Behold the power of the daily routine

6 July 2011

I think habits and routines are incredibly important for making life easier and achieving what you want. The routines I have created have helped me, a naturally messy person, maintain a semblance of order in my home.

Some habits are daily, like running and emptying the dishwasher, wiping down the bathroom fixtures and cleaning off my desk. Others are tied to circumstances, rather than day or time of day, like my scooping poop in the backyard immediately after I walk my dog.

Sporadic activities can be made into solid habits. But daily routines? Those are the ones that really have power.

This was brought home to me recently when I thought about the two daily routines I’ve been absolutely passionate about: getting my inbox down to zero messages every day, and exercising every morning. (I actually sometimes let myself off the email hook on the weekends, but I usually regret it on Monday morning.)

I’ve been exercising daily since June 13. This feels absolutely miraculous to me. I was having the hardest time getting myself to exercise at my usual time, which is after work. I was just too busy and tired. So I decided to try doing it first thing in the morning. It’s worked out so well that even on a day where I overslept a little, I managed to squeeze it in.

There are two factors at play here that make daily routines so powerful:

  • It’s easy to build a chain. If you’re doing something every single day, it feels like a bigger deal to miss a day.
  • The benefits are so apparent. When you do something daily, you don’t let a backlog build up. And when there’s no backlog, it’s easier to do. This works beautifully for email (and is one of the reasons I love my inbox zero policy). But it even applies to exercise—if I keep up with it, I stay in shape and exercising doesn’t become difficult.

Of course the difficulty comes when your routine is completely broken, like mine will be next week when I spend a week visiting my parents. Perhaps I’ll squeeze some early-morning exercise in (though I’m not traveling with my Wii Fit, my preferred way of exercising). But if I can’t, the key will be in jumping right back into the routine when I return home.

Knowing how great it’s been to get my exercise finished before the day even begins, I have high hope I’ll get right back in the saddle. I’ll post here and let you know (accountability is powerful too!).

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Comments

I totally agree with your getting your emails in your inbox down to zero each day. It becomes way too overwhelming to see a ton of outstanding emails in your inbox. I just cleared out my inbox (I had about 75 emails that I just deleted without opening – after scanning the sender’s name and subject first, of course) and deleted and filed older emails. I brought my inbox email count down from about 400 to less than 30. My time and energy is just too valuable to waste on a full inbox. I can’t imagine what my desk would have looked like if I had had all of that outstanding email in physical paper mail! Must be more ruthless in decluttering my inbox daily.

Melissa_M July 6, 2011 06:34 PM

Thanks for your comment, Melissa. It’s interesting that you use the word ruthless wrt decluttering your inbox. To me, it’s the opposite. I feel like I’m doing such a kindness to myself and to the people who send me email by focusing on my email daily and replying in a timely manner. I applaud your dedication to keeping your inbox decluttered!

Janine Adams July 15, 2011 09:36 AM

Routines to me are boring, but I agree, they make like much more easier and simple knowing what your going to do the next day. Juggling kids in the routine to me however can be much more stressful since their school events, practices, and appointments can come at any time. Any suggestions?

Amanda Thomas July 26, 2011 03:52 PM

Amanda, it can be hard to integrate unexpected events into routines. I think establishing solid first-thing-in-the-morning and last-thing-at-night routines can be really helpful. Even if you have to get up a little earlier (or stay up later) because the interior of your day is wacky, you can still get stuff done.

That said, getting enough sleep is important too!

Thanks so much for your comment.

Janine Adams July 27, 2011 05:23 PM

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About Janine

Hello! I’m Janine Adams — a certified professional organizer based in St. Louis, and the creator of Peace of Mind Organizing®.

I love order, harmony + beauty, but I believe that the way that you feel about yourself and your home is what truly matters.

If you’re ready to de­clutter with a purpose and add more ease to your life, you’ve found the right blog — and you’ve found the right company.

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