routines & habits

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”

Aristotle

Habit Vs Routine

A habit is a routine of behaviour that is repeated regularly and tends to occur subconsciously.

A routine is a sequence of actions regularly followed.

The main difference between habit and routine is that habit is a recurrent with little or no conscious thought whereas routine requires a high degree of intention and effort.

Following a daily routine can help you establish priorities, limit procrastination, keep track of goals, and even make you healthier. It lowers your reliance on willpower and motivation because, as Tynan, the author of Superhuman by Habit, says, habits are “action[s] that you take on a repeated basis with little or no required effort or thought.”

So, here are our top ways to help you create better routines that we hope will become good habits! As Brian Tracy says, “Good habits are hard to form but easy to live with. Bad habits are easy to form but hard to live with.”

Consider the following themes when generating your own positive routines...

Start the Day with a mantra ...

Positive thinking helps manage stress and even improves your health. As you get out of bed say your mantra "Today is going to be a great day". What makes a day good or bad isn’t the events that occur, but rather your response to them. As Jim Rohn once said, “Either you run the day or the day runs you.” So start with a positive!

Visualise success ...

Jack Canfield, co-author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, suggests that you practise visualisation 10 minutes a day to “harness the power of your subconscious mind.”

Simply close your eyes and imagine yourself excelling and being the best you. Put yourself in situations where you shine, visualising the best possible outcome. Include as much detail in your visualisations as possible, using all of your senses and making your “training” even more powerful. Try this exercise to help you visualise.

Accountability Partners ...

Enlist a partner or mentor and speak to them every day and share your goals and ambitions. Even if all you do is leave them a message. This one simple task holds you accountable and forces you to keep moving in a positive direction. If you don’t currently have a mentor, then think about how you could go about getting one.

Make a daily to-do list ...

Plan up to six tasks that you want to complete during the day. It helps to plan the day in a way that allows you to get the most out of it rather than just performing random tasks. You know exactly what you want to get done and when, which makes it more likely that you’ll do it. Plus, when you’re able to cross items off this list, it inspires you to keep going and accomplish even more!

break your day in to chunks ...

Breaking your day into chunks helps you be the best you, as too much time spent doing one thing can cause you to lose focus … and interest. And, if you’re working on something less motivating and inspiring, it makes it easier because you only have to do it for a short while.

theme your week ...

Jack Dorsey, co-founder of both Twitter and Square, used to manage both of these companies at the same time without getting overwhelmed. He did this by setting aside different tasks for different days of the week. This will help you to plan your workload more effectively.

Exercise ...

Entrepreneur Joshua Steimle exercises because, “If exercise stops, then my health goes downhill.” This decreases his productivity and motivation, while increasing depressive feelings. Other benefits of regular exercise include: controlling your weight, reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes and cancer, improving mood and more! Exercise doesn’t have to mean long gruelling workouts. Take a 10-20 minute walk. Do yoga, stretches, or dance. Try the Scientific 7-Minute Workout.

Sleep > 7 hours ...

Sleep is extremely important to your overall health for a multitude of reasons. In the short term, not sleeping enough can affect your judgement, mood, and even your ability to retain information. In the long term, chronic sleep deprivation can lead to obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and even early death.

When developing your personal routines why not make a timetable AND think about the following:

On a weekly basis, how many time slots will be available?
Could more time be made available if necessary?
How will you achieve a positive work / study / life balance?
How will you manage your workload to meet the required deadlines?
At which time of day do you find it easiest to concentrate?
How long can you maintain concentration?
What will you do to avoid interruptions when you are studying?
How will you deal with interruptions if (and when) they occur?
If you are unable to study as planned, how will you ‘catch up’?

Take time making your timetable. Using colour coordination can help you to identify work, relaxation and active periods at a glance. Once you have made the timetable, you must stick to it. If you make excuses at an early stage, this will not become a habit.

preparing for your gcses!

At the end of this paragraph is an article which was published in the TES in November 2019. It is written by a student who got 10 9s! The Year 11 students who read this in Form recommended you had access to it now. Their advice to you is if you establish these good habits in Year 9 it will help you achieve success at GCSE. Here is the article.