The Importance of Routine and Having Habits that Stick
Explore how the mundane routines of everyday life create a foundation for improved mental and physical health by reducing stress and promoting consistent, healthy habits.
Routine provides structure, stability, and a sense of calm in out lives. As a definite type-A personality, I have used routines to keep me sane for my whole life. I used to think it was just a bit of OCD and a product of being a control freak, but more recently there has emerged conversation around the actual health benefits of routine rooted in science.
The Webster dictionary definition of routine is “a regular course of procedure; habitual or mechanical performance of an established procedure”. While the idea of routine may seem mundane, it is actually an essential part of what makes us human and what helps us navigate the everyday challenges of our lives. Routines help make our life easier by eliminating the need to make constant decisions. Every time we are faced with a new decision, we are adding stress to our lives. “Carrying out routine activities reduces stress by making the situation appear more predictable,” says Indumathi Bendi, M.D., a primary care physician at Piedmont Healthcare. Bendi also states, “when you reduce the number of decisions you have to make each day, you’ll have a deeper sense on peace as well as relaxation of the mind and body.” Routines are also often tied to healthy habits, such as walking, reading, exercising, etc. When we are able to stick to a routine, we demonstrate self-control, work ethic, and discipline.
From childhood to adolescence and into adulthood, routines are essential at every stage of life. Routines help us cope with change, optimize our time, improve interpersonal relationships, and reduce stress, all the while helping us make room for other positive activities, such as spending time with loved ones and friends and developing new hobbies. From the mental to physical benefits, studies have shown routines greatly enhance our quality of life.
Having a routine is an essential part of a healthy mental state. Studies have shown that daily routines can alleviate bipolar disorder, prevent substance abuse, and manage the symptoms of many other mental health disorders. The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted daily routines for individuals across the globe due to the wide-reaching infection control measures such as social distancing, lockdowns, and quarantines. One study pointed out that “growing evidence suggests that mental health is positively linked to sustainment of daily routines among different populations across the globe. Greater odds of clinically significant anxiety and depressive symptoms were found to be associated with greater difficulties in sustaining activities and maintaining valued connections with family and friends among a US sample.”
During childhood, familial routines prove to be essential to raising happy and healthy children. Predictable, fixed patterns adopted by family members such as sleeping routines that involve bathing, dressing, brushing teeth, reading stories, saying goodnight to family members etc. establish stable and structured behavior in family units. This contributes directly to “children’s sense of security, trust, independence, autonomy, self-regulation, sense of control, and other positive psychological characteristics which serve as protective factors for children's physical and mental development”.
By establishing routines early, we are able to reduce stress from by making daily life more predictable and controllable, decreasing anxiety over the unknown. They help individuals feel in control of their lives, alleviating feelings of chaos and helplessness that often contribute to the development of depression. With fewer daily decisions to make, we can save mental energy for more significant choices, resulting in less decision fatigue, a state of mental overload that can impede a person’s ability to continue making decisions. Dr. Lisa MacLean, a psychiatrist and chief wellness officer at Henry Ford Health System, points out that “by the time the average person goes to bed, they’ve made over 35,000 decisions and all of those decisions take time and energy, and certainly can deplete us.” 35,000 decisions EACH DAY! That’s quite daunting and bound to cause some stress and anxiety, but routines can help alleviate some of this burden.
Beyond the overall stress and anxiety reduction in all populations, routines have also been shown to help those suffering with more severe mental health disorders manage their symptoms and prevent relapse. Having a set routine can also help prevent burnout, which can lead to more severe mental and physical illnesses if not addressed. Engaging in routine activities helps us learn to cope with stress and is often viewed as a form of self-care. It also has been shown to improve cognitive function by reducing the cognitive load and allowing the brain to function more efficiently. Memory research has shown that routines can help older adults function better in their home environment.
Arguably, the most obvious health benefits of establishing routines are physical. We often think of routines as our morning workout or post dinner walk around the neighborhood and while consistent exercise is a huge part of our overall health, routines also help us get better sleep and eat healthier, two key components of longevity and health.
Exercise has often been associated with routine. According to researchers at Northwestern, “daily routines make you more likely to work out on a regular basis.” The CDC recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate physical activity or 75 minutes of high-intensity aerobic physical activity per week due to the extraordinary benefits such as better memory and cognition, reduced anxiety, lower risk of dementia, heart disease, diabetes and many cancers. If your morning routine consists of getting up and going to the gym, you are more likely to stick to a healthy workout plan and be programmed to get in some level of daily activity. Establishing a routine helps in maintaining consistency in physical activities, which is crucial for building fitness and achieving health goals. Regular exercise as part of a routine increases endurance and overall physical performance by ensuring consistent physical activity. It is shown to boost mood, help with maintaining healthy weight, boost energy levels, help you sleep, and combat various health conditions.
