These 7 proven steps will take you closer the perfect daily routine

There was a time when I used to wake up at 5, exercise for an hour, have breakfast at 7, take part in sports for an hour in the afternoon, study two hours in the evening, have dinner at 8.30 and go to sleep at 11.

I followed this routine for 6 years because that was the only option. I was part of a semi-military boarding school where this was the routine we had to follow every day.

However, this gave me the wrong idea. I thought I was very capable of creating & following routines. Apparently that was never the case. After I got out of that school, I struggled to even jog for 20 minutes. After a few days, I couldn’t even wake up at 7 AM.

I was in a pickle as I had to form a routine for myself. For six years, I had a daily routine handed over to me and took it for granted. Creating a daily routine is never easy

It still is not. But over the years, I’ve identified some ways to create a daily routine that suits me. While my day won’t match with you, my method should be helpful for you.

Step 01: Understand your goals

You are planning to create a daily routine because you have some goals.

The goal can be short-term like acing an exam. Or long-term like staying healthy or becoming financially free. If you are unsure about your goals, I highly recommend you watch the following video. It’s one of the most useful contents on goal setting.

Firstly, identify your goals, and then be sure that those are what you want and need. Lastly, set your direction towards that.

A goal will show which direction you should walk towards. A routine will form the steps that will get you to your destination.

In a class, a lot of the students have goals to top the exams. In our society, many have the goal to become a millionaire. But setting the goal doesn’t mean they’ll achieve it. Those who continuously take the right steps and put in an effort eventually achieve that. A productive daily routine will ensure you are taking those steps.

Step 02: List all activities that’ll get you to your goal

For ease of understanding, let’s imagine that you have 3 goals — becoming healthy, earning 20% more in a year, and becoming an expert in marketing strategy.

You should list down everything you need to do to achieve these goals. For example, to become healthy, you need to eat healthy at least 5 days a week, exercise for 1 hour 5 days a week, drink 3-liter water per day, get a full-body health checkup every year, get more sunlight, and spend more time outdoors. To become an expert in marketing strategy, you plan to do courses, do a short-term consulting project on marketing strategy, make youtube videos on marketing strategy and read up articles on marketing strategy.

After that, you should write down the time required per week/day for each of those activities. Once you have that, you’ll start realizing how realistic your requirements are. Are you trying to achieve too much in too short a time? Prioritize activities if that’s the case.

Step 03: Create themed slots for daily routine

Jack Dorsey, the CEO of Twitter and Square, manages two companies at the same time using this trick. Jack divides his weekdays into themed days to focus on one specific topic.

Read here: Jack Dorsey’s Productivity Secrets

For you, it might not be possible to have that much control over your time. You may have to settle for themed slots. Your early mornings can be for personal maintenance activities like grooming, exercise, healthy breakfast, etc. Your evenings can be about personal growth like reading, doing a course, talking to a mentor, etc. You should create slots to stop multitasking.

Step 04: Find your anchors

Let’s dial back a little bit. The purpose of the daily routine is to be efficient and feel in control. However, in this ever-changing world, control is often elusive. Too much change can also make us feel disoriented.

That’s why you should identify some activities that will remain constant no matter what. You might be at home or on a business trip or out camping- but your anchors should be there with you.

For me, exercising, prayers, and morning grooming constitute my anchor. You should also form a set of activities that’d give you a sense of familiarity even if you find yourself in a new location.

Step 05: Create your first draft for daily routine

Your first draft should be closely aligned with your goals and responsibilities. In no way your goal should ignore your existing responsibilities. For example, you may want to become fitter which requires you to exercise 2 hours in the morning. But doing so makes you late for work. That’s not acceptable and you have to find a way around it. One way around can be, you exercise for an hour but walk back from work or take 10-minute walk breaks six times throughout the day.

Create the first draft —

• Take the list you developed
• Mark the non-negotiables (must-dos)
• Rank other activities by priority
• Identify how many themed slots you can have in a day
• Check how long each slot is
• Place the similar types of activities in slots
• Keep 10% breathing time at least so that it doesn’t feel rushed
• Leave the other activities for weekends or remove them from your list altogether ( You can’t do everything). If possible, ask your partner or family members to take some of those works

Step 06: Experiment until you get to a concrete daily routine

A perfect daily routine is not like magic. You can’t expect to create a complex routine on paper and then start acting on it fully from the next day.

Once you have the draft, you should start executing from the next day. But you should also ask yourself the following questions-

• Are you feeling rushed? If yes, you may consider removing some tasks or buying some more time. Buying time can mean hiring a nanny for your baby, or a maid for your household maintenance, or calling a Uber instead of taking the subway.
• Are you feeling too relaxed? If yes, you may consider adding some more activities to your list.
• Are you getting closer to your goal? It’s possible to forget important activities that’d get you closer to your goals. You might not even know all the steps. In that case, you should monitor your results and recalibrate your activity list.
• Are you getting bored? If you are getting bored, your routine will be hard to sustain. You must add some fun activities to keep you energized and reward yourself. Ideally, you should have some free time in your routine every week when you can do whatever you want.

Based on the answers, you should make adjustments to the draft routine. After 2–3 months, you should get to a routine that’s sustainable and fits you like a glove. You can say that you’ve reached your perfect routine.

Step 07: Life is a journey, treat it like that

While many elements of your routine should be the same all the time, you must accept that life changes all the time. A daily routine may work for you today but that doesn’t mean it will tomorrow. You must remain flexible. Remember, a routine is there to ensure your betterment. But if it makes you anxious, then it’s time to update the daily routine.

Apart from the anchors, you may want to keep some semi-permanent activities that’d change as per your life’s needs. For example, I used to read for 40 minutes during my commute. Now my work is 10 minutes from home. For reading 40 minutes, I have to find other slots in addition to commuting. I can do that if I remain flexible.

Final thoughts on creating a perfect daily routine

To create a routine, goal setting is of utmost importance. If your goals are not fully aligned with who you are and who you want to be, your routine will feel out of place. Once you have the goals in place, only then you should consider creating a sustainable routine.