If you were to look back on your life, chances are your thoughts would travel back to those milestone moments and big days like graduating, getting married, or that iconic summer holiday trip you went on with your best friends! Granted, some hardships and challenging or even painful memories would also come to mind, whether it be experiencing the loss of a loved one, getting fired, or breaking up with a partner.
However, statistically speaking, this is just a tiny part of our lives. Most of our time spent here, on Earth, boils down to the daily humdrum reality, the mundane and boring stuff like being stuck in traffic, working in the office, walking your dog, paying taxes, preparing the school lunch boxes for your kids, etc.
Fulfilling these responsibilities day after day can feel endless, overwhelming, or even depressing. It’s understandable to go through periods of burnout, weighed down by the ordinary, uneventful life. But there definitely is a silver lining to discover in that monotony, a.k.a. coming up with a custom-made daily routine perfectly tailored to your needs!
Without further ado, let’s dive together into the world of having a daily routine, understanding its benefits for mental health, and learning how to build your very own “feel good” routine.
How Can a Daily Routine Support Your Mental Health?
Routines are a perfect way to imbue the mundane with some magic and show up for yourself each and every day. That’s the secret sauce to not only surviving but also thriving!
Building and maintaining your very own “feel good” daily routine is a fantastic opportunity to support your mental health as it allows you to:
Prioritize your needs
Create a daily routine as if it’s your private ritual, a fun way to start your day with things that matter, activities that keep you grounded in your purpose and core values.
examples:
- engaging in sports,
- eating well,
- practicing mindfulness,
- reading more,
- working on a passion project.
Achieve your long-term goals
Long-term goals, when broken down, consist of milestones and small steps to complete daily. With your routine, you can work toward achieving your bigger goal, project, dream, etc.
examples:
- jogging in the morning until you can run a marathon,
- stretching daily until you’re able to make a split,
- working to open your own business.
Build momentum
After the initially difficult phase of showing up for yourself, you catch the wind in your sails as each day gets a bit easier.
Your routine gets automated, and you don’t waste time or energy making decisions. Before you realize it, you’re fully engaged in the process.
examples:
- going to the gym and noticing your progress
- staying motivated to keep pushing, even on the days when you feel like quitting the most
Stay accountable to yourself
A daily routine adds structure to your life, positively influencing your immediate environment, workflow, and hierarchy of needs.
Since a routine is a fixed part of your day, you simply show up, follow your schedule, and stay consistent.
example:
- You notice how your new journaling routine helps you achieve greater mental clarity and self-compassion.
- You want to continue this habit to feel good and take care of yourself.
Practice self-discipline that leads to self-love
Rather than treating your daily routine like a dreaded chore, you can appreciate how you get to spend a private moment just with yourself, engaging in your “feel good” activity of choice.
Perhaps making your bed, drinking a big glass of water, and meditating for 10 minutes is not so bad.
You understand that remaining disciplined is a one-way street to greater self-love and introducing more positive changes in your life.
Create a Daily Routine to Support Mental Health in 5 Steps
The hardest part of starting new adventures is taking action and making your first steps into the unknown. With so much pressure online to have the perfect routine, it’s easy to get intimidated. That’s why we’re here to assist you, one step at a time:
Step 1: Visualise Your Dream Life
Too many ideas of what you could do?
Paralyzed by the choice?
You don’t know what to commit to?
Waking up early, going on a run, cooking nutritious meals, journaling, meditating… the list goes on an on.
The key to a solid routine that works for you is making sure it aligns with your beliefs, preferences, and aspirations in life.
Take a moment to visualize your ideal future and ask yourself:
- What does it look like?
- What skills do I have?
- What about my job, work-life balance, finances, social life, travel plans, etc.?
Step 2: Set Long-Term Goals
Sooner or later, a theme will emerge, whether your dream is learning a new language, meeting more people, or changing your job.
A crucial task here is to transform that dream into a tangible, well-formulated long-term goal. Some frameworks, like the SMART model, can come in handy at this point. Now, it’s time for you to specify your dream and shape it like a sculptor.
Step 3: Create Weekly/Daily Action Steps
How will you move toward your objective daily?
Let’s say you’d like to live in Paris one year from now. You can:
- compile a list of things to do before making the move, like documents needed, housing situation, budget, and so on,
- decide what task from your list you’re going to complete each week.
Step 4: Block Time in Your Schedule
Rather than having a to-do list without a deadline, assign a particular time and place to perform your routine. Make it time-sensitive.
For example:
- Before going to work, you will spend 30 minutes learning French each morning.
Step 5: Stay Committed to Supporting Your Mental Health
After the set-up phase, the real work begins.
This is honestly the most challenging part of all, where you’ll most likely face various obstacles, i.e.:
- maybe your goal was too ambitious, and now you feel like you failed,
- you abandoned your dream and feel too ashamed to start again,
- as your motivation goes down, the procrastination tendency intensifies.
Even though we are creatures of habit, introducing and maintaining a healthy routine can be pretty tricky, especially if you’re struggling with mental health.
Remember that you don’t have to go through this process alone. Our team of experienced psychotherapists are here to:
- help you practice crucial skills like time management or goal-setting,
- discuss any difficulties and find solutions,
- show you emotion regulation techniques,
- guide you along the way.
Achieving mental well-being doesn’t happen overnight. It’s actually a life-long journey. However, taking these first steps is easier when assisted by a mental health professional.
Contact us here and get professional help today.
