Daily Routines for a Successful Life

By Donna Stark

I am a pretty structured person whofollows a routine for just about everything in my life. I have a morning routine, a lunch routine, and an evening routine. I have a routine for going to bed and then again for waking up. I have a routine for my health, my fitness, and even for the time I spend in the grocery store. Actually, I probably even have a routine that I use to establish new routines … I don’t really know anymore. So to say I am a creature of habit? Well that would simply be stating the obvious.

Benefits of Routines

I may be a little overboard with my routines, but I know that I am not alone. For the most part, everyone has a routine that they follow in some way or another. Routines provide security and structure to so many people. In a very basic way, they help to make sense out of life, but more specifically, they can help with the following.

• Saves mental energy - One of the more convenient reasons why routines are important is that it saves you from needing to make a ton of decisions every day. You already know what you are going to be doing and what needs to be accomplished. You don’t need to pause while trying to decide what to do next and you certainly won’t become paralyzed by over-analyzing every choice.
• Builds good habits - You wash your face before going to bed, you take your vitamins every morning, or you enjoy an evening walk after dinner each night. We build many good habits along the way by making these types of choices and repeating them often enough that they become second nature.
• Increases efficiency - One of the common things we all seem to struggle with is time, or not having enough of it, and that’s where a routine can help. A routine is something that you do repetitively until it actually becomes a habit. Once this happens, you do not need to think about it to act and this will increase efficiency in your life. By doing things without consciously thinking about them, you will actually save time in your day.
• Improves your performance - Establishing a routine will help you become better at doing certain things because you are doing them regularly every day. For example, if you start a routine of running every evening, you will become a better runner. If you start a routine of making your bed every morning, you will become better at that too.

Want to start a new routine? The first step is to decide what you want to achieve in life and then choose a behavior that will complement it. Today is a brand new day and it is never too late to start a new routine!

To learn more about your health, wellness, and fitness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic in Spartanburg, S.C.