Does routine make you boring?

"You'll never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine"

- John C Maxwell

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Having any kind of routine might sound boring to a lot of people. 

It doesn't have to be, if you've made it yours by incorporating goals you're passionate about into your daily routine. 

And trust me, when you start crossing things off a list that at first, may have seemed impossible to do, you'll feel anything but BORED! You'll feel ENERGISED, EMPOWERED and ready to CONQUER any and every goal!

Routine doesn't have to be your ENEMY, routine can be what drives you towards SUCCESS.

Personally, I use my weekly planner and incorporate my routine into it. I find this works well for me, instead of having different habit trackers, progress trackers and reminder lists. I like knowing that I can look at my list for Monday and have my appointments, workout, a reminder to drink water and my skin care routine for both morning and evening penciled in.

By the end of the day, I have made some headway with my goals and development. 

I have eliminated the possibility of facing decision anxiety. 

Everything has a time. Everything has a place. Most things are known about my day. 

I am not aimlessly wandering through my day hoping it might be productive.

I know my day will be productive before it begins.

Here are five benefits of developing a personalised daily routine for yourself, you'll:

1. Wake up with a purpose
2. Track your progress
3. Meet your goals
4. Develop positive habits
5. Sleep better

1. Wake up with a purpose

Just by taking a few minutes every night to plan out your next day will give you a sense of purpose when you wake up. So at 6am when your alarm goes off, there won't be time for scrolling through instagram or for you to lie in bed feeling anxious and overwhelmed because you have lots of things you need to get done but you don't know where or how to start. You'll know exactly what, when and how you're getting it done. Because you have a PLAN!

2. Track your progress 

As you flip through your weekly plan worksheets you'll see exactly how often you've been crossing off your workouts and most importantly: you'll be able to see when you HAVEN'T crossed it off. 

And you need to believe there's a reason why you haven't. Find out what stopped you and fix it.  Because your goals have become a part of your routine, the fix could be as simple as moving some items around in your day to make that workout happen. 

3. Meet your goals

By making your goals a part of your day, all the work has been done for you and in no time at all your skin is going to look better, your exams results will be improving, you'll be sizing down and you'll be healthier for it.

4. Develop positive habits

It takes 66 days to develop a new habit. So by making the habits you're trying to develop a part of your daily routine, they will become a part you and who you are. All you need to do start planning your day, and you can be anything and anyone you want.  

5. Sleep better

Just like food and water, our bodies need sleep. 8 hours to be exact - so PENCIL IT IN. 

Yes it'll be your bedtime. No that doesn't make you a baby.

It just means you'll have a balanced life. 

By having a routine, you'll avoid staying up late to finish what you were supposed to do at 3pm and you won't be hitting snooze because you'll be well rested...and I mean on the weekends too!

I hope this post might inspire you to create a routine that's perfect for you, and to help you out I've included a link to my personal weekly planner worksheets.

- Zahra