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Speaker 1: Hello everybody, Welcome back to the show. Welcome back to

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Speaker 1: the podcast, new listeners, old listeners, Wherever you are in

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Speaker 1: the world, it is so great to have you here.

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Speaker 1: Back for another episode as we, of course break down

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Speaker 1: the psychology of our twenties. Today we're talking the psychology

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Speaker 1: of routines. What is it about morning routines and nighttime

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Speaker 1: routines and daily routines that people just swear by, and

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Speaker 1: not just in their twenties, but throughout life. You know

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Speaker 1: parents who swear by a routine for their children, sixty

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Speaker 1: year olds, seventy year olds who seem like they are

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Speaker 1: the happiest people in the world because they have routine.

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Speaker 1: And is it really as simple as having a morning,

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Speaker 1: waking time, or some general activity scheduled in your day.

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Speaker 1: Could that be the simple answer to making us happier?

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Speaker 1: Turns out there is a lot of evidence for routine,

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Speaker 1: but also some downside, some controversies that we're going to

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Speaker 1: talk talk about on today's episode. I am going to

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Speaker 1: start out by being entirely honest with you all. I am,

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Speaker 1: by no means someone who claims to be an expert

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Speaker 1: in productivity or routine for that matter. You know, if

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Speaker 1: I had to choose between productivity and discipline or creativity

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Speaker 1: and spontaneity. I would most of the time choose creativity

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Speaker 1: and spontaneity almost every day. But I have come around

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Speaker 1: to the idea and I have been convinced that routine

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Speaker 1: allows for both in you know, a way that actually

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Speaker 1: lets you get the most out of what you want

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Speaker 1: from life, even if it seems opposed to something that

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Speaker 1: requires rigidity and strictness. And I have also realized in

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Speaker 1: my own life that when I have structure, I feel better,

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Speaker 1: I operate better, I have much greater clarity and focus.

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Speaker 1: That is one side of the benefits that routine brings.

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Speaker 1: You know, it brings a great reduction to anxiety, It

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Speaker 1: brings greater time management, to name just to name a few,

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Speaker 1: and a recent study looking at over a thousand individuals

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Speaker 1: has even suggested that people who have a morning routine

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Speaker 1: they typically earn more, they are happier, they have more

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Speaker 1: fulfilling relationships. Even so, that is something that we need

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Speaker 1: to most certainly look into, and I think even those

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Speaker 1: things alone might persuade most of us who are on

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Speaker 1: the fence to maybe start incorporating some rituals, some non

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Speaker 1: negotiables and some protocols into our life. So we're going

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Speaker 1: to talk about all of that today, Why routine is

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Speaker 1: so good for our brains, why our brains crave it,

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Speaker 1: and the routines of some of the most successful people

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Speaker 1: in the world, and what we can take from those

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Speaker 1: routines to apply to our own lives in a small

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Speaker 1: and more sustainable way. I also want to talk about

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Speaker 1: three very important tips for creating a routine that you

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Speaker 1: will actually stick with, tips I'm guessing you probably haven't

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Speaker 1: heard before, but also how to balance the need for

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Speaker 1: spontaneity and the need for novelty with a desire for structure.

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Speaker 1: It's a big episode, one that I think I'll probably

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Speaker 1: end up coming back to myself, but as always, I

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Speaker 1: hope that we learn something together. I hope that you

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Speaker 1: find the psychology and the research fascinating. Without further ado,

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Speaker 1: let's get into the episode. Routine is quite a broad term,

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Speaker 1: so not to sound too simplistic in like a textbook,

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Speaker 1: but I do want to give kind of a guideline

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Speaker 1: around what this generally means what we're talking about today.

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Speaker 1: MY definition of routine is that it is a series

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Speaker 1: of habits that benefit your lifestyle that are repeated on

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Speaker 1: a regular basis, so in the morning, evening, daily, weekly, monthly.

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Speaker 1: And these habits have to be intentional, so you know,

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Speaker 1: most people eat breakfast. That doesn't necessarily mean that it's

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Speaker 1: a deliberate and specific routine. You have to be intentional

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Speaker 1: with it, you know, putting a specific behavior at a

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Speaker 1: time that corresponds best to your lifestyle, and you have

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Speaker 1: to believe that it's going to help you in some

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Speaker 1: area of your life. I think if someone was going

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Speaker 1: to ask me for a definition, that's the best I

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Speaker 1: can come up with. Now. Routine routines have been applauded

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Speaker 1: by people all over the globe from all disciplines, from

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Speaker 1: athletes to entertain as, business leaders, politicians, parents, students. You

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Speaker 1: will find an example in every single domain of a

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Speaker 1: routine that people swear by and people who will very

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Speaker 1: readily tell you that it has changed their life. And

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Speaker 1: there is a real fascination with what do successful people

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Speaker 1: do in their day that sets them apart from other people's.

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Speaker 1: Thousands of YouTube videos, thousands of articles, probably hundreds of

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Speaker 1: books written on this very subject, but to keep it small.

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Speaker 1: The reason that people love routine specifically the routines they've

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Speaker 1: created for themselves. But really, any form of routine in general,

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Speaker 1: is that it does for our brain what the modern

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Speaker 1: world simply cannot. It provides structure, and it provides a

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Speaker 1: sense of predictability that makes us feel safe and secure

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Speaker 1: as much as our brain does like novelty, and we

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Speaker 1: crave new experiences, things that are surprising, even the best

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Speaker 1: kinds of surprises, even the good stuff that actually still

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Speaker 1: causes us stress. That's the interesting thing about stress. A

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Speaker 1: lot of people think that it's this negative, nasty thing.

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Speaker 1: Stress just means arousal. They can be good stress, there

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Speaker 1: can be bad stress. It still puts pressure on the body.

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Speaker 1: But when we have a routine that kind of eases

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Speaker 1: that necessary stress that we encounter in our daily lives

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Speaker 1: by allowing us to almost switch off our brain for

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Speaker 1: the routine stuff, for like the normal stuff we do

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Speaker 1: day to day, and to save our cognitive resources for

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Speaker 1: the surprising things, good and bad, and to make sure

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Speaker 1: that you know, we give our brain rest so that

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Speaker 1: it doesn't have to make as many decisions throughout our day.

