Best Tips On How To Organize Your Daily Routine

I’m sharing with you the best tips on how to organize your daily routine, so that you can create healthy habits, have a productive day, and still take time for your mental health.

Having a daily routine is so important! But it’s not always easy to stick to, especially when you have young children – I understand this, trust me! I’m not an organization expert, I’m just a mom who has created some daily habits and time management skills that have really been a game changer in our home. If you’re a homeschool mom like me, you may find this article on how to set a homeschool morning routine, quite useful!

I’ll be really honest with you, I’m not a google calendar type of person. If you are, that’s amazing – I actually kind of wish I was! I love my magnetic paper calendar that I can physically write things down on, (much to my husband’s dismay – he’s been trying to get me to use google calendar for years now). But, whatever way you choose to organize your daily plans, there are some key elements to making it all work. Let’s take a look!

Time Blocks

I have found that as a busy homeschooling mom, the best way for me to approach my day is by utilizing time blocks. What this means is, I view my day as different blocks of time, and I use those blocks of time for accomplishing different tasks. Of course, this doesn’t only apply to homeschooling moms, but I’ll give you an example of how I organize my own daily routine so you can see what I mean.

• Block #1: This is MY time. The first block of my day consists of me waking up before my kids, and enjoying a cup of coffee while the house is quiet. I will often do some writing during this time, as well make my daily to-do list. 
• Block #2: This begins once my children wake up. This block consists of helping them get ready for the day, taking care of our animals, getting myself cleaned up and dressed, starting a load of laundry, etc.
• Block #3: Homeschool time. We always start this block with breakfast & Bible time, then move on to our subjects. It continues until around lunch time when we’re done for the day. 

• Block #4: Lunch/free time. After we finish school, I get lunch ready for the kids and myself. Once lunch is over, the kids have play time and I have my time to do whatever I’ve put on my list for that day. These things change depending on the day, but I always know I will have this time available to slot things into. Many of my daily activities such as cleaning, errands, etc, will be during this time. 
• Block #5: Supper. This is one of my favourite blocks in the day. For us, this usually starts around 4:00 in the afternoon (give or take). I enjoy cooking, and I’ve created a routine of turning cooking into some more ME time. I love turning on a podcast and listening to something that pours life into me. It’s so important for your mental health to refill your own cup through the day, and this is one way I’ve figured out how to make that happen.
• Block #6: Evening routine. Once supper is done and the kitchen is cleaned up, we move into our evening routine which consists of family time. My husband works through the day, so evenings are when we get to spend time with him. Then, it’s bath or shower time for the kids, bedtime routines, and wind down time for my husband and I before bed. 

As you can see, I don’t operate on a “timed” schedule. For me, that doesn’t work because when, (not if) I fall behind on that schedule, it makes me feel like a failure. So why set myself up for disappointment? It makes way more sense to organize my daily routine in a way that actually works for me and my family. I encourage you to do the same. Ask yourself what works for you, and set THOSE things in motion. Don’t try to replicate my day, or something you saw on social media if it’s not going to work for you long-term. 

Good Routines Start With Morning Routines

Morning routines set the tone of your day. If you aren’t an early bird, this might be a little tricky for you. But, you don’t have to get up before the sun in order to have a morning routine. The best morning routines are the ones that work! That means, whatever you need to do to establish a morning routine that is sustainable for you and your family, do it. 

Consistent morning routines create good habits that lead to a more successful day. In fact, there are studies that have been done on this very thing.  This particular article states: “There are science-backed benefits of having a morning routine: Past research has shown that a consistent morning routine can reduce stress, boost your energy levels and improve your productivity at work.”

Here are a few tips to help you establish a good morning routine:

• Get enough sleep – this is so important, yet often completely neglected.
• Unplug from social media during your morning routine and do something that recharges you (such as reading, journaling, exercising, etc) – this actually gives you sustainable energy for your day and helps control your stress levels.
• Make it enjoyable – the more you enjoy your morning routine, the more likely you are to stick with it. This is why I start my morning routine with a cup of coffee and quiet time. I look forward to this so much, I don’t want to miss it!

