Today, we're going to talk about establishing healthy routines. As any of my patients can tell you, it's a topic that I harp on routinely—and for good reason! I find that what fascinates most people about psychology is doing the in-depth work and digging into the whys. But what I tell my patients is that without a solid foundation, you can't always get into that deep stuff in a way that's beneficial to you. It's hard to contemplate the meaning of a fire when it's actively spreading and burning down your house! This is where healthy habits and routines can come into play.
What is a healthy routine?
You might be wondering—what does a routine encompass? The answer to that question is everything! I basically have my patients schedule everything that isn't a bathroom break because that's how you build habits. A good routine is built around time blocks, which is a chunk of time that you've designated for a type of activity. For example, I might have a time block for my routine of getting ready for work, or a time block for writing and recording this podcast. Each time block is made up of tasks, which are the individual things that we do within the time block. There are typically two types of tasks, recurring and one-time tasks.
Your values should be displayed in your routines. For instance, if you have a value to attend to your relationships, then you should have time blocked into your schedule to spend time with others. If being physically healthy is a priority for you, then you should have time blocked and tasks related to exercise, medical appointments, and grocery shopping to ensure that you have time for it. If faith is important, then perhaps having blocked times for religious services, religious reflection on your own, readings, and volunteering might be healthy for you.
We're more likely to keep routines if we can connect them to what we value because then there is buy-in. Values are also important because we don't always like the tasks related to upholding our values and we often need reasons for why we do what we do. I dislike the task of exercise, for example, but value physical mobility, mental clarity, and investing in long-term quality of life. Consequently, I engage in exercise because it's tied to my values.
How to build time blocks
Let's talk a little bit about how to actually build a routine. I suggest everyone start with time blocks for morning and bedtime routines, as how you start and end your day is crucial. I also recommend time blocks for household chores, free time, and time for others. This is not an exhaustive list whatsoever, and you should explore what kind of time blocks might work for you. For example, a student may have time blocks for study time.
Assigning colors to different time blocks is helpful in organizing your schedule, whether it's pen and paper...
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