How to Create a Surprisingly Productive Routine Immediately

One of the sessions in my coaching program is solely dedicated to creating the best routine for the client.

It isn’t always an issue with your mindset. Sometimes, you just need clear strategies and action plans.

And I promise before we move forward, this activity isn’t going to be soul-sucking… and by the end of it, you’ll have a productive routine.

I am not going to ‘tell’ you — do this, do that. 

I will offer you a framework (and might suggest a couple of items too) and you will design your own routine with me.

Pick up a sheet of paper and a pen, and let’s begin.

Don’t read further if you’re not having a pen and paper.

Step 1: Self Awareness

If you have been reading my posts, you would know this is how I start most of my posts.

Answer these questions –

Question 1: What are the habits that you want to change?

Question 2: What are the habits that aren’t serving you?

Question 3: What new habits do you want to adapt to your routine?

One point to notice — don’t be super greedy while answering all these questions. You can only do a handful of changes in your routine at a time.

Be realistic. Think. And note them down.

What Is the One Thing That Will Solve Most of Your Problems?

For me, that ONE THING is to shut down everything by 9:30 PM, so I’d sleep by 10 PM or so.

When I sleep around 10 PM, I wake up at 6 AM. My body feels rested with a full night’s sleep, and I feel energetic to start my exercise and writing. I write the best first thing in the morning. The rest of my day goes with a great flow.

Do you see it? This is the ONE THING that if I do right… makes a lot of other things right for me.

What is your ONE THING that will solve most of your problems?

Note it down on paper.

Decide Your Morning Routine

You don’t have to wake up at 4 AM every day. NO.

Don’t listen to random noisy voices over the internet.

Do what works best for you.

If you wake up usually at 9 AM, maybe try waking up 30min earlier to see how it feels.

When you have a morning routine, like exercise, journaling, meditation, dancing, etc… you set the tone for the rest of your day.

Again, if everyone else does 2hr of meditation every day in the morning, you don’t have to do the same. Maybe you don’t want to meditate in the morning. Fine.

How about a little dance? Or some mindful walking?

There are literally hundreds of activities you can choose from.

How do you want your morning routine to be?

Come on, note this down on paper.

Decide Your Night Routine

Do you want to read a few pages of a book before you sleep? Pro tip — keep that book on your nightstand so you don’t forget about it.

You can also add a few minutes of gratitude practice before you sleep.

Spending half an hour without any screens before you go to sleep will help you with better sleep quality.

By when do you want to sleep ideally? Note that down too.

Decide Your Food Routine

How about feeling gratitude before you start eating?

I always had a complicated relationship with food. ⁣⁣

I have always loved eating food… And in return, it had made me fat. ⁣

Not a good relationship, right? Where your loved ones hurt you :’)⁣

⁣But for the past few years, I have been working on making this relationship work. ⁣⁣

I made a deal. I’ll not compromise eating food, and at the same time, I’ll not let my food hurt my body. ⁣

A couple of changes I made in my diet — ⁣

1. Better and more healthy food items. (More fruits, nuts and veggies) ⁣

2. Slow and Mindful eating.⁣⁣

3. No overeating.⁣⁣

4. Drinking more water and less of anything that’s not water. ⁣

5. Working out (so I’d undo all the yummy junk food I had eaten) ⁣

⁣I can’t say that we are perfect as a couple (my food and I) ⁣

But we are having a better relationship than ever 😉

What changes would you like to make in your food routine?

Note them down.

Take Out Time for Weekly Assessments

You can do wonders by investing 2 minutes a day for checking up your to-do lists. And weekly, 10 minutes of “what went right, what went wrong” can shift your world in a single month only.

Here are 7 questions you might like to ask yourself every week:

Question 1: Where am I succeeding in life?

Question 2: Where am I failing in life?

Question 3: What should I do more?

Question 4: What should I do less?

Question 5: Where do I need help?

Question 6: From where can I get this help?

Question 7: What are the 5 most important tasks for next week?

And in case you have anything to ask about routine and productivity, you can always drop me a message.

Now that we are set with a basic layout of routine, here are some truths you may figure out soon.

Slow Down to Speed Up

This is one of my favourite quotes from Rich Litvin. Slow down to speed up.

Don’t rush for the addition of 10 new habits, and the elimination of 12 old habits from your habits.

Start with a small number. And start often.

This isn’t a one time work. Your habits are a project of a lifetime. You are a project of a lifetime.

Bookmark this post and read it again in a month. Repeat all the steps mentioned above.

Understand the Science Behind Habits

A habit is an action that you take on a repeated basis with little or no required effort or thought. The power of habit lies in the second part of the definition- the bit about no required effort or thought.

You unlock the door of a room, and the first thing you do is to turn on the light. It’s a habit.

You brush your teeth every morning, that’s a habit.

[To read more about habits, visit this post: The Ultimate Guide to Making New Habits]

Points to Note About Habits

1. Do not skip any habit twice. Skipping twice means you have to start with the habit all over.
2. Plan for a variance. If you have a habit of going to the gym daily. But you can’t go to the gym while travelling. So, you need to plan for a variance. Instead, you can plan on doing push-ups or crunches during the day.
3. If you want to discard a bad habit, you first have to acknowledge it. Plan out why you want to eliminate that habit, and then plan out the good habit that has to fill the void here.
4. You can do any task if you break down it into smaller habits. If you write 750 words every day from Monday to Friday, only in 6 months, you will have the first draft of your book ready. I do the maths about this here.

Source: Superhuman by habit book

To read the summary of this book, visit this link.

Summary

Sit with a pen and paper every week or so, and work on habits. Plan your routine.

Here are certain points you want to check:

1. What is my morning routine?

2. What is my night routine?

3. What is my food/eating routine?

Decide — What is the ONE THING that will solve most of your problems?

Ask these 7 questions for your weekly assessment

Question 1: Where am I succeeding in life?

Question 2: Where am I failing in life?

Question 3: What should I do more?

Question 4: What should I do less?

Question 5: Where do I need help?

Question 6: From where can I get this help?

Question 7: What are the 5 most important tasks for next week?

Point of caution?

Slow down to speed up.

Repeat this activity multiple times, on a monthly or biweekly basis, whatever suits you.

In case you have anything to ask about routine and productivity, drop me a message.