How to Make a Daily Routine and Stick to It

I think you’ll agree with me when I say:

It’s REALLY hard to make a daily routine and stick to it.

Or is it?

Well, it turns out you can drastically improve the chances of sticking to your daily schedule by setting up a successful habit framework.

In this post, I’m going to teach you daily routine secrets that can change your life — and how to modify them to fit you like a glove.

Let’s get started!

How to Make a Daily Routine for Yourself & Drastically Increase Your Productivity

Setting a schedule for myself — I need more convincing

Establishing good daily habits and routines makes us feel great about ourselves and our productivity. Once you’ve tasted how good it feels to be in control of your life and time — you’ll never go back!

But why is it so hard to create a routine and stick with it? Being creatures of habit, we actually all HAVE a routine — but is it the one we really want?

We are what we repeatedly do” ~ Aristotle

What if I don’t like routine?

What are the benefits of having a daily routine?

Routines limit our choices and prevent overwhelm (one of the biggest benefits!).
Routines give us a framework to build on so we know what to expect each day.
Routines help us use our time more wisely instead of wasting this precious resource on indecision and unworthy activities.
Routines free our minds up for more productive work in shorter amounts of time.
Your daily routine and good habits will boost your mood and give you confidence about your day and abilities.

This post has affiliate links. Purchasing through a link means we earn a small commission at NO extra cost to you. Disclaimer here.

This 2019 Companion Planner has everything you need to MAKE A DAILY ROUTINE AND STICK WITH IT… ONCE AND FOR ALL!

There are several guides on prioritizing, creating healthy routines, and establishing great habits in your NEW YEAR + tracking worksheets to keep you accountable.

You don’t need motivation: You need discipline

Motivation is a routine and habit killer. Motivation versus discipline is a very important piece of sticking to a routine.

If we wait until the motivation strikes to build a healthy daily routine, it will never get off the ground. There’s a good chance it’ll end up in the graveyard of New Year’s resolutions after about a week.

Motivation is very passive. A feeling that comes over us that’s very inconsistent.

If we switch mindsets to the popular Nike refrain of “Just Do It”, success will be just around the corner. Putting healthy habits to work for us, slowly and methodically, will build a framework of discipline.

* If procrastination is your biggest battle, take a quick detour with me and see what three simple words can do to change everything.

It’s self-discipline, and that natural high of accomplishment, that helps us build a routine and stick with it.

How to plan out your day at work or home with a schedule wish-list

Write down a list of tasks you need to tackle regularly — daily, weekly, or monthly. These are the important things you’d like to be doing consistently.

Get it all on paper. It may feel overwhelming if the list is long, but we’ll work on prioritizing and setting up a structure that works for you.

*On a side note — Bullet journals can add an element of creativity and fun to scheduling.

This video blows my mind — makes scheduling your routine seem like a treat!

Next, pick two areas of your life where you’d most like to see change and consistency, and start with those. You can implement some or all of the following tips into building your personal daily routine.

Developing Stellar Habits

A Miracle Morning

The obvious place to start is with a healthy morning daily routine. If you need help for your mornings, choose two things you’d most like to work on, and put a couple of small changes on autopilot.

I’m self-employed, so my mornings used to be a disaster. I stayed up late and slept in every day.

However, I knew I’d never have a successful professional proofreading business if I didn’t change my ways! Learning to be a morning person was the only way to get through that amazing course and move on to making the good money.

And I actually succeeded! You may be a notorious night owl like I was for years, but if I can become a morning person — ANYONE CAN!

You may have a morning schedule that works well already. Everyone’s needs are different, and you’ll likely struggle in some areas but not others.

Getting out of bed at 6 am certainly helped me with the late nights; I struggled to keep my eyes open by 10 pm.

I did this day after day for nine months [there’s the discipline part] until it became a no-brainer habit.

I added 3 full hours to my mornings with this one change!

Morning hour magic — how to harness it!

Set an alarm across the room so you have to stand on your feet to shut it off — walking will help you wake up.
Brush your teeth right away — something about mint-flavored anything is an energy boost.
Put on your workout clothes or get dressed according to what your morning plans are.
If you can, try a diffuser with an energizing scent (I’ve used this one for 3 years) — lemongrass oil is my happy smell.
Check out my sunrise wake-up light alarm clock — a total game-changer. The light gradually goes from 1% to 100% brightness and has several amazing nature sounds for the alarm … it helps me survive the Colorado winter mornings.