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Speaker 1: It can find comfort and stability in the patterns and

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Speaker 1: habits that we have rehearsed Basically, like I said, with

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Speaker 1: so much chaos going on, routine is like a nice

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Speaker 1: cozy bed. It's like a nice home to go home to.

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Speaker 1: I think the biggest evidence for why routines work and

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Speaker 1: why they help us is how much they actually alleviate

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Speaker 1: anxiety and how much it removes so many of the

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Speaker 1: unknowns that anxiety and negative stress really thrives on. So

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Speaker 1: there's this two thousand and two research paper that I've

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Speaker 1: read for this episode that basically concluded that those of

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Speaker 1: us who lack routine, we essentially leave the door open

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Speaker 1: for more minor disruptions, and those minor disruptions can snowball

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Speaker 1: into ongoing and chronic stress, but also more persistent and

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Speaker 1: probable anxiety. I will say, like I said before, the

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Speaker 1: times I have been most routine bound have been the

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Speaker 1: days that I feel more at peace. I wake up

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Speaker 1: with less sense of urgency, I have less thoughts running

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Speaker 1: through my head, I don't face as much choice overload.

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Speaker 1: Routine is this very beautiful way of allowing us to

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Speaker 1: explore and be creative and be big thinkers, whilst also

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Speaker 1: knowing that we have something to ground us. So there's

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Speaker 1: two words there that I think are really crucial for

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Speaker 1: understanding the benefits of routine. It's certainty and its grounding.

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Speaker 1: Those are the two really important components. And we can

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Speaker 1: probably out a final word in here, and that is efficiency.

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Speaker 1: So certainty grounding efficiency. So a twenty sixteen paper from

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Speaker 1: Harvard Business School, just to float another study out there

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Speaker 1: for you, they found that by decreasing anxiety, which we

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Speaker 1: know is what routine does, rituals, routines, protocols, they improve

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Speaker 1: mental performance and they improve cognitive performance as well, because

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Speaker 1: they become a way for us to get the most

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Speaker 1: out of our hours by really streamlining processes at critical

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Speaker 1: time periods. So in the morning or the evening, there's

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Speaker 1: a lot that needs to get done in those opening

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Speaker 1: and closing shifts, and it can quickly consume our whole

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Speaker 1: day if we don't use our time and the limited

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Speaker 1: hours we have in those pockets of time most efficiently.

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Speaker 1: That's what routine does. You know, if you have a

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Speaker 1: solid morning routine, you don't have to set your alarm

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Speaker 1: every night for what time you want to wake up.

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Speaker 1: You've already done it, you know what time it will be.

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Speaker 1: You don't have to think about what you're going have

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Speaker 1: for breakfast every morning. You don't have to calculate when

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Speaker 1: you can squeeze in a workout. It's all laid out

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Speaker 1: for you, like this gift from a prior version of

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Speaker 1: you who thought, Okay, let's just make this all a

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Speaker 1: little bit smoother. Let's make this a little bit easier,

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Speaker 1: more effortless. Routine and allocating dedicated time slots for specific

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Speaker 1: tasks have also been shown to make us more productive, obviously,

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Speaker 1: because we have a distinct time period where something needs

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Speaker 1: to get done. That really increases focus and what we

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Speaker 1: call task based urgency, meaning that if you have fifteen

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Speaker 1: minutes that you put aside every day to do something,

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Speaker 1: you are more likely to use that time for the

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Speaker 1: desired activity. You're less likely to compromise, and that actually

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Speaker 1: means that you'll achieve more, but also you'll be happier

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Speaker 1: because if you can streamline kind of the annoying things,

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Speaker 1: the admin tasks of life, the brushing of the teeth,

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Speaker 1: the showering, like the admin emails, you do end up

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Speaker 1: having more time to just be a human, to enjoy yourself,

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Speaker 1: to have fun, and those benefits they are not sequested

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Speaker 1: by age. They don't disappear, you know, at a certain age.

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Speaker 1: It doesn't take a specific time or age for them

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Speaker 1: to start. So maybe I should explain this in a

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Speaker 1: better way. Basically, routine benefits everyone. I came across a

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Speaker 1: really cool paper while researching this episode from twenty eighteen,

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Speaker 1: and it talks about how good routine is for children specifically,

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Speaker 1: and how there are some pediatricians and some teachers who

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Speaker 1: can tell the kids that have a bedtime, who have

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Speaker 1: a dinner time, who have homework or family time compared

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Speaker 1: to those who don't, and those kids are typically more resilient,

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Speaker 1: they're less stressed, and they have better attention spans. So

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Speaker 1: when we take that same logic into adulthood, you know,

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Speaker 1: when we are adults, we don't have a parent telling

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Speaker 1: us to do. We are the primary grown up in

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Speaker 1: our lives, being like, Okay, I'm going to be a

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Speaker 1: little bit strict with myself here, and I'm going to

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Speaker 1: allocate certain times I'm going to create routine. Those same

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Speaker 1: structures that helped us as children will continue to help

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Speaker 1: us as adults. This is specifically the case when life

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Speaker 1: feels naturally or like contextually very stressful, like whenever I

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Speaker 1: get dams from people being like I'm so overwhelmed at UNI.

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Speaker 1: I've just been through this huge breakup, and I feel

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Speaker 1: like the world is crumbling underneath me. I always say,

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Speaker 1: you need to start practicing some kind of grounding ritual

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Speaker 1: or routine for yourself. You need to lower the cognitive

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Speaker 1: burden of even the most minute decision making tasks, because

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Speaker 1: your brain needs all the stability that it can get

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Speaker 1: during exam periods, during really difficult emotional times. If you

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Speaker 1: can just make some things more automatic, that gives you

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Speaker 1: more time to process and to think and to be

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Speaker 1: able to problem solve. So I hope that just like

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Speaker 1: big mount of evidence that I've just thrown at you,

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Speaker 1: has made a compelling case. You know, it's evidence that

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Speaker 1: I probably need to re listen to myself at times.

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Speaker 1: I need to stop scheduling meetings at eight am during

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Speaker 1: my morning routine. I need to find a dedicated time

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Speaker 1: to work out because it's always the last thing on

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Speaker 1: my list for the day. Like I definitely need to

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Speaker 1: have a better bedtime. But consider me like an imperfect

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Speaker 1: version of success or adherence here, like do better than me.

