5 Hacks to maintain routine

Did you know that habits are a critical component of the happiness equation?

We all know we should exercise more, eat less cheese and practice mindfulness, but how often do we really do these things?

The missing piece here is HABIT.

If you’re struggling to keep up with healthy routines in your life, then try out these 5 hacks to help maintain routine and build habits. You can also try our Reboot your Fitness, Health and Well-being in 7 days or less – free kick-start.

1. Plan it out

Plan out any new routine when you start out implementing it. We also suggest don’t go in for the full hog (i.e. that you’ll ‘train 5 days a week’ when in reality for the last month you’ve barely made it twice a week).

This just puts too much pressure on yourself and you’ll end up slipping and feeling guilty.

Start with small habits that you can build on and plan these into your day.

Start your first week with just 10 minute morning habits or evening habits, or just getting to 2 classes that week. Build this up over the next 4-6 weeks to the level you want to be at and you’ll soon find it’s a normal part of your day.

2. Get your sleep in!

The proper amount of sleep is vital to sticking to your routine and habits. It ensures our brain is firing and we feel energetic and capable. Without sleep, you are far more likely to talk yourself out of what you set out to do.

We also suggest trying to get yourself into an evening routine. You know how babies have a solid evening routine, well the same goes for us.

By taking some time (even 10 minutes) to slow the brain down, practice a little deep breathing and mindfulness, switching off the electronics and even taking a long shower and brushing your teeth slowly can help you unwind and have a great sleep and a fantastic start to the following day

3. Set reminders!

There’s no way we could remember to do everything in our lives without reminders – set them into your phone or diary for the important ‘routines’ you want to create. Being motivated is one thing, but remembering is another. By setting these and then doing them, they become ingrained in our routines.

4. Go easy on yourself

This is linked to the one above. Go easy on yourself! You’re starting out trying to change some long-held bad habits and creating healthy routines. Its gonna take some time!

If you slip up, that’s ok – its even expected! But get back up on that horse and keep going. It will take time, but you’ll thank yourself for this in a month, 2 months or 1 year down the track!

5. Our final word of advice – when all else fails, lie to yourself

Little white lies to yourself can sometimes mean the difference between you getting off the couch or staying there and eating the rest of that left-over pizza.

NO ONE feels like working out each and every time they do, so trick yourself into it – tell yourself you’ll go for 5 minutes only, or if you just show up to class, you can have tomorrow off. We can guarantee that by the time those first 5 minutes or class is up, your motivation will be up and you’ll be ready to go.

AND… if you do those 5 minutes and your whole body is screaming at you to stop, well then do! Sometimes you gotta listen to your body and know that its not right today and save your energy and motivation for tomorrow.

Hope this helps!