I struggle to maintain routine. Therefore, most of my life has been markedly chaotic. I want so badly to be good at all the things, all the time. How am I to do that however, when all the things are a lot things? Building routines is the key.
The books, “Atomic Habits” by James Clear and “The Lazy Genuis Way” by Kendra Adachi, changed my life and I highly recommend them. Read on to discover how I am applying some of these principles to my daily life to promote momentum in my days, restore calm to my brain, and decrease my self-loathing.
Focus on today, not the end goal-why instant gratification hinders building routines
This is a principle from James Clear. My ADHD brain really latched onto this. Instead of dreaming about being 30 pounds lighter, what if you just took the walk today? Furthermore, how nice is it to just think about what you have to do today. Replace the, “How will I ever make it” with, “I can make a good choice right now”. Stop dwelling on sustainability and just do the next right thing. Doing the next right thing is what produces the sustainability. Make sense?
Focusing on the process and not the goal has really helped my wellness mindset. I can just make a good decision right now instead of worrying how I’ll ever survive without another French fry.
Make it obvious and make it easy-when its okay to be lazy!
James Clear and Kendra Adachi both talk about this in their books. Kendra says to ask yourself, “What can I can do now to make [insert hard task] easier later?”. In addition, James Clear reminds us that ALL human brains prefer the path of least resistance. Wanting things to be easy doesn’t make you lazy-it makes you human! Shew! What a relief that was to read.
Immediately, I began telling my brain that doing the little things now would make life easier later. Do we all already know this? Yes. But sometimes, you just need to hear someone say it. That minute that it takes you to set out your blender bottle the night before will not only cue your brain to trigger the process of working out (make it obvious), but will also give you back a snippet of time in your morning (make it easy). Many little snippets, add up to lots of time saved.
Cue your brain-instant reminders for building routines
James Clear talks about leaving visual cues throughout your routines. This is to remind your brain to do [insert healthy habit] without any extra effort on your part.
This can be as easy as rearranging your environment to be obvious to your needs. Set your medicine bottle on the bathroom counter instead of keeping it in the kitchen and leave a cup near your sink so you can easily access water to take your meds. Another example is placing a box of scripture cards by your coffee maker to remind you to read one every morning while you make your coffee (a pre-established routine). If you want to build a new habit, give yourself a reminder for it in an obvious place that is already apart of your normal routine.
Reward and Consequences-treat yoself!
I could go on and on, but I will end with this. James Clear talks about setting up rewards or consequences to motivate yourself to establish a new habit. I tried to apply this recently as follows:
“If I snooze my alarm, instead of getting up the first time it goes off, I will not make myself coffee”
In the spirit of full disclosure, I need to change this, cause your girl will always find time for coffee. But you get the idea. It did help remind me of my goal every morning.
You could also set a reward for yourself such as,
“If I eat a healthy breakfast every morning Monday-Friday, I will reward myself by buying a special coffee on Saturday morning”
(There seems to be a lot of consequence/reward happenings around coffee in my brain).
Give Grace- building routines is hard!
You will fail. Just try not to fail twice. When establishing a new routine, try not to skip it more than once (insight from James Clear).
Equally important of a point is Kendra Adachi’s reminders to live in our seasons. Things will change. Be adaptable. Prioritize what’s important to you right now and put your energy and focus there. When your priorities change (and trust me, if you continue to live, they will) then you know how to make a new plan.
Check out my post here for tips on getting back to your routine when life happens and your routines don’t for awhile.
In summary, building routines and systems helps you be prepared for the daily grind. It helps you focus on what matters and stay consistent, which ultimately increases calm and contentment in your daily life.