Want a healthier lifestyle? Implement a routine! But not just any routine, try a Choice Routine! Never heard of it? It’s simple. Allow for flexibility in your routine options.
I tried changing my habits so they would align with my life goals. In fact, I got so intense about it, I had every half hour marked with an activity that was necessary to reach an end goal. It flopped. I couldn’t keep up with any of them and then I just felt defeated and not any step closer to success in my daily life.
Then a few weeks ago, I discovered the Choice Routine. With flexibility at its core, it has infinitely helped me to come back after a recent Covid spell in our home. It’s a far cry from accomplishing life goals right now, but you can adjust them to wherever you are at.
In my case, I started by defining the daily goals important for me to reach in order for me to get back on my feet. I categorized them into “Necessary Tasks” and “Bonus” and then got out my day planner: 7am-9pm Mon-Sun (You can easily buy one of these or make your own.)
I then put these tasks into my Groupings of “Morning Routine”, “Afternoon Routine” and “Evening Routine”
Morning Routing: 7:00am-11:30am I have items that must be done in red and Bonus in blue but I don’t have them fixed in any particular time slot. I just know I have 5 items, 2 in red which MUST be completed somewhere in that window.
Afternoon Routine: 12:30pm-4:30pm Again, Necessary tasks in red, Bonus in blue, not fixed but all written down to see
Evening Routing 5:00pm:00-9pm One more time, Must do Items in red, Bonus in blue, not fixed.
I put check boxes beside each of these items and tick off as I complete.
This gives me the flexibility I need so I don’t feel trapped or forced into doing a rigid routine each morning. Especially with a mood disorder, it can be extremely hard to lock yourself into the same thing, in the same order each day. Now, certain things do have a time constraint and can only be done at a specific time, and in those cases, I slot it in to a specific time with a star beside it (ie. Making dinner), but generally speaking, things are flexible to move around and as long as I am eventually getting the necessary items complete, it doesn’t matter when I do them within my Choice Routine schedule.
This works for me.
You can even make it fun by bringing in rewards for each task that’s complete. My reward is simply one less thing on my plate and a better tomorrow but if you want to book out time for an episode of your favourite TV show as a Bonus activity (maybe that’s one of your goals), the sky is the limit to how you can motivate yourself!
Let me know how Choice Routine works out for you!
Have a beautiful day!
Lindsey
See and Wait, 