The Importance of Routine

Do you feel like you just can’t keep up? Life keeps throwing things at you and you’re barely treading above water? I’ve been there girl and I’m here to give you some tips and tricks I’ve learned to help maintain a balanced lifestyle!

There are two very important aspects of Routine. Your physical and mental routine is what dictates your everyday lifestyle. In order to have the life of your dreams you must not only believe it is possible but you must also align your actions to allow room for your beliefs to come to fruition.

Throughout my social pages, suggestions, website, and materials my goal is to share with other women what has worked for me when trying to establish balance within my life in all aspects. As women we are told to be everything and nothing all at once, it’s impossible to be everyone’s cup of tea. However it is important that you like the flavor!

Establishing Your Routine

Every single person is living a different life than the next. I expect everyone’s routine to vary just as much! There are different priorities for each person and that’s what makes us all uniquely ourselves. Your current routine may be subconscious my goal is to help guide you to creating a more conscious and planned routine!

First things first you will need to determine those priorities. Write them out, pen and paper is your best friend for all things organization. If you are having a hard time determining your priorities let’s take it back a step. What are your top five goals right now? Still stuck? That’s totally okay and exactly why I am here! Let’s start with goal buckets, list a few goals under each of these buckets if you can (This will get easier the more you do it!). Career Goals, Relationship goals, Mental & Physical Health goals, Financial Goals, and Fun Goals! Once you have established what your goals are you will determine what you need to prioritize in order to achieve said goals! Keep this list of goals and priorities in a place you will see more often than just once. This can also be expressed via vison board!

The next step is to plan. Grab your calendar and assess what events you may have upcoming while also acknowledging that there are reoccurring events throughout the week as well. Now write it all out, visualize what your week looks like. I personally use a list style with time stamps for the entire day and then a physical color coded calendar. You may benefit from different styles such as digital calendars that show the events in color coded blocks! Try different styles until you find what works best for you and stick to it!

Planning to Give Yourself Grace

When establishing a routine it is easy to expect perfection, I do by default too don’t worry! This is where I would challenge you to rework your thought process. We know our bodies need breaks, we’re human. It is important to schedule your maintenance days rather than waiting until you break down. This gives you more control over the situation and you may have an easier time getting re-adjusted to your routine. Everyone has bad days, weeks, months, the important part is that you keep going!

What do I mean when I say schedule your maintenance breaks? It looks different for everyone! Maybe you would benefit from taking a scheduled PTO or unpaid day off of work for a mental health day. Another example is leaving space in your workout routine for flexibility. You can optimally schedule rest days in between to utilize as rest or catch up days if your schedule is out of wack that week! Maybe even a scheduled weekly meal plan based on what your day to day looks like. Example; planning to pick up dinner on a night you have leg day because you know you won’t have the energy to cook. This is setting yourself up for success by planning ahead, while also planning to give yourself grace!

Your routine is important as it is what establishes your life! However your routine is going to look different than the person next to you and your breaks are going to look differently too. Thank about what your average week looks like and journal about how you feel each day. Look back over your notes after a month or so and do you see any re-occurring patterns? Maybe you are continuously missing your Thursday workout because you’re having to work over every Wednesday. Switch up your routine and make Thursday a rest day if possible. Don’t force yourself into an existing mold, create your mold!