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It’s that time of year! And I know that for so many of us, some of the changes, resolutions, and/or goals that we’re thinking about probably have a lot to do with our routines, right?

Whether you’re wanting to lose weight, stress less, be more mindful…

The routines that you have and cultivate in your life are likely going to make or break your intentions and ambitions for the change you’re trying to create in your life. I belive that wholeheartedly! I feel like we’ve all probably heard those quotes at one point or another about how “routine is the death of (insert word here)” but, honestly? I think we’re kidding ourselves if we don’t think that a) we have routines, and b) they’re making a big impact on our lives.

But what routines do we need to have? Honestly, if you get into a YouTube rabbit hole on this (which I have been doing a lot lately), you could probably find like dozens of different recommended routines for you to implement. It’s easy to get lost in our routines. Absolutely. It’s easy for our lives to get overrun by the “perfect” ones.

For me, I think the most important routines boil down to 3…

01. A Morning routine.

I have been a massive advocate and proponent of routines basically since I started dabbling in coaching and personal development in 2014. And, honestly? Now that I’ve focused my efforts and energies to burnout and stress management, that’s even more true.

I think everyone—particularly those of us who have a tendency to fill our schedules to the brim and get lost in our projects and work (says the girl who literally spent 4 hours last night unintentionally playing around in Notion and building a new template that I’m testing out)—needs a solid morning routine.

Why? To make sure you’re making space and time for yourself and your self-care.

My morning routine is perhaps the most important time of my day and when it doesn’t happen or gets cut short, I feel the difference in my day. I feel the impact it has on my energy, my focus, and my motivation.

For most of, as soon as we get past that morning time, our schedules get easily overrun by the responsibilities, obligations, and tasks that we do for others, whether those “others” are our family, friends, coworkers, bosses, clients, etc. That’s okay! I’m not judging you for that at all. It’s human nature!

But, I think it’s important for us to ask the question, what time do I have for myself? I think that time should be your morning routine.

My morning routine is where I get the vast majority of my self-care activities in. I meditate in the morning. I read in the morning. I journal in the morning. I often (though not so much since the start of the new year) workout in the morning. Why? Because that time is guarded. My morning routine takes place before I pick up my phone and start checking messages, DMs, and emails, so I’m able to just focus on myself and not focus on others because I have intentionally built that time into my schedule to be that way.

So that’s routine #1. And if you don’t have a solid morning routine where you get in those self-care activities, I recommend you build one!

If that’s something you need help with, drop a comment below and I can record a video on some of my best practices.

02. a work routine.

This is another big one I think that us go-getting high-achievers really need to have. And when I say “work routine” I mean a routine to start your workday.

Because what do most of us do? We sit down at our desks to start our day and immediately expect that we’ll be able to flip this switch in our brains and start being massively focused and productive. Hell, I know this to my core and say it to clients all the time and I still do this. Like I still get frustrated with myself for “not starting my tasks immediately” because, Idk about you, but I think we think we’re the exception to the rule.

The fact of the matter is, we need to sort of “warm up” for the workday in the same way we need to do a warm-up before we start a workout or play a sport. This serves the purpose of getting us focused and helping us to mentally switch gears so that we can eventually switch into a focused mode and start working.

What might this look like? I plan go through my task list for the day and prioritize activities. I pick out some “quick win” activities that I can do first to give myself some dopamine and get that motivation going. I check my email to see if there are any fires that I need to put out (perks of not being a manager anymore is that like 95% of the time, there aren’t). And then I dive into those quick win tasks I pre-selected.

So, plan for some warm-up and ramp up and plan your activities accordingly…

03. a sleep routine.

In the same way we have to “warm up” for our workday, we have to wind down for our sleep.

If there’s anything I want you to take from today, it’s this: we are not capable of switching gears mentally at the drop of the hat. We can’t switch into a focused productive mode (let alone sustain it for 8 hours) as soon as we show up at work. And we can’t switch into a “resting” state just because it’s bed time. We need a wind-down period.

I’ll admit, this is one I suck and something I bet a lot of us as high-achievers suck at. We expect ourselves to just switch from watching the season finale of House of the Dragon immediately into “sleep mode”…and I’m sorry! It’s not going to happen.

Instead, we need to wind down. Now, there’s a lot out there that tells you exactly how you should do this:

• Get off your devices an hour before you go to bed. It’s hard and arguably impractical, but it’s common advice.

• Keep your bed for sleeping. Read on your couch before moving into your bed room.

• Do a sort of end-of-day brain dump.

• Use technology to help wind you down (fun fact, I just got a new Hatch Restore and I’m loving it for the fact that it has a pre-set lighting and sound “sleep routine”—more on that later)

Hell, the simple act of “getting ready for bed”—whatever that might entail for you—is a sleep routine.

I wish I could tell you what the “best sleep routine” is, but honestly? I don’t believe there is one. The “best” version of any of these routines is the one that you will actually do. The one that actually works for you and that you can show up to do consistently.

So, if you do a brain dump but you do it on your iPad while sitting in your bed, do it!

But, give yourself some space to wind-down, because most of us will not be able to immediately switch off. Except if you’re one of those people that can fall asleep immediately anywhere, any time of day. If you are, I hate you and do not want to hear about your sleeping superpower. 😂

so…those are my 3 go-to, most important routines that I think ALL achievers need to have!

What do you think? Did I miss one that you love?
Drop a comment below!