14 Ways to Improve Your Daily Routine

It is six a.m. The alarm is blaring – time to start another workday.

Of course you’re exhausted.  That’s what you get for staying up past midnight to catch up on work (or, Facebook).

After a five whacks at the snooze button, you’re running late. No breakfast for you.

At the office you settle in to your routine – coffee, computer, chair – for hours.

First up on your to-do list; check email. Emptying your inbox takes longer than it should because you’re multi-tasking; checking social media, YouTube, the news, and texting.

In the afternoon…

It’s almost noon and you haven’t accomplished much of anything. In an effort to get ahead you grab something to eat and bring it back to your desk. You’ll work through lunch. Trouble is you don’t get any actual work done.

As the workday fads away, your energy goes with it. You’re headed for a crash. It’s time for some leftover birthday cake from the break room and a cup of Joe to jolt you back into action. Game on!

It’s nearing 3 p.m. You’re finally ready to sit down and dive into your important tasks for the day when that momentary sugar/caffeine spike wears off. You manage to push through and make some headway. But, it’s not enough. When quitting time rolls around you are nowhere near done. You’re staying late.

After work…

You missed dinner. You barley make it home in time to put the kids to bed. After binging on leftovers, the TV comes on, the computer comes out, and it’s back to the grind. Yep, time to tackle more emails and social networking.

I shouldn’t have to tell you this, but your workday routine is literally killing you.

If you day even remotely resembles the day laid out in this article, you’ve got to overhaul your routine. What you eat, whether or not you exercise, your sleep habits, and use, or abuse of technology and the television should be among the areas being addressed and altered.

Letting things on without making a change is not okay. It’s not sustainable, it’s not healthy, and it’s not productive.

Use these 14 tips to revamp your daily routine and tap into a healthy, happier more productive version of yourself.

1. Go to sleep by 11pm. Which means you’re in bed by 10.30. No screens aloud. Get at least 7 hours of sleep
2. Make time for breakfast. Keep it simple – blender, berries, protein, nut butter, done.
3. At the office, do your most difficult/important tasks first. Don’t check your email. Don’t even connect to the internet if you don’t have to. Block off an hour or two to get ahead, even if that means getting to the office a little early to work uninterrupted.
4. Work, take a break, repeat. Our focus wears off after about 90 minutes. When it does, get up out of your chair, walk around, stretch and disconnect for 15 minutes. Then, it’s back to work.
5. Get away from your desk at lunch. Eat something healthy – fruit, veg, protein, healthy fat. And, schedule in some time for a walk outside, even if it’s only 15 minutes.
6. The afternoon is for meetings and reactionary work. Now you can take phone calls, check email, and clear your inbox if you have to.
7. At the end of the day create a to-do list for the next day. This way, when you arrive at work tomorrow you’ll know exactly what needs to be done.
8. Go home!
9. Make time to exercise. Keep it simple – bodyweight and kettlebells, intervals and high intensity.
10. Make a home-cooked meal. Sit down and eat dinner with your family.
11. Take a baseball bat to your television; it is useless. At minimum limit TV time to one hour.
12. If you need to catch up on some work, do it without logging into any social media or messaging accounts.
13. Read a book. Write in your journal. Mediate. Have a meaningful conversation. Sip some decaf tea.
14. Go to sleep.

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