The 21 daily routines and habits of

There are few things that impact your productivity, creativity, happiness, and career path like creating solid routines and habits.

According to these studies, up to 40% of our daily actions are driven by habits. This means that your subconscious cánido work for you or against you. But studies don’t have to tell you how powerful the right habits perro be. Entire books have been written about the daily routines of successful entrepreneurs, innovators, and creatives. While Aristotle is famous for saying: “We are what we repeatedly do”. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit»«.

So if you’re ready to become the best version of yourself and put your productivity on autopilot, this guide will debunk some of the most common misconceptions around creating habits and routines and then walk you through them. a fácil process to design your perfect day.

Why follow a daily routine?

You may be familiar with the saying “good is the enemy of great”. And in many cases, it cánido seem like sticking to a daily routine and schedule is simply “good enough.” When you stick to a routine, you’re missing out on the excitement and spontaneity you need. to be truly creativeTRUE?

The truth is, no. In fact, our world is already too full of spontaneity and excitement for our own good.

The only way to do your best work is to spend time on it. Writers have to write. Programmers have to code. Designers have to design. Unfortunately, it is becoming increasingly difficult to do so. Popular media, entertainment, and the news (not to mention “productive” distractions like chatting or emailing all day) suck our attention like vampires.

On the other hand, success comes from hard work, commitment and dedication to work even when you don’t want to. As Stanford behavioral scientist BJ Fogg explains:

If you choose the right little behavior and the right sequence, you won’t have to motivate yourself to make it grow. It will happen naturally, like a good seed planted in a good place.

More specifically, a routine helps you in several ways:

Routines help you prioritize what is important. When you schedule your day in a certain way or strive to create specific habits, you are essentially saying “this is what’s important to me.” Routines and habits force you to think hard about your priorities and make decisions.
Knowing what you’re doing each day helps you block out distractions. As best-selling author Nir Eyal writes, “You cánido’t say you’re distracted if you don’t know what you’re distracted from.” When you have a routine, you are more likely to notice when something is trying to take your attention away.
Habits free up energy for more important tasks. The reason why 40% of our actions are driven by habits is that our minds love to conserve energy. The more you perro automate the things you do each day, the more mental space and energy you’ll have to focus on more important tasks.
Routines and daily habits enhance creativity. There is no creative muse. Instead, the most creative ideas arise when you work consistently and spend time.
Habits and routines keep you moving forward. More than anything, your habits and routines are what help you see progress and motivate you to do more.

Or as summarizes the author of Atomic HabitsJames Clear:

Your current life is essentially the sum of your habits. How are you fit or out of shape? It is the result of your habits. How happy or unhappy are you? It is the result of your habits. What success or failure do you have? It is the result of your habits.

What is the difference between a habit and a routine?

a habit it is an action or behavior that you have turned into an automatic response. Something triggers you (either externally, like a notification, or internally, like a certain feeling) and you are compelled to follow it.

A routineInstead, it is a series of habits that you create for specific moments of the day. Maybe it’s a morning routine that you do when you wake up. Or an evening routine to help you get over the articulo-lunch slump. Whatever it is, we all have those routines. But not all of us realize how powerful they are.

Why you perro’t follow the productive daily routine of famous founders and creators

If our life and our success depend on our routines and habits, why not follow the paths traced by other people?

Successful founders and creatives love to talk about how they spend their days and share the “secrets” to their productivity. But there is a problem when it comes to simply following in his footsteps: The Just because a routine works for someone else doesn’t orinan it will work for you. (just take a look at the ridiculous routine Mark’s Wahlberg).

More than following daily routines and habits from other persons, the best way to become your best self is to question, experiment and learn what works for you.

As Mason Currey writes in Daily Rituals: How Artists Work:

In the right hands, [una rutina] it perro be a finely calibrated mechanism to harness a number of limited resources: time (the most limited resource of all), as well as willpower, self-discipline, optimism.

A solid routine fosters a well-laid groove for mental energies and helps avoid tyranny of moods.