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Speaker 1: But also it's hopefully an example, like hopefully you can

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Speaker 1: use my life as an example of how even just

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Speaker 1: going forward imperfectly with your routine. Although those things routine

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Speaker 1: and imperfect like sound contradictory, like if you can just

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Speaker 1: show up as often as possible in your desired routine,

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Speaker 1: your life does get better. All right, Let's talk about

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Speaker 1: some of the most effective routines in the world. What

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Speaker 1: do some of the most successful people on this planet

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Speaker 1: do in their mornings, evenings, afternoons, and nights. Some of

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Speaker 1: these are rather intense. I will say I love hearing

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Speaker 1: people's morning routines, but there are times when I'm like, wow,

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Speaker 1: like four am, wake up. You get all of that

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Speaker 1: done before you've even had lunch, Like, how am I

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Speaker 1: even able to compare? We will be taking small lessons

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Speaker 1: from these routines. Please don't consider these as like options

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Speaker 1: for you to choose from. I think they're just very,

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Speaker 1: very fascinating. So with that in mind, let's start with

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Speaker 1: Barack Obama, former president of the United States. So he

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Speaker 1: would reportedly wake up at seven am every morning. Honestly,

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Speaker 1: seven ams pretty early in my mind, but kind of

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Speaker 1: later than I thought a president would wake up, But

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Speaker 1: that's what he does. Seven am. He would work out

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Speaker 1: six days a week for forty five minutes. He apparently

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Speaker 1: told his aids that the rest of my time will

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Speaker 1: be more productive if you give me my workout time,

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Speaker 1: which that's a man who prioritizes. He would then have

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Speaker 1: breakfast with his family if he was like in the

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Speaker 1: White House, which we love a family man, then this

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Speaker 1: is a really beautiful part of his routine. He would

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Speaker 1: then walk one minute to his office in the Oval office,

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Speaker 1: because of course he lived in the White House. And

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Speaker 1: he said that was like his thinking time. That was

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Speaker 1: like almost to meditation, a one minute solo walk to

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Speaker 1: work basically where he would just allow himself to just

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Speaker 1: breathe think, imagine, do whatever a president does, I guess

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Speaker 1: with that time. I think this is a really really

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Speaker 1: simple routine for someone who was at the time, you know,

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Speaker 1: like the busiest and most influential person in the world.

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Speaker 1: But what I like about it was that it was predictable,

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Speaker 1: it's easy to follow, and it's not like as intense

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Speaker 1: as you would imagine. Let's talk about Anna Winter's routine.

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Speaker 1: Obviously the editor in chief of Vogue. Now. She apparently

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Speaker 1: wakes up at five forty five am and then she

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Speaker 1: plays tennis for an hour on the dot finishing at seven.

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Speaker 1: So she says this keeps a physically fit. It also

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Speaker 1: helps her sharpen her focus, and then following her game,

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Speaker 1: she spends the next hour and a half in hair

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Speaker 1: and makeup, and she does it every day. She says,

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Speaker 1: it's like ensures that she is ready for her demanding schedule.

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Speaker 1: I think if you are like someone who wears makeup,

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Speaker 1: you understand this feeling. I remember, like when I was

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Speaker 1: at Uni, I would do a full face of makeup

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Speaker 1: every single day before I left my dorm room before

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Speaker 1: I went to class, and some of my friends would

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Speaker 1: be like that seems a little bit unnecessary, but I

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Speaker 1: was like, this is meditative. This is a way to

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Speaker 1: just be like I'm present with myself for twenty minutes

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Speaker 1: thirty minutes doing this like ritual of like painting my

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Speaker 1: face and like making myself feel presentable. That does influence

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Speaker 1: how I feel for the rest of the day, which

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Speaker 1: I think is really special. Let's talk about an unusual one.

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Speaker 1: We've had two that seem like pretty cut and dry,

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Speaker 1: like exercise as a priority, very busy people. Jim Carrey,

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Speaker 1: Let's talk about his routine. Very famous comedian. Apparently he

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Speaker 1: has just this one daily ritual that at eleven am

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Speaker 1: every single day he calls himself and he pretends that

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Speaker 1: it's someone from the past calling him with some news

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Speaker 1: or calling him to tell him something. And he comes

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Speaker 1: up with a new character every single day, and it's

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Speaker 1: like a creative exercise for him to get the juice

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Speaker 1: is flowing. So there you go. There's another example of

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Speaker 1: how it can be very much suited to who you are.

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Speaker 1: I want to touch on one more famous morning routine.

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Speaker 1: You've probably heard of it before. It's Andrew Huberman's very

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Speaker 1: famous ritual for his early mornings. So Andrew Huberman, he

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Speaker 1: is a neuroscientist. You may have listened to him on

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Speaker 1: the Huberman Lab. I will say, I don't necessarily agree

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Speaker 1: with everything that the man has to say, but his

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Speaker 1: morning routine is definitely interesting, definitely evocative, and according to

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Speaker 1: his own research, highly productive. So let's talk about it. So,

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Speaker 1: his morning routine consists of waking up two to three

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Speaker 1: hours before you habitually wake up. So most of us

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Speaker 1: have obviously, we have circadian rhythm, we have a body clock.

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Speaker 1: Most of us have a time that we would naturally

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Speaker 1: like to wake up at. You know, I know For me,

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Speaker 1: it's around eight o'clock, Like that's when my body is like,

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Speaker 1: all right, we're awake. If I oversleep past that time,

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Speaker 1: I always feel a little bit groggy. If I get

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Speaker 1: up earlier, I'm always a little bit like I have

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Speaker 1: to really pull myself out of bed. He says, that's

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Speaker 1: a good thing. Get up two to three hours before

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Speaker 1: you would habitually wake up. Then hydrate, drink five hundred

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Speaker 1: miles of water, Get ten to thirty minutes of morning

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Speaker 1: light exposure. This one's a bit hard, like if you

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Speaker 1: live somewhere that's really dark in the mornings, Like you know,

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Speaker 1: if your normal wake up time is eight and you

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Speaker 1: have to wake up at six or five and the

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Speaker 1: sun doesn't rise till nine. This seems like a bit

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Speaker 1: of a Californian thing, but let's keep going. Then you

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Speaker 1: want to exercise for at least forty minutes forty minutes

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Speaker 1: three to four times a week, either cardio or weight training, shower,

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Speaker 1: and then you do ninety minutes of focused work before

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Speaker 1: lunch or like just in that first early morning bit.