If you consistently do these things, you will create some new habits that you soon won’t be able to live without! Again, I’m not saying you have to get up at 5:00 AM like me. I’m a morning person, so that’s not hard for me to do. But, if you establish a routine that you consistently do first thing each and every day, the rest of your day will fall into place a little easier, and you’ll start noticing improved mental clarity throughout your daily life. 

Realistic Expectations

Before you are able to organize a daily routine that is effective, you need to make sure you have realistic expectations for yourself. A good way to do this is by looking at all the things you need to do, and dividing them into 3 categories:

• Daily to-do list
• Achievable goals for TODAY
• Long-term goals (weekly/monthly)

Daily to-do list:

This is going to be made up of all the things you NEED to get done today. Let me say that again, NEED. This is not the time to think to about what you WANT to achieve, that’s coming later!

A good time to do this is either the night before during your evening routine, or if you’re like me, in the early hours of the morning while I’m having a cup of coffee. Some examples of these NEED to do daily tasks could be:

• laundry
• grocery shopping
• specific tasks relating to work
• cooking
• homeschool
• cleaning the kitchen
• doctors appointments, eye exams, etc.

Whatever your life looks like, take a few minutes to write down the most important tasks of the day that have to get done, and those are the items that belong on your daily to-do list. Once they are on the list, you can assign them to the appropriate blocks of time.

Achievable goals for TODAY:

Now that you’ve figured out the things you need to do, you get to focus on the things you WANT to get done in your day. This is where it’s important not to think TOO big, and make sure you have achievable goals that take less time to accomplish. This is not the time for long-term goals – that’s coming next! Here, I’m referring to short-term goals that would be considered smaller tasks. 

If you set goals for your day that are impossible to accomplish, you will start to feel discouraged whenever you aren’t able to meet them. Be realistic and honest with yourself about what you can fit into a day, and go from there. Some examples of achievable goals could be:

• organizing an area of your house (a closet, cupboard, etc)
• trying out a new recipe that you know might take you a bit longer than usual
• getting some yard work done
• putting in an extra hour of work to get ahead on a project

Again, you decide what your wants are based on YOUR life. Just make sure that if you do find yourself with the time to do them, that they are achievable. Don’t make them so complex that you can’t tackle them during a shorter amount of time. Always organize your daily routine with real life in mind!

Long-term goals:

A great way to sort out all of your long-term goals is by assigning them deadlines. For example, what do you want/need to get done by the end of week? The month? What about 6 months from now? 

Write these things down, and then start thinking about where you can fit pieces of these things into each day. For example, if you want to re-organize your closet before the end of the month, choose certain days in the month for that task, and write them down. Doing this is the first step towards achieving those goals. Once your write them down, you no longer need to worry about when you will do them. This means less stress for you!

When you learn how to organize a daily routine you can rely on, one beautiful thing that happens is you start to gain control of your day (as much as humanly possible). This means you will begin to complete tasks that perhaps have been looming over you for a long time. It’s such a great feeling, and I know you can do it!

Know Your Priorities

It doesn’t matter what sort of life you live, it’s ALWAYS important to know your priorities. Whether you work full-time, are a stay-at-home mom, homeschool your kids, send your kids to public or private school, it doesn’t matter. Make sure you prioritize the things that HAVE to get done, and the things that are MOST important to you.

Look at your day, and figure out specific times that you can focus on these things. When you set aside time for your top priorities, you will end up carrying less stress. This is because you will know exactly when you’ll be addressing those important tasks. 

Taking care of your priorities also leads to a better work-life balance, which is something many people struggle with. But it’s amazing what a little planning can do when it comes to balancing your busy schedule. 

Be Consistent

This is, I think, what most people struggle with the most. And I completely understand why! Being consistent is really hard when every day feels different, and you feel like you’re dodging bullets at every corner. 

You will not find the key to being consistent within daily planners or spreadsheets. It’s a mindset shift and a commitment to yourself. The reason I love routines and time blocks more than strict schedules, is because it allows time and space for real life. 

Commit to yourself to stay consistent in whatever things you CAN control. By doing this, you will start to gain the stability and confidence to better handle the crazy days. Ask God to help you with this. He is good and faithful to provide you with what you need to get through any situation. 

Blessings!

~Maryann