Routines Really Matter

“Most of life is lived in routine, the man and woman who learns to make peace with routines and responsibilities and obligations will make the greatest contributions in the long run.”

~Resilient Life by Gordon Macdonald.

Do you feel like all you do is run and can never catch up? It’s as if you just keep getting further behind in everything and it takes all you have to keep on keeping on. There is the never ending pile of laundry, mail, clutter, figuring out what’s for dinner, paperwork, errand running, work... And sometimes you catch yourself thinking, “What’s the point? Why should I even try to catch up?”

What if I told you I know the key to success when it comes to keeping up? I happen to have a little secret. But (of course there’s a but), you have to do it everyday. Every. Single. Day. If you do, you will have more free time...more freedom. You could pursue what you wanted to and you wouldn’t always feel like you’re drowning.

Do you want to know the secret? It’s a daily routine. Why do so many of us struggle with sticking to routines? I’ve heard some say routines are too restrictive, they feel confined and feel routines take away their freedom.

Here’s what I’ve found personally: Having routines gave me more time. I’m not rushing around trying to get things done because I’ve already done them. WHAT? I’ll be honest, I used to not always be this way... routines? Ugh. When I was young I wanted to throw caution into the wind and run wild. Routines were not for me. Well, what I learned was I wasted a lot of time. When I finally realized I had more freedom with routines, I started to thank God for routines.

I have a morning, afternoon and evening routine. I also have weekly routines and monthly routines. I know when I’m doing something and I get it done.

Now let’s be realistic. Life will throw curve balls, it always does, and there are times I can’t complete a routine. I have to allow flexibility to them. I might have to switch up my day or skip a routine because of an emergency. But, what I’ve found is that because most everything is done, skipping one or a few routines doesn’t put me too far behind. I can catch up quick or start picking up where I left off.

Building a routine is simple. I would recommend starting small and begin with a morning routine (you most likely have a simple one so, you can add to it). Do that for a bit then incorporate an evening routine. We each have different lives and different needs, so you'll need to make up routines that work for you.

Keep going from there. You’ll be amazed how these routines will become habit and habit becomes excellence.

Here’s a sample of my morning routine:

Get up/pull up hair

Do my little exercises (20 squats, 20 triceps dips, 20 ab leg thingies, 20 other ab thingies, 15 pushups)

Make bed/get dressed

Brush teeth, moisturize and make-up if needed

Swish and swipe bathroom (a fly lady trick...check her out for routines)

Start Laundry

Wake up house

Make breakfast

Plan dinner (take meat out to defrost, etc)

Dishes

Time with God

Now this usually takes me about 45 minutes (excluding time with God). But I get so much done in those 45 minutes. I do this routine every single day, seven days a week. (BTW, I’m a night shower gal, so please don’t think I’m stinky. And yes, I do laundry every single day because my family is so large.)

I have a weekly cleaning routine that looks like this:

Monday: Bless home (fly lady trick~ consists of cleaning things that need to be done each week)

Tuesday: Go day (groceries, errands and I try to schedule appointments on this day)

Wednesday: Extra (water plants, pet care, extra cooking, catch up)

Thursday: Zone day (I deep clean one part of my home. I have it divided into 5 zones. Another fly lady trick)

Friday: Paper work day (Bills, grocery lists, letters, organize purse)

Saturday and Sunday: Take off and enjoy family

I’ve found that every time I add something to my routine, it helps several areas of my life. When I added exercises to my morning routine my morning changed. I’m not usually a morning person and it used to take me a little while to wake up. Exercising first thing wakes me up, energizes me and gets me moving. I also struggled exercising and would dread it all day. Doing it first thing gets it out of the way. ~Win win.

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self discipline.”

2 Timothy 1:7

Blooming Challenge: Take this week to make up your first routine. Write it out or download an app to help. Watch how much time you free up in your life by utilizing daily routines.

If you need help in this area, take a look at flylady http://flylady.net/. This website really helped me, but I did make it my own after a while.

Also, Atomic Habits by James Clear is a great read on how to develop habits and routines.

You can also contact me for a coaching session and I will help you on your way. Visit my website for more information https://kellee5.wixsite.com/website