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Speaker 1: Ninety minutes. Apparently, that's like you should be able to

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Speaker 1: sit down and just knock out all those early morning things,

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Speaker 1: and then he has something for his afternoon as well,

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Speaker 1: which is he does like ten to thirty minutes of

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Speaker 1: non sleep deep rest or hypnosis or a nap, and

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Speaker 1: then he gets ten to fifteen minutes of evening light

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Speaker 1: exposure intensive. Some key points to this. His focus really

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Speaker 1: seems on streamlining alertness, being very in touch with his body.

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Speaker 1: He also has this thing of like delaying caffeine intake

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Speaker 1: by like an hour and a half after you wake up,

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Speaker 1: So really letting our bodies nap truly regulate through light exposure,

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Speaker 1: through hydration, which you know, really does prepare the body

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Speaker 1: and it stimulates a lot of neuromodulators and increase arousal

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Speaker 1: and mental acuity throughout the day. It's a good thing.

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Speaker 1: But if we're going to look at all of these

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Speaker 1: routines holistically, they do have one thing in common. They

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Speaker 1: all revolve around the thing that is most important to

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Speaker 1: that person and a singular non negotiable. Whether it's exercise,

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Speaker 1: whether it's makeup, whether it is alertness, whether it is

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Speaker 1: a phone call. And what those priorities indicate to me

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Speaker 1: are values they suit the person's values. Is it family, creativity, confidence,

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Speaker 1: mental clarity, physical health, and that kind of leads me

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Speaker 1: to the question, right, is there a best routine? Of

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Speaker 1: all these examples, is one of them best? And the

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Speaker 1: answer is, you know, a little bit more complicated than

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Speaker 1: you would think. We're going to talk about all of

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Speaker 1: that and more. Stay with us after this short break.

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Speaker 1: Is there a perfect routine? The answer is no. There

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Speaker 1: is not a universal routine that is going to work

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Speaker 1: perfectly for everyone, but there are ingredients to a routine

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Speaker 1: that will most certainly help you, and also a routine

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Speaker 1: that will hit some of those core pillars of health

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Speaker 1: that we want to target. Firstly, if you're going to

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Speaker 1: start with a routine, choose either the morning or the evening.

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Speaker 1: This is an amazing way to bookend your day with

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Speaker 1: good habits. So I feel like a work a you know,

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Speaker 1: a midday routine or a workday routine is a little

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Speaker 1: bit complicated and takes a lot of effort. But your

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Speaker 1: evening and your morning routine they kind of only take

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Speaker 1: like an hour or an hour of half, So that's

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Speaker 1: really where you should begin to focus. I think, you know,

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Speaker 1: your morning routine sets the tone, but your night routine

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Speaker 1: gives you the last taste of the day. It allows

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Speaker 1: for restoration, whatever one you choose. Depending on which you choose,

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Speaker 1: what each of these routines need to be centered around

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Speaker 1: is something to do with sleep, something to do with movement,

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Speaker 1: and something that is going to make your life easier.

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Speaker 1: So for example, laying out your outfit for the next day,

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Speaker 1: gratitude journaling, not going on your phone thirty minutes after

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Speaker 1: you wake up or thirty minutes before bed. Most effective

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Speaker 1: routines contain at least two of the above, and they

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Speaker 1: start small before expanding. You know, after that, some people

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Speaker 1: might add in meal times, liquid, showering, makeup, whatever it

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Speaker 1: is that you know you feel needs to be done.

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Speaker 1: It is structured around, firstly, things that are small, and

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Speaker 1: we're going to talk about why that's important. Something that

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Speaker 1: I really think if you are more focused on creating

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Speaker 1: like a daily routine instead of setting up like a

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Speaker 1: specific time blocking a gender to begin with. Instead, I

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Speaker 1: want you to kind of think about a checklist routine

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Speaker 1: instead of like a specific time routine. And it's my

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Speaker 1: opinion that your daily checklist, your daily routine checklist should

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Speaker 1: prioritize these five things. Something for your health, something productive,

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Speaker 1: something for your mental health, something for you socially and

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Speaker 1: something just for you. So health, productivity, mental, social, just

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Speaker 1: for you. If you want to hit the five pillars

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Speaker 1: of happiness in our life, you may also include spirituality

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Speaker 1: in there. Those are the ones that I would be

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Speaker 1: focusing on. So jim in the morning, writing out a

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Speaker 1: to do list as soon as I sit down at

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Speaker 1: my desk, ten minutes of meditation, seeing friends for lunch

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Speaker 1: or dinner, and then watching my favorite show or doing

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Speaker 1: something crafty before. But like that is the perfect day

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Speaker 1: that involves specific protocols I know will make me happy.

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Speaker 1: It also makes sense that, like when we're talking about

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Speaker 1: choosing routine, different routines are gonna work for different professions,

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Speaker 1: different personalities, different people. So if you are someone who

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Speaker 1: works night shifts, a morning routine starting at six am

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Speaker 1: isn't gonna work for you because you're just clocking off

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Speaker 1: or you're at the end of your shift. If you're

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Speaker 1: someone who has ADHD, a highly intensive time bound routine

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Speaker 1: with many many steps, many different parts also probably won't work,

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Speaker 1: or maybe it will. Actually, you know, I have been

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Speaker 1: seeing recent studies about how time blocking for ADHD is

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Speaker 1: really effective, really helps with time blindness. But I think

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Speaker 1: you've had to have had some practice before you jump

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Speaker 1: straight in. My point is really this, You've got to

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Speaker 1: choose what's best for you. Like I do not wake

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Speaker 1: up at six am because I know that I am

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Speaker 1: most productive between seven and ten pm. So I want

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Speaker 1: to prioritize that time period of my life knowing that

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Speaker 1: that's what my peak performance is, right than trying to