My success with a daily morning routine has been almost 100% because of Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod — it has absolutely transformed my days!

It’s an inexpensive, almost guaranteed way to overhaul your morning (and maybe your life); you need this book! It’s a quick read and dives into the good stuff pretty quickly. That’s my kind of book.

Setting a Schedule for yourself

Setting a schedule for yourself will help minimize distractions and overcome those days when you feel unmotivated. Your daily routine won’t be derailed by social media, internet surfing, or unimportant interruptions if your schedule becomes the anchor of your day.

“Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.” Aristotle

How to make a daily routine for yourself

If you’re self-employed, it’s imperative to manage your time with daily, weekly, and monthly task scheduling — this keeps you on track and frees your mind from unnecessary decision-making.
Having a planned-out schedule encourages us to stick to a routine.
Map out everything you’d like to accomplish with work, family, fitness, etc.
Make a habit of looking at your planner, calendar, or bullet journal first thing each day. This creates a habit of importance. It reinforces to your mind that you’re giving priority to these new goals.
Implement your written plans and goals in small chunks. An important act of self-care is being patient with yourself and not giving up after a few tries with a new habit.

The next post in this Productivity and Time-Management Series teaches you the art of prioritizing your to-do list in order to maximize time management skills.

Set an Exercise Daily Routine

Most of us try, and fail, to implement some sort of exercise routine into our days. However, regular movement is a very important part of self-care and productivity. If you carry extra weight like me, this healthy weight loss routine is very beneficial.

Your best bet is to stick it into your daily schedule and build slowly on it, one baby step at a time. The key is to start small, but build up from there!

You may have motivation issues at first — but putting small goals onto autopilot (like setting an alarm for 6 am), will slowly transform them into disciplined habits that aren’t swayed by how you feel about them each day.

You can start with doing 5 push-ups, planks, etc. after each bathroom break. If you work outside the home, do these before getting dressed and again when you change clothes after work. Start small.

Here are some benefits of squeezing even a little bit of movement into a daily exercise routine:

Most of us sit many hours a day — improve your health by adding in a few squats, planks, jumping jacks, marching in place etc. each time you stand up — whatever your ability, just move for 3 or 4 minutes

“Sitting is the new smoking”… When I heard that not long ago, I got pretty fearful of all the hours I sit while I blog and research. So, I decided to make a change.

My standing desk is definitely a game-changer, and it allows me to move and stretch (even do some easy yoga poses) while I work. I feel a lot more in control of my health now that I’m more active during my work day.

Setting up a healthy home office is a must if you want to incorporate beneficial movement into jobs that are mostly sitting.

I especially love my Pono Ola Balance Board that I use with my standing desk. It provides just enough wobble to engage my core and leg muscles without being distracted, and my readers get $20 OFF when entering the code wise20 at checkout.

Movement brings mental clarity and energy when you’re in a slump
Exercise helps when you’ve hit a work or writing block — take a quick walk, go up and down a flight of stairs at work — get your heart rate up for even 5 minutes and it may be just the help you need to get going again
A walking or exercise break during the day can also give you extra thinking time — some of my best ideas come to me when I’m moving my body and letting my mind wander

Learn more about the Make a Daily routine planner!

Keep on schedule: how to make it Stick

This brings us to the hardest part of building a daily routine — making good habits stick. There are no hard-and-fast answers, and you may be different from the next person.

The biggest thing to remember is that it takes time. Just be patient with yourself!

Keep on schedule — tips and tricks:

Your biggest challenge is getting started — choose a few things you’d really be excited about changing and start there.
Baby steps — those changes you feel passionate about, break them into small challenges and put them on autopilot (no thinking/second-guessing).
You may benefit from making set deadlines or goals for each thing you’re trying to add to the daily routine.
It generally takes around 90 days to really establish a habit you don’t have to think about anymore — many say 30 days or less, but that’s usually not the case for most people.
A great planner in bold colors builds a positive mindset while setting up new habits — it’s really fun to cross off small (and big!) wins each day — visual reminders are powerful, and bright colors are energizing!
Don’t get discouraged or caught up in perfection — your daily routine is meant to serve YOU, not the other way around.