Life can be very busy and it can seem impossible to move your goals forward at times. If you have a job and children it can feel even harder to do so. One way that helps is to have established routines.

Having a routine, and sticking to it, is an incredible way to develop new habits and helps us reach a goal. But we need to remember it will take time to develop these new routines so don’t be too hard on yourself.

It is important to note that we will hit the usually obstacles associated with any change. But when we remind ourselves of the benefits, and our why the change or goal to occur, it helps to keep us moving forward. In this way we can find our motivation to continue.

Why We Need To Create New Routines.

There are many benefits to having routines in our life. Morning and evening routines can help keep the show on the road and if done correctly can reduce our stress. Routines in work help us feel more productive and get things done on time.

I’ve spoken more about the benefits of having a routine and how you can establish morning and evening routines that fit your life here. Questions on this blog will help you decide what you need to include and when.

7 Ideas To Include When Creating Your Routine.

The first three of these will help with your mental and physical help and are part of your basic self-care routine. I discuss these in more detail in my book and workbook. I’ve also added in a couple to help uplift you and help with rewiring the brain away from the negative bias. The last two suggestions help us to work on our goals.

The Usual Suspects.

1 Sleep

Let’s start with one of my basics of self care! If we want our day to go well we need to start with a good night’s sleep. Sleep is so important to our mental and physical health. It’s important we get between 7-9 hours sleep a night. Children and teens will need more.

We can end up many problems when we don’t get enough sleep. But starting with a proper nights’ sleep can aid our productivity, better memory, attention and focus. Plus lower stress and inflammation levels to name but a few benefits.

I discuss 11 ways you can help yourself get a better night’s sleep here. So your first step is to prioritize your sleep and if you have children their sleep routine too.

2 Start Your Day Off Right

Make sure you eat some breakfast. Never skip breakfast even if you have to have something quick or on the go in the car (we have to be realistic here when we have kids). Some protein would be best if you can as it helps with sugar levels and decreases cravings.

Watch the caffeine and sugar in the foods you consume during the day also. Try to cut caffeine out by lunch-time and consume 8 glasses of water. The caffeine will interfere with your sleep routine and dehydrate you. The water will rehydrate you and keep you more alert.

Caffeine interferes with the second control for sleep called the sleep hunger drive (homeostatic sleep drive). We need this sleep drive to build naturally during the day. So that by the time we reach bed it has built up enough that we need to sleep.Remember to speak to your doctor or dietician before making major changes to your diet and exercise routine.

3 Exercise

There is plenty of research that supports the emotional and mental health benefits of exercise. These benefits range from boosting self-esteem to alleviating symptoms of mild to moderate depression.

It really doesn’t matter what type of physical activity you do as long as you get your body moving for least 20 to 30 minutes five days a week. This can be broken down even further into 10 minute segments if you find yourself rushed for time.

You can even get creative about getting more active. Move around the home and garden. Get a step counter and start monitoring what you already do. Remember housework and gardening is hard work. Hovering, all those trips up and down the stairs, mowing the lawn, weeding, can all add up to increased steps.

Slip in a walk at lunch time or online class if you work from home. It’s a good idea to get out of the office or workplace at lunchtime. Get out in nature and enjoy the change of scenery and fresh air. It’s not always possible to get to the gym before or after work so walking at lunchtime could be one solution.

Get the whole family involved with some walks at the weekend. Or walk or jog around the pitch while your child takes part in their practice. Get another parent involved and you can have a chat and good laugh along the way.

Help With Shifting Our Thinking.

4 Have A Daily Meditation Practice.

The stresses and pressures from society demands that our attention and focus change quickly. We are becoming more addicted to technology, most of the time without knowing it. This creates more mental habits of distraction, attention switching, and places more stress on our mental and physical systems.

When we are not paying attention we are being ‘unmindful’. In other words our body may be present but our mind is elsewhere. Meditation will help you re-engage, become more aware and attentive to what is going on around you. Mediation is in effect attention training. We are cultivating this new habit. Just like we teach a puppy to walk on a lead we can teach our brain to become more aware.

So even in this attention seeking and busy world we can use meditation tools to refocus our minds. You can use many different forms of meditation. So if you tried one once and it didn’t suit you don’t be put off. Try another form or combine it with exercise such as yoga or Tai Chi.

You can find a number of podcasts with a variety of meditations that you can try for free here on my podcast including a 3 minute breather for those with no time at all.

5 Listen To Uplifting Podcasts Or Read Positive Books.

Becoming more discerning about what we consume in terms of social media, TV, media, etc., is vital to our mental and physical health. Expanding our minds keeps us not only up to date but also more open-minded and can help with Alzheimer’s. By setting a goal to read or listen to a book or podcast each day we are expanding our mind and knowledge. Your thinking will change and you’ll see the world differently.

Do yourself the favour of eliminating as many distractions as you can. You know the ones that only keep you thinking more negatively about yourself. Switch this time to your goal of reading or listening to something uplifting every day. There are many books available that focus on a positive reading per day. Or you can create a list of audio books on a range of topics you will listen to during the year.

Work On Your Goals

6 Review Your Goals Regularly.

Are the goals you are working towards still relevant today as they were when you originally set them? It’s important we review our goals at least once a year and either eliminate those no longer relevant or place them in a parking lot. These can still be reviewed at a later date.

I always recommend that we review our goals each month. Plus complete a weekly and daily review of our steps (tasks) towards completing them. But I would also recommend that you do a three month or six month more in dept review. You can find a series of questions to help you with this process here.

Look at your goals across all areas of your life. Where do they fall (areas)? Do they affect multiple areas of your life? In what way do these goals help or serve your life?

I’d only pick three top priority goals from three areas of your life to work on each year. You can have more goals but try to make sure one of these three goals are completed before adding in another goal.

7 Take One Small Step Towards Your Goal Every Day.

It’s important for our motivation to take even one small step towards our goal each day. That way we feel we are accomplishing something for ourselves not just for other people. Be realistic about what you can achieve in a day. Prioritize what needs to be done. Delete, delegate and minimize the amount of tasks you have to complete.

Make sure you are breaking your overall goals down into small steps that can be completed. If the actionable step (task) is too large you are just setting yourself up for failure. You’ll lose motivation and won’t continue. So make sure the daily actionable steps (tasks) take you no longer than 20 to 25 minutes to complete.

If you try to do too many tasks in the day you will only end up fatigued. Or worse burnt out. Your willpower and motivation will wane, your ability to think and make healthy decisions will diminish. There is simply only so much of you and your time to go around.

Work With Me.

Remember you are allowed to ask for support. No one is an island. If you need extra support then you can also work with me. We all struggle with stress and overwhelm from time to time. If you find this has become a problem for you and you’d like some support then schedule an appointment with me.