Re-Starting Routines

I think we can all agree that one of the hardest parts of taking on a new habit or hobby or anything really, is simply to start it. Once you’ve started it’s easier to keep going and usually not as hard as our minds made it out to be in the first place.

But something I’ve realized is that the start doesn’t only come in the beginning. Throughout the course of a habit or hobby or goal you will inevitably reach a slow down or slump and you will need to start again.

This concept of re-starting is what allows us to keep moving forward towards our goals. And something I’ve taken on this month is re-starting my routines and habits. (I also have a post on Manufacturing Motivation that is related to this topic).

In my Tour of My Daily Planner blog post I mentioned how I have one section for my morning, day and night routines, and I mark off which ones I’ve done.

In this post I’ll share those routines and how I’ve been able to re-start them.

Morning:

• Brush my teeth
• Wash my face
• Drink Water
• Stretches
• Eat breakfast
• Take Vitamins

I purposefully broke up my morning routine in this order because the first three things can all be done in five minutes. I have a post on mini-habits that goes into this concept in more detail. But basically, my goal is even if I can’t do all of it, I try to at least do the first three since it will only take five minutes.

And for the most part I do, the part of the routine that I really fell off on following was the stretches since they take longer, but I’ve gotten myself to re-start them recently by mentally allotting out time for them.

I set-aside five minutes to do my stretching routine, with the thought process being, these five minutes are specifically for this activity alone and it’s only five minutes so it’s really not that big of a time commitment.

Re-starting, much like starting, is mostly a mental exercise to remind yourself why you started and why it’s important to you to keep going.

As for eating breakfast and taking vitamins, I usually eat breakfast and I’ve naturally started taking vitamins again since my hair and nails haven’t been in the best shape and one of the vitamins I take is Biotin which helps with that.

 

Day:

• Smile/Laugh genuinely
• Drink 1 bottle of water
• 15 minutes of movement
• Seed Cycle

I just want to take a moment to talk about the first one: smile/laugh genuinely. This item stemmed from the fact that I wanted to add more joyful moments in my life. So each day, if it doesn’t naturally happen, I try to seek out something that will make me genuinely happy and bring a smile to my face whether it be looking at funny tumblr posts or watching videos on youtube, just something that adds a joyful moment to my day.

In this category the two items I have the hardest time with is drinking a bottle of water and 15 minutes of movement (on non-workout days). (I seed cycle pretty consistently so I don’t worry about that one too much).

In order to re-start my hydration goal, I will simply drink half a bottle of water in one go because it puts me halfway towards meeting that goal. Since I often forget to hydrate throughout the day, at this point I just drink as much of it as I can at once. Thinking about achieving this goal differently has helped me reach it more consistently.

Re-starting my 15 minutes of movement on non-workout days has been easier now that the weather is getting better. It’s easier to go on a quick fifteen-minute walk outside now. I also push myself by setting a fifteen-minute timer and just running through a choreography or two until the timer dings.

Another great way of thinking about it that I saw recently is: the time will pass anyway, so might as well make use of it the way you want.

Those fifteen minutes on the timer will pass anyway, so I might as well use that time to get up and move my body.

 

Night:

• Brush my teeth
• Floss
• Wash my face with a cleanser

Honestly, this is the hardest routine for me to maintain because once I’m in bed I have a hard time getting myself out, especially to wash my face properly.

To re-start this I’m once again using the mini-habits method. I tell myself the least I can do is brush my teeth. Once I’m already in the bathroom and brushing my teeth, it’s easier to convince myself to floss and wash my face than it is if I was still in bed.

There are also days where brushing my teeth is all I do, but it’s all about baby steps. All of the routines I’ve mentioned in this post are things I want to do, but I know there will be days where some of them just don’t get done.

The other takeaway is not to be too hard on myself. Every day is different, and consistency can only go so far in the face of the different circumstances every day brings.

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Overall, re-starting is an important step to completing goals. The start at the beginning isn’t the only one you’ll encounter and that’s okay. Re-starting can also help make things feel fresh again when they start feeling old.

And I’ve decided this month that my routines could use a fresh start!

I hope this blog post helped and provided some insight, please leave a comment! And thanks for reading!