Whether you realize it or not, habits are a part of your everyday life from the simple act of waking up and going to work each morning—even if work is in your living room—to your exercise routine.
So why are good daily habits important for curating a healthy, successful, and fulfilling life? Habits play a big role in your productivity and wellness by reducing your stress levels, keeping you focused, and helping you stick to your goals, whether they are diet goals or your desire to learn new skills.
Habits and routines are necessary for these factors in your life, and focusing on good habits rather than unhealthy habits is important to become the person you want to be and reach all the goals you set, both big and small.
A lot of people tend to focus on the routines of highly successful people such as billionaires and movie stars and attempt to follow these routines to be successful. This is a recipe for failure because both habits and routines should be uniquely adapted to the individual.
We are all different. Some people are night owls who sleep after midnight every night, and others prefer an early night and an early start. Thus, you shouldn’t force yourself to join the 5 am club if you are not naturally an early riser.
In the same breath, your bad habits also differ from the next person, and breaking these habits requires a different sort of discipline than the next person who has completely different habits to break.
This is why this post is not about telling you the perfect routine or the perfect habits but rather a guide to helping you learn and implement the habits best suited to your personality and lifestyle.
Whether you prefer meal prepping for the week every Sunday or cooking each day, you need to decide what works best for you. Don’t worry, though, there will be plenty of inspiration on possible habits you may find suitable for your needs.
Habits Are Important
Habits are the tasks you do often without thinking. This includes the habits you are aware of, such as smoking a cigarette after meals, and others you may not realize are habits, like brushing your teeth twice a day.
These unconscious actions are there to preserve your energy and mental capacity for more strenuous tasks. You don’t need to be conscious of every task you do, especially everyday tasks.
Habits function through your basal ganglia in your brain, which is why you can train yourself to create better habits if your current ones are too unhealthy. This part of your brain takes note of the tasks you do consistently and makes a note to continue doing them even if you are not consciously aware of it.
This alludes to the fact there are both healthy and unhealthy habits. Good habits are the ones keeping you productive and focused such as list-making, exercise routines, and good eating routines.
Unhealthy habits include those bad for your health, such as smoking or drinking, and those that disrupt your schedule, such as sleeping late even when your body is tired or binge-eating when you are emotional.
Habits
Habits are the individual tasks you unconsciously carry out regularly such as showering in the morning.
Routines
Daily routines are the accumulation of the tasks you do each day and follow a timeline. This is waking up at a specific time, then brushing your teeth before showering, followed by eating, and then getting to work.
Breaking Bad Habits
Often, you may not realize you are partaking in an unhealthy habit. You might automatically pick up your phone to scroll through social media in the morning without realizing the effects it has on your productivity.
Other unhealthy habits are more obvious such as drinking, smoking, and eating unhealthy foods. Yet, despite you knowing you are partaking in an unhealthy activity, you can’t seem to stop it.
This is your basal ganglia at work, and it is preventing your mind from rationalizing whether the activity is necessary or not. Since you have consistently done it so many times, your brain is programmed to think it is necessary.
Luckily, just as your brain goes on autopilot with unhealthy habits, by consciously taking note of these, you can reprogram your brain to start focusing on better habits by breaking the bad habits.
It may seem hard at first to break habits, but there was a time when you were subconsciously getting your brain used to these habits, and now being conscious of them will help you replace these with better habits.
The key to this change is focusing on the new habits you want to have rather than the old habits.
Replacing Bad Habits With Healthy Habits
To stop negative habits from ruling your life, you shouldn’t focus on trying to stop yourself from doing those specific tasks. This will cause you to think of the habits more, which gives your brain more fuel to keep doing these tasks.
Rather, you need to focus your mind on other things to forget about the old habits, and the best way to do this is to replace the bad habits with better ones.
Easier said than done, right? Of course, it isn’t as simple as choosing one task over another; however, if you make that hard choice enough times, you will have started your new habit consistently before you even realize it.
