Every year I like to start off fresh, take a moment to reset and set up a healthy routine. Ever since Covid-19, I started working from home, which has been a change to the routine I lived for years, and I’m still getting used to it. It takes work to stay healthy, even when working from home and it’s a balance I’m still working on. I started a great routine back in 2021, when my company went fully remote, and I stuck with it pretty much all year. With planning it’s totally doable, so here is how to plan a healthy daily routine that sticks.
How To Plan a Healthy Daily Routine That Sticks
Step #1: Think about your goals and what you need to do to accomplish them
You’ve likely set up your goals for the year and are excited to get going on them. Well, have you put into action how you’re gonna make it happen? Or a better question, how are you going to get them to stick? Most goals need smaller actions taken daily to achieve. So let’s make it a routine!
For example, if one of your goals is to drink 90oz of water daily, you might want to think about ways to make this happen throughout the day. One way to get a jump start on achieving this goal, is to make sure you drink 16oz of water right when you wake up, and make this part of your morning routine.
Another example might be to get better sleep. Make it part of your routine to put away your phone on the charger at least one hour before going to bed, to help you wind down and make falling asleep easier.
And a final example of using goals to set your routine, is aiming to achieve 6,000 steps a day. It sounds easy enough to accomplish, but with a desk job, it takes planning. So pencil out an hour for lunch and take a walk around the block. This should help you reach your daily goal, but without making it a routine, chances are, you’ll miss the opportunity.
Step #2: Plan Your Day Starting With The Night Before
There are some factors that can throw you off course when you wake up in the morning, ready to take on the world and conquer your new routine. Some worthy of mentioning are distraction and procrastination. So make sure you end the day set up for success in the morning.
In my example below, there are a few things I know I have to do the night before, or my entire day is derailed. Because my morning minutes are precious and I plan each one down to the minute, it’s important that I don’t get distracted with other things.
Thinking through how to start your day off on the right foot, by identifying the things that will make it easier the night before is key to sticking to your new healthy routine.
Nightly Routine Examples
| Lay out Gym Clothes | This saves so much time in the morning and makes it easier to get moving because I’ve already decided to work out first thing. |
| Lay out Mat in Designated Area | Having this already laid out gives me a space to go to immediately start my morning. |
| Pack the Kids’ Lunches | Forgetting to do this at night will completely derail my entire routine, so it’s important to pack my kids’ lunches before to save precious morning time. |
| Fill up 16oz of Water | Another easy task to do at night so it’s one less thing in the morning and I can hit the ground running. |
| Make Vitamins Accessible | There are a few vitamins I like to take right when I wake up. I keep them together and easily accessible so I can take them while I’m drinking my first glass of water. |
| Clean the Kitchen | If the kitchen isn’t clean before I go to bed, all I’ll want to do first thing is clean it. Which is a distraction that will completely derail me from my plan. |
Step #3: Write Your Routine Down
Ok, the hardest part is done. You’ve thought long and hard about how to connect achieving your goals with your daily routine. Now it’s time to write it all down and make sure it’s achievable for yourself and fits within all your current daily commitments.
Head out to the store and pick up a planner or journal. There are so many amazing ones out there, and there’s nothing more fun than opening up a brand new planner. One of my favorites is the Legend Planner. It really puts your goals and aspirations front and center while updating your calendar and to do lists. There are so many great pages and templates to help you in your planning journey.
Currently, I’m using the Happy Planner that I use to categorize all the different aspects of my life. I’m able to print my own printables or buy filler packs to create my very own custom planner. I have sections tabbed for my goals, weekly planner, parenting, blog, school, and health & fitness.
Step #4: Track Your Progress Every Day
Alright, I hope you are feeling accomplished because the hard part is over! You are on the right track learning how to plan a healthy daily routine. You’ve thought about your goals and what you need to do to accomplish them. And you’ve written it down in a safe place to refer back to when needed.
Now it’s off to the races! Make sure you keep track of your progress in your journal or planner every day. You can use printables, like this goal planning bundle that includes routine trackers, where you can check off your items daily.