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Speaker 1: fit myself into the circle or the box of someone

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Speaker 1: else's routine. So, coming back to what we were talking before,

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Speaker 1: how do I choose my routine? How do I start

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Speaker 1: with the structure. Once you've kind of decided morning or

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Speaker 1: night routine, the first thing I really want you to

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Speaker 1: do is reflect on one thing that you are trying

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Speaker 1: to prioritize in your life right now. Some examples. Is

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Speaker 1: it exercising, is it limiting social media time? Is it

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Speaker 1: reading more? Is it feeling more rested? All of these

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Speaker 1: sound amazing. I want you to choose just one that

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Speaker 1: is going to become the centerpiece upon which you are

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Speaker 1: going to build everything else around. So let's say your

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Speaker 1: biggest goal is to get more daily movement. You know,

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Speaker 1: you work in an office, you sit all day, You're

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Speaker 1: feeling sluggish if that's your priority. Then I want you

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Speaker 1: to assess your day for where there is the most

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Speaker 1: time loss by doing a quick time audit. Basically, when

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Speaker 1: you do a time audit, you're meant it's really meant

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Speaker 1: to help you identify where you are perhaps dedicating too

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Speaker 1: much time to what I call lost hours. So lost

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Speaker 1: hours include time scrolling your phone, time sleeping past the

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Speaker 1: point of restoration, time spent in bed, time spent procrastinating.

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Speaker 1: Of course, sometimes you know having a bit of bed

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Speaker 1: rot or brain rot is helpful. Sometimes you really do

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Speaker 1: just need to turn your brain off in front of

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Speaker 1: the TV for a little while. Sometimes you have slept

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Speaker 1: ten hours because you really need it. But if that

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Speaker 1: means if that is consistently and it's not actually helping you,

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Speaker 1: that is where your lost hours are probably sitting. So

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Speaker 1: where on your day do you have the most lost hours?

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Speaker 1: Is it morning, middle of the day or afternoon slash evening.

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Speaker 1: Let's say for this example, it's evening. That is where

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Speaker 1: you're going to choose your first routine. Where you have

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Speaker 1: that priority that you want to get done, You're going

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Speaker 1: to put it where there is most time wastage. Pretty simple.

432
00:25:57,600 --> 00:26:00,199
Speaker 1: This also really helps you work with what you have

433
00:26:00,240 --> 00:26:02,720
Speaker 1: instead of feeling like you need to eat into more

434
00:26:02,800 --> 00:26:06,080
Speaker 1: valuable things in order to get stuff done, like working out,

435
00:26:06,119 --> 00:26:10,280
Speaker 1: like you're finding space that you already have available. Like

436
00:26:10,320 --> 00:26:12,320
Speaker 1: I said before, we are also going to structure our

437
00:26:12,400 --> 00:26:15,520
Speaker 1: routine for seven or eight hours of sleep. So know

438
00:26:15,680 --> 00:26:18,920
Speaker 1: where you want to Like, where do you want to sleep?

439
00:26:19,080 --> 00:26:20,879
Speaker 1: Are you someone who prefers an early night or a

440
00:26:21,000 --> 00:26:24,439
Speaker 1: sleep in? In this case, we're doing evening, so we

441
00:26:25,160 --> 00:26:27,879
Speaker 1: are perhaps I'm guessing, considering a bit of a sleep in.

442
00:26:28,560 --> 00:26:32,000
Speaker 1: And choose where you want to insert your major habit,

443
00:26:32,520 --> 00:26:35,919
Speaker 1: what you want your bedtime to be, and work backwards

444
00:26:36,040 --> 00:26:40,199
Speaker 1: from that time to kind of create the structure. So

445
00:26:40,760 --> 00:26:43,240
Speaker 1: I want to go to bed at eleven PM. My

446
00:26:43,359 --> 00:26:45,800
Speaker 1: major habit is that I want to work out. I

447
00:26:45,840 --> 00:26:49,560
Speaker 1: want to work out at least three hours before bed.

448
00:26:49,960 --> 00:26:52,560
Speaker 1: I'm going to have this really nice evening afternoon routine

449
00:26:53,359 --> 00:26:55,679
Speaker 1: working towards this idea that I will be embedd at

450
00:26:55,680 --> 00:26:59,080
Speaker 1: a certain time. So this is kind of how I

451
00:26:59,119 --> 00:27:00,359
Speaker 1: do it. If I know I want to go to

452
00:27:00,440 --> 00:27:01,800
Speaker 1: bed at a certain time, I know I want my

453
00:27:02,320 --> 00:27:05,600
Speaker 1: teeth to be brushed, my face to be washed, my

454
00:27:05,680 --> 00:27:08,320
Speaker 1: sheets to be all cozy, my water to be filled

455
00:27:08,720 --> 00:27:11,720
Speaker 1: by another time. So let's say an hour, and I

456
00:27:11,760 --> 00:27:13,679
Speaker 1: know I want to get home from the gym and

457
00:27:13,760 --> 00:27:16,919
Speaker 1: do X y Z for maybe like thirty minutes, have

458
00:27:16,960 --> 00:27:20,240
Speaker 1: a bit of a decompress. So my routine would be Okay,

459
00:27:20,280 --> 00:27:23,560
Speaker 1: I finish work, I go home, I make dinner, I

460
00:27:23,600 --> 00:27:25,800
Speaker 1: go to the gym for an hour, even if the

461
00:27:25,800 --> 00:27:28,359
Speaker 1: workout is terrible, I stay for an hour. Then I

462
00:27:28,440 --> 00:27:31,439
Speaker 1: come home and then I start that secondary part of

463
00:27:31,480 --> 00:27:35,400
Speaker 1: my morning routine that kind of caps caps off the night.

