Life has changed over the last few weeks and maintaining a routine could be the key to good mental and physical health in the long run.
Although our regular/old routines have changed, we maybe aren’t getting up and heading to the office downtown but rather getting up and heading down the stairs to our home office, establishing and maintaining a routine can definitely help with our mental wellness.
Routines provide us structure, they alleviate stress and anxiousness and help us achieve our goals and potential. Everyone’s routine looks different. For individuals, it can even look different from weekdays to weekends or even M,W,F vs. Tu., Th. The answer is to develop a routine that works for you personally, one which helps you be productive, in control and the best person you can be.
Benefits of routines:
1. Make Us More Efficient When we have a routine that we follow daily, it reduces the need to make daily decisions. It enables us to know exactly what tasks we need to do without having to think too much. When we are finished with one task, we know what comes next without much thought.
2. Creates Structure in Our Lives A daily routine provides structure and a logical sequence in our lives, allowing us to become familiar and comfortable with what we need to accomplish.
3. Saves Time By following a routine, we free up time that would otherwise be spent on planning, decision-making and preparation.
4. Helps Us Prioritize When we carefully design a personal routine and stick to it, it allows us to get the most important things done first and out of the way. There is no room for forgetfulness or neglect.
5. Reduce Procrastination When a set of tasks and activities become routine, it reduces the chance that we will procrastinate doing them. It becomes ingrained into our system and we almost do it subconsciously.
6. Helps Reduce Stress and Facilitates Relaxation There will always be things in our lives that are beyond our control, and we need to accept that. However, there is so much that we can control, especially if we follow a routine. The act of ‘doing’ gives us a sense of control and helps us relax instead of fretting about the tasks at hand.
For now, we don’t have to stick with our old routines, let’s focus on building routines that work for the current situation. Ensure you include the things that are important to you and that will help you find strength and positivity during these times.
- Your exercise routine will look different from your old routine. We don’t see each other face to face at the facility right now, however, you are able to see your regular instructors LIVE or online.
- Healthy eating is important as the snack opportunities are more readily available at home. Stick to food that is good for you. Continue to each your healthy, base meals and snacks, only consuming your “treats” as you usually would. If you think you are hungry outside of your regular meal times, have a glass of water or take a quick walk first to see if you really are hungry or if you are just bored.
- A good night’s sleep. Your time clock may have changed, however sticking to a regular time to get up and to go to bed will help your body.
- Now more than ever fun and family times need to be included. It will definitely look different but take the time to connect loved ones.
- Stress Relief – whatever that may be for you, make sure you include that in your daily routine.
Having a routine is nothing other than a conscious choice to live your life in a certain way through healthy repetition. It is one of the keys to success and happiness.
Lisa Kingston
Director of Personal Training, the ACADEMY
Business Manager, Heavens Fitness Ltd.
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