Lessons on the Power of Routine: 5 Benefits

By Bert Brown

The major causes of life stresses are changes – divorces, deaths, major illnesses, marriage, births. The major causes of work stresses are often out of your control.

The power of routine is that it minimizes changes and you can control it. So, it makes sense that a huge way to reduce and minimize stress is to have a routine.

Routines are more than just what you do in the morning – though a great morning routine really sets up your day to be productive. Routines can be how your family spends the weekend, what you do for your work or the steps you take to get ready to sleep in the evening.

Your routines can also work against you. They can prevent you from getting work done, eating the right foods, getting exercise, or spending time on activities that are bad for your mental or physical health.

The power of routine, like good habits, is that it reduces decision fatigue. It is estimated that the average adult makes about 35,000 decisions each day. Researchers at Cornell University estimate we make 226.7 decisions each day on food alone!

With a habit (good or bad), you don’t need to put a lot of thought into it. You just do it because you are used to it – you have conditioned your brain’s autopilot. There is less conscious decision making.

When you have a routine there is less decision making because you already know what you are going to do. There is a path. There is certainty to your routine because you control it.

And with this certainty there is less stress.

Master your Mindset for Greater Success and Happiness

The mind works in mysterious ways. However, there are proven strategies and techniques that truly happy and successful people use every day.

Family Routines

When we were kids, our parents taught us routines. Some of these were outright – they guided us through a bedtime routine or a morning routine. There were routines during the school year and there were routines during the summers.

Other routines were taught by default. We saw how our parents went about their day. They were modeling how they spent their time. And we were watching and learning.

As kids we didn’t know any better. We were still developing. However, the repetition of routine was comforting and secure. We learned to know what was coming and what we needed to do as part of the routine and we accepted it.

As parents, we establish routines to make it easier (for us) to get through all the activities we need to do for or with our children.

If we are doing things differently every day and never get a routine established, our children get confused because there is never any certainty. They don’t know what is coming and then it makes it harder to learn the specific activities that are part of the routines.

When life is changing all the time for adults it is hard. So for children who are still developing it is especially hard. That’s why routines are probably even more important for kids as they are integral to their development.

This huge change in routine because of the COVID-19 has been really difficult on kids (yes, adults too). However, any conversations on how this will affect the mental attitude, developmental impact, and longer term repercussions is mostly centered on children not adults.

Holiday Routines

When you were growing up you also had holiday routines. Without these holiday routines, an otherwise totally unstructured day, long weekend, or couple weeks break would make it challenging to get through it all.

It’s tough enough already with a change from the regular scheduled routine plus family all together at once plus extended family and travel etc.

Can you define the holiday routines you are doing? Do you actually enjoy them?

Are there enough routines to satisfy everyone? Or are there too many routines that are going on as multiple families have all brought their own holiday routines to the table?

These holiday routines can be awesome. Some the parents look forward to and others the kids look forward to. But because of the changing dynamics of family through addition and subtraction of family members and the various stages in life of the family, some of these routines make the holidays more stressful.

Here are 4 lessons to consider that I’ve been using to make holiday routines less stressful (while these are personal for me, perhaps one may help for you):

• Just say no

  While I’m not necessarily advocating that you don’t participate and isolate yourself in your room, I am saying that a family discussion need to happen if multiple members are feeling stressed about either a certain type of holiday routine (safety or health reasons for example) or how many routines are taking place (always go, go, go on top of preparation time for other routines). Sometimes a routine needs to be eliminated.

• Build in white space

  Schedule down time each day for all. Make dedicated time for reading, naps, or quiet time (headphones for those who want to listen to something).

• Re-evaluate at various stages

  We all go through various stages in life from diapers to collecting social security. When families have lots of small kids there may be routines that we’re still doing when those same kids are in their late teens just because that’s how it has always been. It’s ok to ditch old holiday routines that just don’t make any sense anymore. It’s ok to create new holiday routines that excites more of the family. Continually re-evaluate holiday routines throughout life (especially when there are life changes).

• “Embrace the suck”

  There are other ways to say this, but this old military saying is easy to remember. If your partner or a parent has a holiday routine that means the world to them, but you could care less, do it anyway. Smile and don’t talk it down. You are spending time with a loved one making them happy.

Work Routines

The military has routines they follow to the letter. That’s why they are able to get a lot done in a short amount of time.

Airline pilots have a routine every single flight. They have a preflight checklist routine they follow even after going through it hundreds of times. When an error occurs or a warning indicator lights up, they have a checklist routine to determine the seriousness of the issue and the steps they need to take.

How many work routines do you have that help you accomplish more work in less time? Do you follow a routine or do you simply respond to requests as they come your way and stretch out tasks to fill out your working hours?

In business school I don’t recall any classes that taught us how to set up a routine for or in our business. The classes were on individual subject matters such as marketing, finance, operations, legal, ethics, etc.

One of the best lessons I have learned on business and how to work was setting up routines. Two of those lessons that immediately come to mind: EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System) and the Rockafeller Habits. Both of these systems have checklists, toolkits, processes, and routines to follow that allow you to run your business with a roadmap. If you are looking a way to set up routines in your business either one of these is a great place to start.

When you have these systems and routines in place, you and your team are all on the same page and know what needs to be done next. And having this routine frees your mind to be able to think about working on your business versus in your business.

5 Benefits of a Routine

Your routine is more than what you are doing in the morning. There are personal routines, family routines, holiday routines, and work routines. They allow you to operate with more energy and be more present. When you have great routines you’ll benefit from:

• Less Stress

  With routines there’s already a plan. If there are certain meals planned 4 nights a week every week, there are fewer decisions to be made. You already know what is going to be served and what needs to be bought. No stressing about meal plans. Multiply that one stress reducer routine by all your other routines!

• Better Sleep

  Consistency that comes from having a routine allows you to schedule your bed time and how much sleep you get. Just like other routines, a sleep routine varies from person to person. My wife feels better with 7 hours of sleep. I like 8 hours of sleep.

• Better Health

  If you have healthy foods in your kitchen, you’re more likely to eat healthy. Healthy eating requires planning, shopping, and preparation – much easier with a routine. If you have your exercise planned out in advance you’re more likely to follow through. Finding an exercise class that you like that meets weekly provides routine, accountability, and incentive (since you probably invested money for the class).

• Better Time Management

  When you have your routines, you don’t waste as much time. You don’t spread your work out to fill the hours. Because you have bedtime routine you shut down electronics 1 hour prior to lights out. You call it a day when you need to meet up for a run or bike or class. You find out that you simply get more done.

• Cope with Change

  And while routines provide consistency and stability in one’s life, when there is a change (such as a corona virus outbreak), you know that instituting a new routine helps adjust to the new change. There may be a transition time to absorb what has just happened, but the sooner new routines are set up, the easier it will be to cope with the change.

Follow Up

Think about what routines you have right now that help you. Consider how they might be improved.

Also think about routines that you have that are not helping you. Consider eliminating them from your life – they are only causing additional stress.

You are the one choosing. You are in control.

If you want less stress in your life, routines are super powerful.