Wake up before 5 am and join the Miracle Morning!
No, be a night owl who is working until 2 am and have a leisurely and late morning.
Eat a hearty breakfast every day in order to shed pounds.
No, skip breakfast and continue intermittent fasting from the previous day.
Hit that cardio at least 6 days a week, but never the 2 hours before bed.
No, the real trick to fitness is to lift weights in the evening.
With so much conflicting information all around us when it comes to achieving our best health or conquering our daily schedule, you may be wondering whether you are doing ANYTHING right.
Yet, you know that what you do every day has a bigger impact on your overall healthy routine than what you do some of the time.
In this guide, we will talk about how to create a daily schedule to optimize your health.
Let’s get started.
By the way, this is not my attempt to have you become “mini-me” and do exactly as I do. This is my attempt to shine a light on your current daily schedule, so you can embrace opportunities to incorporate healthy habits.
Habits are things we do without thinking. Consequently, once a habit becomes a part of your daily routine, then you will have conquered the hardest part of lifestyle change.
When you think about your current habits, do you even know what they are? Peruse the segments below to optimize each one.
Want a handy-dandy calendar to organize go through your daily schedule? Click the picture to access a copy.
We will go through each segment of the day- from the time you wake up to the time you eat lunch and the time you go to bed. The purpose of this exercise is to establish what your current baseline habits are, then to identify times of day that you can optimize for your own best life.
Why focus on your daily habits? According to Fast Company, up to 40% of our daily actions are powered by habits- the unconscious actions and routines we’ve developed over time.
For each section below, use the free download to note down the top 5 activities you do on a daily basis. Then, I will walk you through a simple exercise to determine whether those activities are helping or hurting your goals.
If you would like a more personal walk-through of your daily routine, let’s chat one on one.
Special note: if you have a family or work, then your usual daily routine can change based on who needs what. While there is some variability in schedules, try to focus on the most common daily schedule.
It takes greater self-control to set guidelines for a routine when you often are at the mercy of other peoples’ needs (either employers, children, or otherwise). Yet, I want to encourage you that it can (and will!) be done.
Morning
Every morning, I wake up without an alarm, prepare my coffee at home, write in my journal, and either meditate or exercise. This is typically done in the quiet hours before my family wakes up, and happens on weekends as well as weekdays.
If I miss any part of this routine, I feel the lack of it. Sometimes, I bring my favorite vanilla hazelnut coffee on a trip, and I have a handheld journal that fits nicely in my purse. Depending on how fun my location is, I either run in the area, or meditate on the balcony/porch.
What are the 5 things you do within the hour after you get up?
These things should not include regular maintenance such as showering, washing your hair, brushing your teeth, etc. Instead, they should be activities that can happen at any time of day, but you tend to do them only or mostly in the AM.
You may have heard that there are certain activities that MUST be done early in the morning for success. I also present regularly on 5 Morning Rituals for a Healthier Day.
Why are morning rituals so important? First of all, you are setting the tone for your entire day. Second, you are leveraging your body’s natural desire to jump into the day (unless you’re a night owl). Third, you are not yet a victim of decision fatigue that occurs by afternoon and evening.
You have not yet made any decisions- other than maybe turning off the alarm clock.
Depending on how well you slept overnight, your morning routine could be basic or reactive.
For example, maybe you roll over in bed, pick up your cell phone from the nightstand and check your email.
There are a number of studies and articles that point out why this is a bad habit- and that it can have a downward effect on your skin, your sleep, and your overall productivity.
For the time being, decide what top 5 activities you conduct every morning that aren’t basic maintenance.
Are they helping or hurting your day?
If at least half of them are hurtful, then it may be time to schedule a Weight Loss Breakthrough session with me to chat about how to maximize your healthy habits.
Afternoon
Afternoons can be tricky. After all, the time period between lunch and dinner typically involves a desire for a siesta, and a variety of tasks that either set you up to leave work, have a good evening at home, or cart around your kids to various activities.
How many activities you are required to do in the challenging afternoon time can make or break your entire day!
Rescue Time shares that the reason we typically feel foggy and unfocused during the time period from 1-3 pm is because our Circadian Rhythm is off.
If you also had a big or heavy lunch, and are required to participate actively in work meetings or make important decisions, you may find yourself struggling.
For example, as a work at home mom, my schedule is NEVER the same from Monday-Friday in the afternoon. Sometimes, I’m writing a blog post, giving a presentation to a local company, meeting a colleague or friend for coffee or lunch, conducting a client call or Facebook Live, or doing errands.
Ideally, I prefer to do my hardest brain tasks before noon- anything creative or involving long-term effects. Then, I typically save my afternoon for connecting with people, speaking, doing videos, or taking rest.
Want to include a daily siesta in your routine?! Join me for a virtual 3 day event, Schedule your Siesta, over on my Facebook page. Every day will include a Livestream video on how to make this happen for you, as well as special gifts. Hurry! Videos will be taken down on Friday, 9/20.
Evening
Ah, the evening has finally arrived! But, wait, now you have to figure out what to make for dinner, how many places you need to drive your kids to, whether you have time to hit the gym, or any number of other activities before you can get some shut eye.
If you’re like the average person, the post-dinner time is probably the first period of time where nothing may be required of you.