To do this, you will first need to become conscious of your old habits. You can do this by keeping a daily journal for a week. Write down all the things you do in a day, no matter how small they may seem.
Once you read through the notes, you may be surprised at how often you do a seemingly insignificant task such as checking your social media while working.
Next, you need to decide which habits you would like to break. Don’t do them all at once because a drastic change is harder to maintain than a lot of small, gradual changes.
Then, develop an indicator to make yourself aware you are doing the activity. For instance, every time you check social media, say a word or write a word in your diary. Anything will work as long as it is causing you to become conscious of the task.
Next, choose a habit to replace it with. Make sure it is a habit that will help you become more focused, happier, healthier, or whatever your goal is.
Here are some options of what to replace bad habits with. Create your own table to make a note of the habits you are wanting to replace.
| Bad Habit | Indicator | Replace It With |
| Checking social media | Say “I’m on Facebook again” out loud | Write a note of gratitude |
| Smoking | Make a note in your diary | Drink a glass of water |
| Emotional eating | Move the treats to a new spot in the house | Make a note of why you are emotional |
| Procrastinating | Make a quick and easy to-do list for the next hour | Do the tasks on your new to-do list |
3 Steps to Building Your Daily Routines
Now that you have a good idea of the types of habits you want to break and the types you want to start doing daily, it is time to get them started. There are three areas of focus when you are creating a new routine.
Firstly, your mind needs to change. Then you need to start focusing on your physical health. Lastly, your spiritual or educational stimuli need to be optimized. The order you choose to do these in doesn’t matter. Do what works for you.
Always remember that your daily routine needs to suit your personality, your type of schedule, and your movements. Not everyone has the same work schedule, fitness goals, and educational aspirations, and these all matter when you are defining your own routine.
The following three areas are still necessary no matter what your goals are, but the weight of importance of each one should be determined by you. How you go about incorporating each area into your day is also what best suits you.
Ensuring you have a daily schedule running and are sticking to it will result in you feeling more motivated and energized, and best of all, you will find some extra time you never thought you had.
Prepare Your Mind
Start your day well by preparing your mind for the activities. If you are a morning person, you may want to write your to-do list in the morning and plan out your daily tasks; however, you might prefer to do this the night before so you are ready to get going.
However, it is always good to pause first thing when you wake up and take a few moments to get your mind right. This is done through positive affirmations. Start by saying a daily mantra or by praying.
Then, most importantly, start your day for yourself. Too often, many of us are guilty of checking social media or work emails immediately when we wake up or while we are eating breakfast.
Break this habit because it causes you to start your day thinking of another person’s priorities instead of your own. If you see a work email labeled urgent (even though it isn’t really urgent), you will be starting in a rush to complete a task for someone else.
Instead, focus on your tasks first and your most important priorities in the morning. Social media could also distract from this when you see news from friends and family or the state of affairs in the world.
You can also use these early morning hours to read. No matter how short the reading time is, just read something. Read your favorite blog, an inspiring post, or open your book and read a page or two.
You can read any material, but there are many scientifically-proven benefits to reading an actual book, such as preventing Alzheimer’s, improving brain function, easing depression, and helping you sleep better.
Focus on a Healthy Body
Looking after your body is not only about exercise and healthy eating; there are also small habits you can include to improve your health and take care of your body, especially when you are run-down and stressed.
Firstly, water is so important, and ensuring you are drinking enough water will help to improve your productivity by preventing symptoms of dehydration. If you are experiencing headaches and feeling tired throughout the day, you may not be getting enough water.
Prioritize the habit of drinking water. Drinking tea throughout the day will also help you reach your water goals as well as give you the health benefits of tea.
Exercise and diet are important too, and these should be a priority in your routines. Make time for any form of exercise each day. It doesn’t have to be strenuous, and you can include walking, yoga, or any form of consistent movement.
