Every day for the first 30 years of my life, I lived without a routine. While some of my days were productive, the majority of the time I accomplished….nothing.

This worked fine for me when my only responsibility was to take home good grades.

But when my husband and I bought a house and started a family, I knew I needed to change my ways. The funny thing is, it came so naturally to me! When you’re a mother and you have a family to support, you always find a way to fit everything in.

Most of my routine happened through trial and error.

I learned that the perfect time for house chores is after my children are asleep, so I can at least savor the cleanliness for a few minutes! Every morning, I would prepare them for school and work while they’re gone.

When my third child was born, my routine need to be adjusted. In fact, that’s when I re-discovered lettering. My third child has patterns and I’m aware of all of those. I know what time he’ll take a nap everyday, so I always use that time to practice and do client work.

Just reading about it, my life may seem monotonous. Same thing, day-in and day-out. Boring as it may sound, this monotony kept me going through tough days and helped me establish my creative career.

How?

Because I knew how I should spend my day. I was aware I have limited time and that I have to work within that constraint.

“When you have limitations, you don’t get to make many choices.”

If you’re serious about completing your tasks, you find time to get them done!

Sound overwhelming? It’s a lot simpler than you think!

Whether you like it or not, you already have an existing routine. You just need to focus it on more productive tasks and manage your time better.

Still skeptical? Let’s go through 5 major benefits that a routine can bring your life.

1 .   Eliminate Bad Habits – When you mosey on about your day with no direction, you will inevitably waste your time deciding what to do. But when a productive routine is in place, you already have a plan for how to get the most out of your day. Starting your day with purpose prevents you from indulging in unproductive activities. 

In short, a well-planned routine leaves no time for another 2-episode-turned-all-day Netflix binge. Not bad, right?

2.   Less Stress – Imagine this- you check your schedule and realize you have a million things to get done before dinner time. You think about about all the tasks ahead of you, binge eat your favorite stress food, complain to friends about your schedule…and then you realize – it’s 6pm. And not a single box checked off the to-do list. Did that senario feel a little too familiar?

A routine can help you SLAY your to-do list! You will end your day accomplished, relaxed and ready for good night’s sleep. Mission accomplished, and stress-free!

3.   Better Focus – When you have a routine, your time and attention flow to the most important tasks. Task-by-task, you´ll be closer to your goals! If you focus on the little tasks that make those big goals possible, everything else becomes a distraction. Little efforts add up! When you see your progress, you’ll stay focused on achieving more.

4.   Creates Structure – Routines are in place to help you eliminate the process of thinking about what you should be doing, so you can spend more time actually doing it!

While at first it may seem repetitive to do the same thing at the same time – like taking a shower after breakfast, writing for an hour before work, working until 5 o’clock…it’ll soon feel natural. With a routine, you’re not just doing one task. You’re doing a sequence of activities that will be so ingrained in your system, you won’t even think about it

5.   Enjoy Life – More efficient days = more free time! That Netflix binge we talked about? Well, you might actually have time for it after all…minus the guilt!. A routine allows you to spend your free time relaxing, with no un-ticked boxes on your mind.

Contrary to popular belief, routines aren’t just a boring side-effect of adulthood! You’ll have plenty of time for fun while making progress towards your goals and managing your stress.

Believe me yet?

Routines DO make your life better!

With a well-planned routine, you can conquer your stress, check off that to-do list, and have more fun.