464
00:27:35,840 --> 00:27:38,080
Speaker 1: But really, the one thing I want to ensure that

465
00:27:38,119 --> 00:27:40,480
Speaker 1: you get out of this is that we are focusing

466
00:27:40,560 --> 00:27:44,400
Speaker 1: on only one habit that we consider tier one. So

467
00:27:44,480 --> 00:27:47,280
Speaker 1: your tier one habit is the one thing you cannot

468
00:27:47,280 --> 00:27:50,840
Speaker 1: compromise on. As you get better at not compromising on it,

469
00:27:50,880 --> 00:27:53,359
Speaker 1: then you can start adding in Tier two habits like

470
00:27:53,800 --> 00:27:56,560
Speaker 1: a five minute meditation or a fifteen minute you know,

471
00:27:56,800 --> 00:28:00,680
Speaker 1: journal practice, or of sunlight. The reason this is important

472
00:28:00,840 --> 00:28:03,720
Speaker 1: to secure is that even if you fail a tier

473
00:28:03,880 --> 00:28:07,400
Speaker 1: to habit, your day will still be a victory if

474
00:28:07,400 --> 00:28:11,400
Speaker 1: you get your tier one habit done. And this really

475
00:28:11,400 --> 00:28:15,040
Speaker 1: avoids like a very unhealthy all or nothing thinking mentality

476
00:28:15,520 --> 00:28:17,920
Speaker 1: of needing to have a routine with a thousand steps.

477
00:28:18,359 --> 00:28:22,919
Speaker 1: We really want to standardize one activity before we add

478
00:28:23,080 --> 00:28:28,280
Speaker 1: or optimize other areas. So I say this because I

479
00:28:28,320 --> 00:28:31,640
Speaker 1: see many people try and create those crazy morning routines.

480
00:28:32,240 --> 00:28:35,840
Speaker 1: It's too complex, it's too complex to have too many

481
00:28:35,920 --> 00:28:39,720
Speaker 1: small things that have too small, minuscule you know, time

482
00:28:39,760 --> 00:28:42,720
Speaker 1: blocks and hope they all add up. Because things happen,

483
00:28:42,840 --> 00:28:45,360
Speaker 1: things go wrong, we're busy, we're tired. We want to

484
00:28:45,360 --> 00:28:50,200
Speaker 1: simplify the process. Also, research from the University of College

485
00:28:50,400 --> 00:28:53,560
Speaker 1: London found that on average, it takes sixty six days

486
00:28:53,600 --> 00:28:56,560
Speaker 1: for a new habit to stick. If you have too

487
00:28:56,560 --> 00:28:59,320
Speaker 1: many habits, they ain't going to stick. There's going to

488
00:28:59,360 --> 00:29:02,479
Speaker 1: be too many of them that you need to be really,

489
00:29:02,560 --> 00:29:07,320
Speaker 1: really loyal and dedicated to for you know, almost two

490
00:29:07,400 --> 00:29:10,360
Speaker 1: and a half months at that point. So if you

491
00:29:10,880 --> 00:29:12,760
Speaker 1: set and you stick to a new plan or a

492
00:29:12,760 --> 00:29:15,680
Speaker 1: new habit for sixty six days, there is a good

493
00:29:15,760 --> 00:29:19,360
Speaker 1: chance that that routine is going to become something that

494
00:29:19,960 --> 00:29:23,120
Speaker 1: feels like a non negotiable and then you add on

495
00:29:23,200 --> 00:29:25,240
Speaker 1: from there. Like I always think about it, like building

496
00:29:25,240 --> 00:29:27,760
Speaker 1: a house. You don't put the furniture in before you

497
00:29:27,840 --> 00:29:31,520
Speaker 1: have a floor, plan or foundation. This is known in

498
00:29:31,600 --> 00:29:34,880
Speaker 1: psychology and in other areas as the compound effect, and

499
00:29:34,960 --> 00:29:39,320
Speaker 1: it is a proven strategy. From there, we can also

500
00:29:39,720 --> 00:29:42,400
Speaker 1: habit stack. I feel like I've spoken about this before.

501
00:29:42,880 --> 00:29:46,640
Speaker 1: Habit stacking feels like magic. Honestly, what it involves is

502
00:29:46,720 --> 00:29:50,000
Speaker 1: taking one thing that you already do and then just

503
00:29:50,080 --> 00:29:53,080
Speaker 1: adding one more thing to it, you know, brushing your

504
00:29:53,120 --> 00:29:56,960
Speaker 1: teeth in the shower, listening to your lectures whilst on

505
00:29:57,000 --> 00:30:02,880
Speaker 1: the treadmill, calling your long distance friends, whilst meal prepping. Remember,

506
00:30:03,360 --> 00:30:06,960
Speaker 1: your time during your day is expansive. It's not just linear.

507
00:30:07,480 --> 00:30:11,560
Speaker 1: It can hold multiple tasks at the same time. I

508
00:30:11,560 --> 00:30:14,320
Speaker 1: think my other biggest tip for setting up a routine

509
00:30:14,920 --> 00:30:18,840
Speaker 1: is to romanticize your routine, rather than feeling like it's

510
00:30:18,840 --> 00:30:21,480
Speaker 1: something you have to do that you must do, that

511
00:30:21,520 --> 00:30:26,280
Speaker 1: you're dragging yourself into. I love the feeling of exercising

512
00:30:26,320 --> 00:30:28,840
Speaker 1: in the evenings so I can be kind of like

513
00:30:28,920 --> 00:30:32,000
Speaker 1: all sweaty and like cap off my day with some

514
00:30:32,280 --> 00:30:34,080
Speaker 1: final real push and then I get to have this

515
00:30:34,160 --> 00:30:37,600
Speaker 1: really nice shower. Like. I like how that makes me feel.

516
00:30:37,880 --> 00:30:42,160
Speaker 1: I love how romantic it feels to work late into

517
00:30:42,240 --> 00:30:44,960
Speaker 1: the night. I'm like some tortured rider or like a

518
00:30:45,040 --> 00:30:49,080
Speaker 1: hard working CEO. Like I like that feeling. I romanticize

519
00:30:49,120 --> 00:30:52,520
Speaker 1: that feeling. My friends who swear by their morning routines

520
00:30:52,560 --> 00:30:56,080
Speaker 1: always tell me how peaceful and quiet it is before

521
00:30:56,080 --> 00:30:58,920
Speaker 1: the sun comes up, and what it's like to really

522
00:30:58,960 --> 00:31:02,520
Speaker 1: just spend three minutes with their coffee and just focus

523
00:31:02,560 --> 00:31:06,080
Speaker 1: in on all the sensations. So that is really the

524
00:31:06,080 --> 00:31:07,640
Speaker 1: second part of what I want you to do. Once

525
00:31:07,680 --> 00:31:10,280
Speaker 1: you have your baseline secured, once you've decided on the

526
00:31:10,320 --> 00:31:12,560
Speaker 1: major habit, once you've decided whether it's a morning or

527
00:31:12,560 --> 00:31:15,600
Speaker 1: a night routine, then it's time to be like, Wow,

528
00:31:15,720 --> 00:31:18,400
Speaker 1: I'm so lucky I get to do this. This is fun,

529
00:31:18,520 --> 00:31:21,760
Speaker 1: This is a process. This is almost a bit sentimental,

530
00:31:21,840 --> 00:31:24,600
Speaker 1: a bit romantic. I'm going to move on from all

531
00:31:24,640 --> 00:31:27,760
Speaker 1: the warm and fuzzies and many many benefits of routine.