Think about you’re the few hours before you go to sleep for example. If you don’t have a nighttime routine, you can often find yourself staying up too late binge-watching TV, staring at the fridge for a late-night snack, or endlessly scrolling on social media. Implementing a routine that includes putting away your electronics, having some caffeine-free hot tea, taking a warm bath, doing a few minutes or meditation, or reading a book helps prepare the mind and body to go to sleep, making it easier to fall asleep and stay asleep. By following a consistent sleep schedule each night, you will train your brain to feel tired when it is ready for bed. Sufficient sleep is crucial for overall health as it supports brain performance, mood, physical health, and reduces the risk of chronic diseases such as obesity, heart disease, and diabetes. Adequate sleep also plays a vital role in memory consolidation, emotional regulation, and the effective functioning of the immune system. Consistent sleep routines contribute to better sleep quality, which is crucial for mental clarity, emotional regulation, and overall mental health.
Routines reflect the thoughts, behaviors, and tastes that people internalize and enact over time as a result of the social structures and cultures in which they have lived and this applies to how people deal with food and eating. With regard to nutrition and diet, routine plays a crucial role in our food choices. When we have a routine of going to the grocery store or meal preparing, we are setting ourselves up for success by limiting the choice in what it is we will eat for our meals. Ultimately, you must choose to buy the right ingredients and cook healthy dishes, but once that is done, when your stomach starts to growl and it’s time for dinner, you don’t sit in your kitchen looking at an empty fridge and opt for the local drive thru or meal delivery.
Without routines around grocery shopping and preparing healthy meals at home, you’re more likely to default to highly processed foods like packaged foods, fast food, and unhealthy snacks. By having carrots and hummus readily available in your house, you can make the decision on what snack to eat relatively simple and healthy. Similar to sleep good nutrition is vital for maintaining optimal physical and mental health because it provides the essential nutrients that support bodily functions and cognitive abilities. A balanced diet enhances immune system performance, reduces the risk of chronic diseases, and contributes to better mood and mental well-being.
There are also significant benefits in healthcare that relate to routine. As we all know dealing with health issues and the healthcare system can cause a tremendous amount of stress and confusion. The integration of routines in healthcare settings is not merely a preference but a strategic approach to improving healthcare delivery and patient outcomes. Studies and healthcare models have shown that when patients understand their care plan and what to expect, they are more likely to engage positively, which directly enhances outcomes. This structured approach not only benefits patients by providing them with a sense of security and predictability but also aids healthcare providers by organizing their workload and improving efficiency. The result is a more effective, efficient, and patient-centered healthcare system, which ultimately leads to better outcomes and healthier individuals.
The latest trend in the routine space is the concept of habit stacking. The concept of habit stacking is supported by psychological principles and has been popularized by behavior experts like James Clear and BJ Fogg in their book Habit Stacking. Habit stacking is a powerful behavior change strategy that involves linking a new habit with an existing one, thereby leveraging the strong neural pathways already in place. This technique simplifies the process of forming new habits by associating them with daily routines that are already automatic, reducing the mental effort required to remember and perform new actions. Habit stacking not only helps us imbed new healthy habits into our life but triggers the release of dopamine from completely daily tasks, enhances our productivity, focus, and efficiency, and helps mitigate resistance to the new habit.
There are a few simple steps you can take in order to implement habit stacking:
1. identify your existing habits
2. identify a new habit you want to include in your daily life
3. create a link between the new and old habit (i.e. every morning when I sit down for my coffee, I will take my journal out and write 1 page)
4. repeat both habits until the action of one automatically triggers the other
The practice of habit stacking increases the likelihood that a habit with stick, leading to long-term sustainability of habits. Habit stacking not only facilitates the adoption of new habits but also promotes a holistic approach to health by integrating small but impactful changes into everyday life. This method is particularly beneficial for those who struggle with incorporating new behaviors into their busy schedules. By reducing the cognitive load associated with forming new habits, habit stacking supports continuous personal development and health improvement.
There are many tools to help you establish routines and implement habit stacking into your daily life. From meal prepping to eliciting an accountability partner for exercise, below is a list of a few helpful hacks and resources to help you optimize your time and health.
Meal prepping or food delivery can help make healthy decisions easy
Territory Foods and Factor75 offer shipped to your door pre-made meals
Exercise accountability partners are crucial to maintaining a fitness routine
Companies like Future that offer virtual fitness provide coaches to hold individuals accountable through text, video chat, and calls
Habit stacking
Daily meditation
Headspace offers daily meditations to incorporate into your routine
By setting a routine, individuals can create a well-organized day that allows for balanced activities, including work, relaxation, and personal interests, which contribute to overall life satisfaction and happiness. Routines can include scheduled interactions with friends and family, which are essential for emotional support and can prevent feelings of isolation and loneliness and beyond scheduled social interaction routines help use be more efficient with our time leading to more free time to do the things we enjoy and see the people we love. Instead of spending hours contemplating various decisions throughout the day and figuring out how to execute on the choices we ultimately make, why not make some of the mundane and simple choices beforehand?
What are some of your daily routines? Share in the comments below.
Great info👏🏻
Love this! Another interesting dynamic is that highly regimented people are sometimes perceived as selfish. To your point, building healthy routines is ANYTHING but selfish––it has direct implications for the health of future generations who emulate the habits of their elders, parents, and mentors.