ARE YOU STRUGGLING TO MAINTAIN A HEALTHY ROUTINE?

Last week I polled you guys on my instagram stories and so many of you (hundreds!) said you were struggling to maintain a routine during isolation.

So I thought this would be a good time to give you my best tips and a little kick in the bum 😉

If you are a person who has been struggling to establish a routine then this is your chance to TAKE ACTION on it.

You can close this email, go about your day and continue getting the same result as always, or you can pull out a piece of paper and start implementing real change. It's up to you! 

HOW TO CREATE YOUR ROUTINE:

1. THE NON-NEGOTIABLES

First, write down the things that you must get done in a day. So if you're still going to work or working from home this would be mapping out your "work schedule" and what exactly those hours of the day look like. If you have kids that need nap times or school help or dogs that need walking include this in your list of non-negotiables.

2. THE MORNING ROUTINE

Next, if you don't already have a solid "morning routine" in place now's the time to establish one to two things that you could REALISTICALLY get done before your day begins that would make you feel good.

DO NOT:
🚫 try to do what you see or hear other people doing
🚫 try to implement a long list of new habits all at once
🚫 choose something that you think you "should" do, but that you don't actually enjoy

Answer this:  "If I could only do ONE thing each morning to start my day off right and feel really good I would choose to __________"

That should give you an idea of something you'd like to implement. Only choose 1-2 things.

It doesn't have to be an hour-long "morning routine" but more like a few sacred moments for yourself before you dive into work, phone calls, the news, and all the other crap that's going to influence your energy and mood.

It's really important that YOU take control of your energy and mood before you let the rest of the world jump in and dictate it for you.

3. THE ALARMS

Now that you've established the 1-2 things you want to do fro yourself in the morning, it's time to re-evaluate your bed time and wake up time.

Waking up right before you need to be on a call or having to rush through getting ready for the day is one of the best ways to give yourself chronic stress.

If you begin the day rushing you immediately spike your cortisol levels, send your body into fight or flight, and then start consuming information from your boss, the news, social media, and your email inbox that will keep your body in stress response mode all day.

Get strict with your bed times and wake up early enough to have EXTRA time to do your mini morning routine.

4. THE MEAL TIMES

Now you've got a bed time, morning alarm, mini morning routine, and several non-negotiables. Next is FOOD!

If you're stuck at home it's really easy to feel like you can just eat whenever and don't need to worry about scheduling your meals - which is true... but will likely lead to things like skipping meals, eating non-stop, snacking a bunch and then not feeling hungry for the actual meal you were planning on making etc. 

Go back to your non-negotiables list / work hours and program in your meals!

Account for the time it takes to prepare , cook, eat, and clean up the meal.

If you only want to take an hour lunch break maybe some part of your lunch will need to be prepped the day before. If you don't want to wake up super early perhaps you need to have your smoothie or overnight oats pre-made in the fridge  - these are all things to consider.

Schedule in your main three meals for the day. Know what you're going to make, what time you're going to eat and how long your breaks will be.

5. THE ME-TIME

Lastly, you'll want to schedule in some "me-time." This will likely be after work or in the evening but you still need to block it off as part of your schedule.

Where can you take 30, 60, 90 minutes to just focus on yourself and do what makes you happy?

This does NOT need to be a "productive" or "healthy" behaviour.

This can be anything you want it to be - Netflix, reading, painting, making Tiktoks, baking something, taking a bath, journaling, dancing around the house - whatever!

Just be sure to block off a chunk of time dedicated to doing what you want or you'll get sucked into working all day or scrolling mindlessly on your phone.

If you're still with me, I hope you've written down numbers 1-5 and are going to start creating your schedule!

It's important to actually write down your schedule and keep it somewhere you can see it each day so that you stick to it. 

Block off time frames for each of these five elements and start following it this week. 

If you find that something's not working, switch it up and try again. 

I really hope you found this helpful!