532
00:31:28,200 --> 00:31:31,120
Speaker 1: Let's talk about some of the criticisms. Because nothing is

533
00:31:31,160 --> 00:31:34,600
Speaker 1: ever one hundred percent faultless, otherwise obviously everyone would be

534
00:31:34,600 --> 00:31:38,240
Speaker 1: doing it, and routine setting routine building is no different.

535
00:31:39,200 --> 00:31:42,920
Speaker 1: The biggest issue or struggle that people have with routine,

536
00:31:43,560 --> 00:31:45,640
Speaker 1: and let me know, if you relate to this, it's

537
00:31:45,680 --> 00:31:50,000
Speaker 1: that a it can be really boring and b It

538
00:31:50,000 --> 00:31:54,800
Speaker 1: can be difficult to be spontaneous. The monotony of doing

539
00:31:54,840 --> 00:31:59,320
Speaker 1: the same thing every single day can weigh you down.

540
00:31:59,400 --> 00:32:02,440
Speaker 1: It has its own name. It's called the groundhog Day effect,

541
00:32:03,040 --> 00:32:06,720
Speaker 1: named after the movie Groundhog Day. So the groundhog Day

542
00:32:06,720 --> 00:32:11,000
Speaker 1: effect basically refers to the feeling of repeatedly experiencing the

543
00:32:11,040 --> 00:32:13,920
Speaker 1: same day over and over again, and how that leads

544
00:32:13,920 --> 00:32:16,480
Speaker 1: to a lot of frustration, a lack of purpose, a

545
00:32:16,520 --> 00:32:18,960
Speaker 1: lot of boredom, and it makes you feel like there's

546
00:32:19,000 --> 00:32:21,040
Speaker 1: nothing new in your life, which can at times also

547
00:32:21,080 --> 00:32:24,800
Speaker 1: make us quite depressed. That is the risk with being

548
00:32:24,840 --> 00:32:29,760
Speaker 1: too structured and strict with your routine. The biggest solution

549
00:32:30,280 --> 00:32:34,480
Speaker 1: to this is to not go overboard. You are not

550
00:32:34,680 --> 00:32:37,120
Speaker 1: a drill sergeant. You are not a member of the army.

551
00:32:37,760 --> 00:32:39,520
Speaker 1: I want you to make sure that you are giving

552
00:32:39,560 --> 00:32:42,680
Speaker 1: yourself a day off every couple of weekends or every weekend.

553
00:32:43,200 --> 00:32:45,680
Speaker 1: I want you to break up your routine every couple

554
00:32:45,760 --> 00:32:49,040
Speaker 1: of weeks. Keep the foundation the same, but make the

555
00:32:49,240 --> 00:32:53,480
Speaker 1: details different. So the workouts are different, the alarm sound

556
00:32:53,640 --> 00:32:57,000
Speaker 1: is different, the meal prep is different, the journal prompts

557
00:32:57,040 --> 00:33:00,400
Speaker 1: are different, the commute is a little bit different. And

558
00:33:00,520 --> 00:33:05,720
Speaker 1: please don't sacrifice novel experiences. Don't let yourself turn your

559
00:33:05,760 --> 00:33:09,680
Speaker 1: back to newness an opportunity. You know, missing out on

560
00:33:09,760 --> 00:33:13,920
Speaker 1: an amazing last minute concert is a lot worse than

561
00:33:13,960 --> 00:33:18,120
Speaker 1: skipping your evening routine one day this month. I know

562
00:33:18,200 --> 00:33:23,840
Speaker 1: a lot of people will stress to you discipline, unwavering, dedication, commitment,

563
00:33:24,560 --> 00:33:28,920
Speaker 1: But you know that's really not everything in life, is it.

564
00:33:29,520 --> 00:33:35,160
Speaker 1: There should be room for spontaneity over constant efficiency and

565
00:33:35,320 --> 00:33:40,800
Speaker 1: constant hitting of our routine KPIs. We also don't want

566
00:33:40,840 --> 00:33:44,800
Speaker 1: to feel like we're missing out or we're experiencing social

567
00:33:44,840 --> 00:33:48,840
Speaker 1: isolation from our routine. Routine is meant to help us.

568
00:33:49,120 --> 00:33:53,400
Speaker 1: It's meant to increase happiness, increase you know, mental focus,

569
00:33:53,520 --> 00:33:56,840
Speaker 1: increase productivity. If we are lonely, if we are sad,

570
00:33:56,960 --> 00:34:01,680
Speaker 1: if we are resentful and frustrated, that is doing the opposite,

571
00:34:01,840 --> 00:34:04,880
Speaker 1: that is not helping. I just think that if your

572
00:34:04,960 --> 00:34:08,600
Speaker 1: routine also becomes too restrictive of your social life, you

573
00:34:08,640 --> 00:34:11,040
Speaker 1: will present it and then you won't do it. So

574
00:34:11,400 --> 00:34:15,439
Speaker 1: stress test your routine for kind of two to three

575
00:34:15,480 --> 00:34:19,040
Speaker 1: weeks and see if you know it's causing a lot

576
00:34:19,040 --> 00:34:22,640
Speaker 1: of roadblocks, See if it's something that will require minor adjustments,

577
00:34:23,560 --> 00:34:25,359
Speaker 1: you know, but so that you don't have to give

578
00:34:25,440 --> 00:34:29,919
Speaker 1: up major sacrifices, because if you will, again like it's

579
00:34:29,960 --> 00:34:33,760
Speaker 1: not going to be long lasting, you won't see the benefit.