Yet, not all evening activities are helping us get to where we need to be.
For example, the Bureau of Labor Statistics shares that the bulk of TV watching (40% or more) occurs in the time period between 6 and 11 pm. Considering that Americans aged 15 and above averaged 2 hours and 46 minutes per day of TV watching since 2017, you can see what evening activities typically involve.
Let’s remember that TVs are not the only screens we have access to (sigh). In this fascinating study done by BroadBand in 2017, the average person spent 2 hours and 30 minutes on social media every day.
Knowing my own personal preferences (I can’t quit you, Facebook!) much of that social media scrolling tends to happen in the evenings.
It can be helpful to see if your phone has a time tracking app on it (either in your phone settings or through an app. Here is a list of some apps to track your phone usage).
When it comes to your evening routine, I would encourage you to look at the 5 things you do the hour before you go to bed. Because that is typically an opportune time to leverage smarter sleep habits that impact your morning routine.
Your Plan
How do you feel about your morning, afternoon and evening routines so far?
If this is the first time you are looking into your baseline habits, you might be surprised, upset, defensive, or disappointed. Or, even in denial a bit.
Here is what I can tell you, as someone who regularly helps people take control of their health through establishing a healthy routine.
No matter where you are today with your habits, you can ALWAYS improve them!
The more you can create consistency around your daily actions within the framework of your life, the more healthy you will be.
Not only does it relieve stress, but it allows you to build up anticipation.
Because this can take great effort, and might involve some communication with others, here are some great ways to set more consistency around your daily routine overall.
- Set daily themes
Your daily themes will depend on what type of work you do (including housework!).
I shared in this article that I set specific daily themes for dinner to assist with my meal planning. You can extend this idea to common household chores, if you wish. For example, Monday can be “Mow Monday” or Friday can be “Fridge clean-up”. Maybe “Toilet Tuesday?”
I also use daily themes within my business. You can do this in an office environment, too (with a little bit of creativity). How about “Follow-up Friday” for those phone calls to clients, or “Transcript Tuesday” for important documents or contracts? If you are in the email mode of “putting out fires”, this may take some mindset work for you.
However, I can guarantee that no one will die if you don’t respond to an email within 24 hours.
Just like daily tasks have to honor your energy flows, weekly tasks should also honor them.
Here is what that looks like. Some people absolutely HATE Monday, and want to do as little as possible on this day. That would NOT be a good day to do ALL THE THINGS.
While many people LOVE Fridays, they may be tempted to only do leisurely or fun things. Why not build that into your weekly routine? For example, you could try a new (or nostalgic) exercise you adore, sample a fun cooking class outside of your comfort zone, or simply take dedicate the evening to some quiet family time.
Where can you set themes around your days AND weeks? Not only does it allow you to wait until the established time to do those tasks, but it creates an expectation from the people around you of when you will complete a task. Consistency is appreciated by all!
- Block your calendar
I rely upon my Google calendar for just about everything. That is because I am the Chief Management Officer for not just my day, but also the majority of my childrens’ day, household’s day, and sometimes my husband’s day.
The best way to stop the noise in your head is to put it somewhere else. Hence, my calendar saves me every day!
When is the last time you blocked your calendar? Not for a doctor appointment, a meeting with a friend, a school activity or a business conference? Do you ever block your day SOLELY for you?
I block my calendar for exercise, siesta time, family time, and social time. Sometimes, I even block my calendar based on the moon cycles (you can learn more about lunar planning here)!
These are the MINIMUM commitments that I choose to prioritize. Because they are my top priorities.
- If I don’t exercise, I get frustrated.
- If I don’t have siesta time, I get snappy.
- If I don’t connect with my family, I feel like a bad mom.
- If I don’t chat with awesome ladies, I miss communication.
Your overall health is more than just what you eat, how you move, and how often you sleep. And, if you find yourself taking mental health days because you are completely in over your head, you may benefit from getting clear on your daily (and weekly) priorities.
Once you are clear on your priorities, BLOCK that time off on your calendar. Even if you are not quite sure yet what that time will involve. You deserve a date with yourself.
- Choose your guard rails
A guard rail is the outer limits of what is acceptable to you, that also allows you to stay within your goals. Without a guard rail, you are allowing yourself to be defined by someone else’s limits.
- For example, a guard rail for eating could be you won’t eat meat or prefer no added sugar.
- A guard rail for exercise could be you must include movements that don’t exacerbate an old injury.
- A guardrail for sleep could be NO TV in the bedroom.
Sometimes, your guard rail will conflict with someone else in your life. Good! You don’t need anyone’s permission to be who you need to be.
However, short of quitting that relationship (easier said than done), you definitely need to communicate your guard rails.
While I am not perfect at uncomfortable conversations, I have been accused of speaking my mind more than once.
Here is what I have noticed. The people in your life may not understand your personal guard rails or even agree with you, but they usually appreciate knowing where you stand.
When it comes to health, you are also making it clear to them how you intend to proceed. And consequently, how and whether they can support you.
At the end of the day, you are the only one who can choose what your daily schedule could look like. Once you have identified what your typical morning, afternoon and evening look like on paper, you can set your themes, block your calendar, and choose your guard rails.
Here’s to a daily schedule that you love that also loves you back!