Exercise will help keep your mind clear and encourage you to eat right. Your routine should include regular meals and healthy foods. Schedule these in, and soon enough, eating healthy will become a habit.
Adequate sleep is important for overall health, and it helps you stay focused throughout the day. The time and amount of sleep are up to you. It is often said we need eight hours of sleep a night, but this is not always the case.
Every person is different, and not all sleeping patterns agree with everyone. When you are setting up your routine, you should determine how much sleep you need and how you can go about improving your quality of sleep.
Optimize Your Spirit and Education
The third area you should focus on when setting up your habits is looking after your spiritual and emotional side, along with education. You can go about these practices in the ways that best suit your beliefs, such as:
- Prayer journaling
- Guided meditation
- Breathing exercises
- Gratitude journaling
These are all options for keeping your spiritual and emotional aspects in balance.
Make sure you allocate time in your schedule for these practices and allow them to become habits in your life. Your mood will improve, and finding a better sense of your purpose will help you stay motivated.
Education does not mean you need to study or get a formal education constantly, but learning something new each day can benefit you both in optimizing your mind and leading to a healthier life.
This does not always need to be learning something on paper. You can try out a new sport, learn a new hobby, or just find an interesting fact about something you are passionate about.
A Few Good Habits to Have
If you are still needing some more motivation and ideas, here are a few common, healthy habits to incorporate into your day:
- Wake up at the same time every day.
- Cook a new meal at least once a week.
- Set a goal for how many books to read in a month and start by reading a few pages each day.
- Make your bed as soon as you get up.
- Write your daily to-do list and reminders.
- Schedule set work hours if you are freelancing or working from home.
- Spend quality time with people you love.
- Exercise regularly.
- Listen to new music, or try out a new genre or artist once a month.
- Design a specific bedtime routine to tell your mind it is relaxing and switching-off time.
- Schedule playtime. Even as adults, it is important to play. This could be puzzles, board games, or electronic gaming.
- Only check social media at set times in the day.
Putting It All Together
Now it is time to put it all together and begin programming your brain to start doing these new habits and following the new routine. It won’t happen overnight, so you should go easy on yourself.
If you fail by going back to an old habit before realizing it or fail to stick to your new habit, be kind to yourself, remember it happens to everyone, and try again.
Be mindful of the habits you choose. Even if you have written down specific habits you want to get into, they just may not be right for you.
If you keep failing at a specific habit, reassess it and see if it is truly something you want and something your body can handle. If not, find a new habit. Desired outcomes don’t always come from one specific way of doing things. There can be many paths to reach your goal.
Keep notes on the habits that work for you and the ones that don’t so you can remember which ones to focus on. Once you are sure the habits you have chosen will fit in with your desired lifestyle, start creating your routine.
Think of when you are most productive, and set aside that time to work on your biggest aspirations. Schedule the minor and mundane tasks for when you are most tired during the day.
Remember this is not set in stone. You can always change your routine and habits if they are not working out. Keep a diary handy when tracking your habits and make note of when and why you keep failing with a certain habit.
Once you have tried your first routine for a week or two, take time to go over the successes and shortcomings to determine where the problems are and what may need changing.
You can also check out the routines of famous people to steal some ideas for creating successful routines.
Good Daily Habits FAQ
How long does it take for a habit to “stick”?
According to Healthline, it can take from 18 to 254 days for a new habit to form. Usually, a new habit becomes automatic after 66 days. This goes against the belief of 21 days being the golden number for habit-forming.
What is the best general early morning habit for success?
Waking up early is common for many successful people. However, this may not work for the night owls who find motivation late at night. Exercising early, gratitude journaling, and dealing with your biggest task first are other great morning habits.
Final Thoughts
Remember that habit-forming is often a subconscious act, and bringing those bad habits to light is your first step to creating better habits and routines to set you up for success.
No more procrastinating! Go and start writing down your goals and get started on your new habits.