This is especially gratifying when you are participating in a cleansing Dry January goal for instance. Every day checking this off is a sense of accomplishment.
My Current Healthy Daily Routine
If your curious about what my healthy daily routine looks like, check it out below. Keep in mind, that this contributes to a few daily goals I’ve set for myself which include:
- Drinking 90oz of water daily
- Starting mornings with 10 minutes of Yoga
- Walking at least 5,000 steps per day
- Reading for at least 20 minutes nightly
- No Alcohol!
6:00am – Wake up and make bed
I am a snoozer so I set my alarm for 5:30am and let myself snooze a couple times to wake up at 6am.
6:15am – Drink 16 ounces of water and take probiotics.
6:20-6:45am – Morning Yoga Challenge, Fill up 16 more ounces of water
A part of my plan is to get moving right away in the mornings. I found this great 30-day Morning Yoga Challenge on YouTube. There’s a new video each day that is only 10-15 minutes and they are great for first thing in the morning. Plus, Kassandra chooses a different affirmation each morning to boost your confidence and set you up with a positive mindset.
6:45am – Coffee Time
After yoga, I reward myself with a delicious 10oz coffee with vanilla almond milk and stevia. Sometimes I add MCT powder for an extra energy boost. I’ve also allocated enough time here to freshen up a bit, blow dry/curl my hair, do my morning facial care routine and finish my second glass of water.
7:00am – Kids start to wake up
The kids set alarms for themselves to wake up at 7am, so I’m usually checking to make sure they are getting dressed and brushing their teeth.
7:30am – Cook Kids Breakfast, Make Fab 4 Smoothie
“Cooking” the kids breakfast typically consists of me making two plates of frozen mini pancakes or waffles and serving with fresh strawberries that I washed and cut up over the weekend (major time saver!) Other ideas are cooking up some quick oats, serving cereal and milk, or if I am feeling really spunky, making eggs and toast.
At the same time, I’m prepping and blending my Fab 4 Smoothie of the day. I recently tried this one with turmeric and it was so delicious!
8:00am – Leave to drop kids off at school
We live pretty close to the school, so I can leave the house at 8am and drop the kids off in time to get back home for work.
8:30am – Log on for Work
From here I am pretty much in the office all day long until lunch. I try to get up every hour, just walking into the laundry room, out to the mailbox or walking around the house while taking a phone call.
12:30pm – Lunch Time + Take Vitamins
One thing I knew I wanted to implement was a lunch time. It’s so easy to work through lunch and into the night when you are working from home, so I blocked off an hour on my calendar everyday. It’s still hard for me to break away so I am trying at this. And after lunch, I’ll take a walk around my neighborhood to get some steps in towards my goal.
3pm – Pick up Children
School is out at 3pm, so I make sure I’m available to pick the kids up when needed. I usually split this responsibility with Brett and my mom to relieve me on some days.
5:30pm – Workout
When I log off for work, I either go for a run on the trail or take a HitFit Class. When the kids have their activities at night, I try to find ways to stay standing or get more steps in, like walking around the soccer field during practice.
7pm – Dinner
Dinner is at 7 if we can make it home in time from activities, which definitely fluctuates based on what our schedule ends up being.
8pm – Kid’s Bedtime
We start the bed time routine for the kids at around 8pm, so they are usually in bed by 8:30pm. Brett and I typically will have an hour to unwind from the day, watch a favorite show or try to catch up on anything.
9:30pm – Time for bed and a little reading
We’re usually in bed around 9:30pm. I like to go in at this time with Brett because he needs to wake up super early in the mornings for work, so while he passes out, I read a few chapters of my book before falling asleep.
How To Plan a Healthy Daily Routine That Sticks
And that is my advice for how to plan a healthy routine that sticks. Make sure you are documenting everything, and checking things off as you achieve them. And feel proud of yourself when you do. Sticking to a healthy routine means thinking about it consciously every day. Let me know how your healthy daily routine is coming along in the comments below!
