’re proud of or grateful for)
- Share a good moment of your day
- Do some stretching
- Yawning
- Laughing
The idea is to counter certain biases in our brains. Negative events have a greater impact on us than positive ones. By repeating and creating more positive events, we balance out this natural tendency towards pessimism.
Weekly rhythm
For most of us, the weeks follow each other: work (or school) for 5 days, then 2 days off. People who work flexible hours also have a certain routine, even if it’s out of sync.
The weekly routine is mainly punctuated by alternating work and rest. You may also have sporting or cultural activities: swimming pool on Tuesday evenings, yoga on Thursday mornings, painting on Saturday afternoons.
- What are your weeks like?
- What’s your favourite day? Why?
- How can you add more of what you like to your week?
It’s not always possible to add things to your week, but dig deeper: what’s your state of mind? If this is your workout, what do you particularly enjoy? The idea of taking care of yourself, the socializing, the physical effort? You may be able to add this element in a minimal version at other times of the week.
Weeks go by and they look the same. After a few months, I often have the feeling that I’m going round in circles, that my work isn’t progressing, or not as quickly as I’d like. Since last August, I’ve been keeping a diary of my week. I take 15 minutes every Friday to write down what I’ve accomplished. I also set myself goals for the following week. An intention I don’t often achieve. Every week I can ask myself, why didn’t I do everything? There weren’t necessarily too many of them, so I prioritized other things during the week, which was very instructive. The format is simple, paper or digital. To help me anchor this habit, I set a reminder in my diary. For me, it’s a good way of structuring my week.
Annual routines
The annual rhythm is punctuated by events:
- the seasons, which change some of our routines,
- collective celebrations such as the change of year (calendar or lunar), Easter, Diwali, Hajj, Ramadan, Christmas,
- individual key dates such as birthdays,
- recurring events such as the school calendar, the end of the tax year or performance appraisals.
All these events are opportunities to celebrate and take time out. There must be ten or so a year. What kind of thinking do you do in these moments? Do you have any personal or family routines on these dates?
Good resolutions are intentions we set for our year. To help you turn them into levers of satisfaction, make sure you have SMART objectives. Then let go of your goals and focus on your journey.
If you don’t know where to start, you could try out the 5S, a simple and effective tool. I’ll tell you how to tidy up a drawer (or cupboard) in your home, or how to 5S your hobbies (your weekly routine, that is).
Pictures by Sewupari Studio