Importance of Routine
Routine is important. On weekdays, I follow a strict routine. It has been reworked much over the last few months to the point that it operates almost on autopilot.
5:30 am: Wake, brush teeth, chug 32oz of water to jumpstart the day
5:40 am: Drink greens supplements
5:43 am: Mediation and journaling
6:15 am: Coffee and reading
6:45 am: Pre-workout stretch
7:00 am: Workout usually consisting of a 3-5 mile run followed by core or TRX strength training
8:15 am: Spend time with the kids, preparing them for their day
9:00 am: Drop the kids off at school and return home
Recently I added a new daily activity, writing. I dedicated 30 minutes of my morning to writing out my thoughts and sharing them publicly to create this habit.
I typically enjoy a more relaxed start to the day on weekends, but breaking the routine can make building a new habit a challenge.
Today I found myself struggling with idea flow, but building this new habit is essential. I had restricted myself from continuing with my day until it was complete. As frustrating as it can be, I know that pushing these activities aside can quickly lead to negotiating with yourself and leaving them for tomorrow.
We are all given the same 24 hours a day, and how we use that time is up to us. We can't save time. We can either use it or waste it. Building habits will help you complete things on almost an autopilot mode.
What most people miss about routine is that it is not about discipline. It is about decision fatigue. Every morning you wake up with a finite amount of willpower, and every choice you make burns some of it. What should I eat? Should I work out? What should I work on first? By the time you sit down to do real work, you have already spent half your mental energy on logistics. A locked-in routine eliminates those decisions entirely. You do not think about whether to run this morning. You just run. That frees up your best thinking for the problems that actually matter.
I have also learned that routine does not have to mean rigidity. My weekday schedule looks the same almost every day, but the content within each block changes. The workout varies. The reading changes. The writing topic is different. The structure stays fixed while the substance stays fresh. That is the balance that makes a routine sustainable long-term instead of something you abandon after three weeks because you got bored. If your routine feels like a prison, you built it wrong. It should feel like a launchpad.
The compound effect of routine is real and it is dramatic. When I started running, three miles felt like a war. Now it is a warm-up. When I started writing, getting 200 words out took an hour of staring at a blank page. Now I can knock out a full post before my second cup of coffee. None of those improvements came from some breakthrough moment. They came from showing up on day 47 when I did not feel like it and day 92 when I had every excuse not to. The routine carried me through the days my motivation could not. That is the whole point.
Related: Slow Down to Go Fast and Open Tab Syndrome.