580
00:34:33,880 --> 00:34:38,480
Speaker 1: Please please, please start small. I will also say you

581
00:34:38,640 --> 00:34:42,080
Speaker 1: can and should have periods of your life where you

582
00:34:42,120 --> 00:34:45,480
Speaker 1: are not bound by daily, weekly, or evenly even you know,

583
00:34:45,600 --> 00:34:49,960
Speaker 1: monthly commitments or protocols. You should have times in your

584
00:34:50,000 --> 00:34:52,640
Speaker 1: life where the soul focus of your life is not

585
00:34:52,760 --> 00:34:57,000
Speaker 1: to get things done. I think it's actually quite mentally

586
00:34:57,200 --> 00:35:01,400
Speaker 1: healthy to sometimes give yourself space to just be a

587
00:35:01,400 --> 00:35:04,279
Speaker 1: little bit free and to just wake with the sun,

588
00:35:04,400 --> 00:35:07,560
Speaker 1: go down with the sun, to let yourself do what

589
00:35:07,760 --> 00:35:11,600
Speaker 1: suits your rhythm's best without feeling like you have to

590
00:35:11,640 --> 00:35:15,279
Speaker 1: drag yourself from task to task. It feels, you know,

591
00:35:15,440 --> 00:35:18,600
Speaker 1: quite human. And I know a lot of us look

592
00:35:18,640 --> 00:35:20,440
Speaker 1: at that and they're like, wow, I don't think I

593
00:35:20,440 --> 00:35:22,600
Speaker 1: could have that relaxed attitude with the job I have

594
00:35:22,719 --> 00:35:24,839
Speaker 1: or with the life I have. But you do have

595
00:35:24,880 --> 00:35:28,719
Speaker 1: the weekend, and you do have space during the holidays,

596
00:35:28,719 --> 00:35:30,640
Speaker 1: Like obviously that's what holidays are made for, is to

597
00:35:30,640 --> 00:35:34,680
Speaker 1: break you out of routine that gives you the necessary

598
00:35:35,400 --> 00:35:39,360
Speaker 1: newness and freshness to go back with renewed vigor and

599
00:35:39,440 --> 00:35:43,480
Speaker 1: dedication to the structure of you know, a moo moannotonous life.

600
00:35:43,920 --> 00:35:46,759
Speaker 1: So please, life is not all about having routine, It's

601
00:35:46,840 --> 00:35:50,720
Speaker 1: not all about having structure. It definitely does help us,

602
00:35:50,800 --> 00:35:53,120
Speaker 1: and there is a lot of reasons why we should

603
00:35:53,120 --> 00:35:56,279
Speaker 1: hold ourselves accountable and a lot of other strategies like

604
00:35:56,480 --> 00:35:59,719
Speaker 1: time blocking or time management that also fits in with this.

605
00:35:59,840 --> 00:36:03,359
Speaker 1: But hopefully this is like a basic instruction on how

606
00:36:03,400 --> 00:36:06,600
Speaker 1: to get started. Hopefully this has convinced you of why

607
00:36:06,680 --> 00:36:09,600
Speaker 1: you need a small routine with just a couple of things,

608
00:36:09,719 --> 00:36:13,799
Speaker 1: specifically a wake up time, specifically one core habit, and

609
00:36:13,840 --> 00:36:16,440
Speaker 1: you can kind of build it out from there. Again,

610
00:36:16,840 --> 00:36:19,759
Speaker 1: I appreciate that you've listened this far. If you have

611
00:36:20,239 --> 00:36:22,440
Speaker 1: the emoji I want you to leave in the comments

612
00:36:22,840 --> 00:36:26,399
Speaker 1: is an alarm clock. If you want to detail your

613
00:36:26,520 --> 00:36:29,759
Speaker 1: routine in the comments, I am fascinated by it. I

614
00:36:29,800 --> 00:36:32,400
Speaker 1: cannot wait to read them. I love seeing what people

615
00:36:32,480 --> 00:36:35,640
Speaker 1: do because they can be so niche and so specific

616
00:36:35,680 --> 00:36:38,319
Speaker 1: to the individual. So drop like a couple hours of

617
00:36:38,320 --> 00:36:41,240
Speaker 1: your morning routine, or your evening routine, or your daily

618
00:36:41,440 --> 00:36:45,480
Speaker 1: routine down below. Extra points if they're interesting, but also

619
00:36:45,719 --> 00:36:48,440
Speaker 1: just as many points if they're just play not because

620
00:36:48,840 --> 00:36:51,480
Speaker 1: we can all get some inspiration from that. Make sure

621
00:36:51,520 --> 00:36:53,680
Speaker 1: if you have someone who you know who might like

622
00:36:53,760 --> 00:36:56,719
Speaker 1: this episode, that you send them a link. That is

623
00:36:56,760 --> 00:36:59,400
Speaker 1: how it helps. This is how the show really grows

624
00:36:59,440 --> 00:37:03,160
Speaker 1: and reaches new ears, reaches new audiences, reaches new people.

625
00:37:04,200 --> 00:37:07,719
Speaker 1: Also follow us along on Instagram at that Psychology podcast.

626
00:37:07,760 --> 00:37:12,440
Speaker 1: If you have further interesting questions, thoughts, feelings about this episode,

627
00:37:12,920 --> 00:37:15,160
Speaker 1: or you want to just suggest a new episode, you

628
00:37:15,160 --> 00:37:17,840
Speaker 1: can just shoot me a message. I do you know,

629
00:37:17,920 --> 00:37:21,880
Speaker 1: infamously do a lot of episodes that are suggested by listeners,

630
00:37:21,920 --> 00:37:24,560
Speaker 1: So if you want that to potentially be you, we'll

631
00:37:24,560 --> 00:37:27,880
Speaker 1: see you over there, and until next time, stay safe,

632
00:37:27,960 --> 00:37:32,359
Speaker 1: be kind, be gentle to yourself, and we will talk

633
00:37:32,640 --> 00:37:33,279
Speaker 1: very very soon,