Sometimes, when I talk about routines, I feel what I imagine my mom must have felt when she used to tell us to eat our vegetables. Like I am encouraging you, my online friends, to finish your spinach. I’m so the life of the party.
Routines can feel as interesting as eating broccoli, but I have to tell you—when I find myself in a good daily rhythm, life feels more like cake and ice cream. There’s less pushing through. Instead, when I am practicing the right routines, there is more time savoring my life. Like when Tony and I are at our favorite restaurant, eating our favorite foods.
Routines can feel as interesting as eating broccoli, but I have to tell you—when I find myself in a good daily rhythm, life feels more like cake and ice cream.
Though building routines feels monotonous, when we finally hit our grove, life can be pretty great. That is why, when we experience change and our routines get thrown off, we ourselves feel off. Only as much as people talk about building routines, very few people talk about tweaking them when our lives change.
Last week, I shared Tony and I have recently undergone some significant changes to our weekly schedule. That I am finding our former routines are giving us direction in creating new ones. This made me realize, that with the arrival of spring, it’s a great time for all of us to look at some of our core habits and breath new life into them.
As much as people talk about building routines, very few people talk about tweaking them when our lives change.
Today I want to share some simple ways to revitalize our routines in five areas that are central to our health and well being. It is easy to get in a rut with our routines, often causing us to abandon them. But if we give them a refresh once in a while, we’re bound to stick with them.
Meal Planning
Planning our meals has been foundational for us to eat healthy, save money, and waste less food. Only, with meal planning, it’s so easy to end up eating the same meals over and over. A good way to avoid this, is to eat seasonally. By eating asparagus in April, zucchini and peppers in the summer, and squash in the fall, we are naturally changing up our meal plans.
Exercise
I used to think working out only looked like going to the gym. But then I tried yoga, kick boxing, started biking and hiking with Tony, and the world of exercise opened up to me. There are so many ways to strengthen our bodies. We don’t have to limit ourselves to what everyone else is doing. To change up your exercise this season, seek out physical activities that you can do outdoors—like walking/running with friends, hiking, biking, etc.
Spiritual Life
For some reason, prayer/meditation time is often the first routine to go when life gets busy. Yet often it is what grounds us when we feel anxious, strengthens us in times of stress, and gives us clarity. Refresh this rhythm in your life by taking it outside in nature, journaling your prayers, or by finding five minutes everyday for silence.
Community
Before COVID, we all had our usual meetups with friends and family—now it is time to seek that out again. As the weather is warmer, it is a good time to meet in backyards or parks for picnics or walks. If you are vaccinated, make plans with others who are too, to rebuild the relationships you’ve been missing. If it’s still necessary, meet online for regular virtual meetups with loved ones.
Sleep
Before the pandemic, I’d say sleep wasn’t a problem. But with less interactions with people, I’ve found it easier to stay up later watching TV or scrolling on my phone. This has only depleted me more. If you too have struggle sleeping, things I’ve found that help include: Taking a bath in the evening. Reading books instead of looking at my phone before bedtime. And making sure I am getting regular exercise or walks during the day.
In which of these five areas do you most need a routine refresh?
What have you done to make your routines more fun or meaningful for you?
If you want more help in finding your rhythm when it comes to routines–or just a friend for this crazy journey called life–sign up for my email list today and receive two extra posts and other fun resources in your inbox every month! Sign up here and also receive my free resource on creating space in our lives for what is most important.
Photo by Kalen Emsley on Unsplash
What do you do for meal planning? I desperately need help in this area!
Hey Elizabeth! Thanks for asking–meal planning can be so hard! It’s definitely been a routine we’ve had to commit to, and morph when life changes. I will try to write a more in depth post about this soon, but in the meantime here’s the short version. It’s not fancy, but it works for us:
I have a $8 weekly planner from target, and each week my husband and I look at the week ahead and plan our meals out on the month page (that way we can look back at the previous weeks to know what we’ve already had this month, what we liked, etc.)
Then, on Pinterest we’ve created a recipe board with sections for all the proteins (beef, chicken, fish, etc.)–and we try to hit a few protein based meals (sometimes it’s eggs), through out the week. But here’s the best part:
We thrive on leftovers.
Now, this easier for us because it’s just the two of us. But every time we make a meal, we make enough for six servings so it gives us three meals total–two dinners or lunches we don’t have to make. This means, we make about three or four big meals a week, and then eat left overs, fill in with easier meals (sandwiches, breakfast tacos, etc.), and maybe once a week we go out.
I hope this helps, and I will let you know when I have more written on this. Thanks again for asking!
Great to here discussion and benefits of meal planning- that doesn’t involve being a stay-at-home mom with small kids. Thanks for pointers!
So glad this fits with where you are, Shayne!