4 Routines With Lasting Rewards

As each day goes on, the unexpected likely occurs and pulls you away from your work whether it’s a client call, pop-up meeting, vendor drop-in, computer issue, or sprained ankle. To make sure you stay on the path toward achieving your goals despite untimely disruptions, create effective routines at the beginning and end of your day. Those bookend routines will provide much needed stability and momentum toward achieving your vision of success even when other parts of your life are going awry.

Bookending your day requires that you complete four different daily routines – two in the morning, one personal and one business-oriented, and two in the evening, one business-oriented and one personal.

Personal Morning Routine

Invest in your own well-being from the moment you wake up. Brush your teeth. Take a shower. Eat an energizing breakfast. When you don’t take care of yourself, your work and other areas of your life inevitably suffer. Set yourself up for a productive and successful day by starting it off with good self-care habits.

Following a personal morning routine also helps you achieve personal goals such as having a positive mindset or a healthy body. Investing small, consistent amounts of time into yourself will create the results you desire over time. Slow and steady wins the race because being consistent and building endurance will keep you on task, headed in the right direction toward your goals, and prevent you from burning out. Every step in your personal morning routine should become just as second nature to you as brushing your teeth. Regardless of intention, daily habits breed outcomes. Make sure they’re positive results.

Business Morning Routine

What do you typically do when you first arrive at your office? Check in with your assistant? Process emails? Browse social media? Identify the habits that make up your current business morning routine then make tweaks based upon your goals. That may mean reviewing current projects as soon as you sit down and leaving social media browsing for your scheduled break. You may find some of those habits could best be interchanged with habits you do in the evening when you have more or less energy depending on your own ultradian rhythms. Whatever habits you decide to continue engaging in as part of your morning business routine, make sure they are ones that build the foundation for a productive, efficient, and organized day.

Business Evening Routine

No matter what habits you currently engage in as part of your business evening routine, it is wise to include a daily review. Completing a daily review each evening before leaving the office ensures you return to work the next day with a plan of attack. Integral parts of an effective daily review include reviewing your current day’s calendar and tasks, previewing your following day’s calendar and tasks, and making adjustments as needed. You will be setting yourself up to conquer each following day before it even begins.

Processing your emails one final time for the day and clearing off your desk are also rewarding habits you should include in your business evening routine. Especially if you struggle with disorganization and clutter, spending just ten minutes clearing off your desk and processing emails will enable you to come in the next morning with a clean slate. You will be able to focus on what you want to work on instead of your overloaded inbox and overwhelming piles of paper and office supplies overtaking your desk.

Personal Evening Routine

Most nights after work you engage in a routine either consciously or not. Identify the habits within that routine then analyze what is not working for you. You might watch a recorded show, brush your teeth, walk your dog, or read.

Whether good or bad, all of those habits will have a lasting effect so make sure they align with your goals. If you have a long-term goal of a loving and lasting marriage, you could create the habit of spending one hour of quality time with your spouse each night making a purposeful connection. Consistently nurturing that relationship as part of your evening personal routine would greatly improve its chances of lasting success.

Allowing the middle of your day to have minimal structure in terms of routines provides much needed wiggle room for accommodating life’s daily surprises.

Bookending your day with structured morning and evening routines is the perfect compromise to a fully planned out day and can help you stay on the path to success. Simply work backwards from your bigger vision to determine what you need to do on a daily basis and customize your four daily routines accordingly to ensure you’ll achieve that ultimate goal.

This article originally appeared in the Autumn 2017 issue of CHOICES Magazine