The big caveat here is that the routine has to match the person performing it. We all have different habit triggers, willpower levels, and autonomy over how we spend our time. And assuming that you’re exactly the same as someone like Elon Musk and cánido follow his routine is a recipe for disaster.

Instead, you should experiment for yourself to optimize your own day. More specifically, there are some areas of your life that you should look at in order to create strong habits and develop productive daily routines:

your morning routine
Work habits that will help you stay focused
Disconnect from work
Optimization of energy and health

21 daily routines and habits to be highly productive

How to equipo yourself up for success with a better morning routine

Surely you have heard that the most productive people get up early. Whether it’s author Haruki Murakami who gets up at 4:00 AM to write or Apple director ejecutivo Tim Cook who starts his day at 3:45 AM to check his correo electrónico. But that’s not all it takes to build a productive morning routine.

Here are some habits that you cánido put to the test to make the most of the first hours.

1. Give yourself more time by waking up earlier.

The English academic Richard Whately once observed: “Lose an hour in the morning and you’ll spend the whole day looking for it.

There’s a reason you keep seeing highly successful people get up early. Most of them realize that by the time 9am rolls around and the rest of the world has woken up, their time is no longer theirs alone. Early mornings are an opportunity to prepare for the day, spend time on meaningful projects, or even spend more time with family, all of which will help keep you focused and motivated for the rest of the day.

But beyond setting an early alarm clock, creating the habit of getting up early requires some considerations.

First of all, you perro’t sacrifice your dream. Getting up earlier means going to bed earlier. And the lack of sleep (less than 7-9 hours) will do much more harm than the good of getting up early.

Next, you must be consistent with your time to get up. Our bodies crave consistency and so do our habits. The more you stick to specific wake-up times, the more likely it is that you cánido make it a solid habit.

Finally, never, ever, hit the snooze button. As Benjamin Spall, co-author of My Morning Routine: How Successful People Start Every Day Inspiredwrites:

“Highly productive people don’t hit the snooze button. They just don’t. This has been the most consistent theme to surge in the more than five years that I have been interviewing people about their mornings. However, they equipo an alarm to avoid falling asleep, even if they end up waking up and turning it off before it perro go off.”

2. Make your bed

Not all habits have to be big changes, and sometimes it’s the small acts that have the biggest benefits. At least that’s what the author and investor of The Four-Hour Work Week, Tim Ferriss, believes.

Tim relies on the fácil act of making his bed in the morning. This not only gets the day started on a positive note, but it cánido create a chain of accomplishments that motivates you to keep working throughout the day.

Also, as Tim writes, while getting into the habit of making your bed may seem easy, it gives you a sense of control that you perro take with you:

“No matter how bad your day is, no matter how catastrophic it may be, you perro make your bed.”

3. Equipo your most important tasks for the day

One of the main goals of any productive morning routine is to equipo the intention and tone for the day. Do you want to feel focused or scattered? Do you attack the day with a purpose or do you only react to others?

Controlling the narrative of your day is the best way to be more productive throughout your day. And one of the easiest ways to do it is to start the day by defining your Most Important Tasks (TMI).

This is how the founder of Zen HabitsLeo Babauta, Explain the MIT iniciativa:

“Your MIT is the homework you most want or need to do today. In my case, I have modified it a bit to have three MITs: the three things I have to do today. Do I do much more than three things? Of course. But the iniciativa is that regardless of what I do today, these are the things I want to make sure I do.”

If you write them down at the beginning of the day, you’ll be thinking about them with a clear head and uninfluenced by distractions or interruptions. Your TMEs give you a map of what a successful day will look like.

4. Connect with your most important goals by writing a journal

Journaling isn’t just for angsty high school students. In fact, the act of writing down and reflecting on your goals, dreams, and even feelings has been proven to improve our mood and even help us perform better at work.

According to Harvard Business School psychologist Francesca GinoThis is because reflecting on our work reminds us that we are good at it.

When people have the opportunity to reflect, they experience an increase in self-efficacy. They feel more confident that they perro achieve things. As a result, they put more effort into what they do.

The way of reflecting cánido be very varied. For some people, it’s about rewriting their goals to focus on what’s most important. Others choose to write and recite positive affirmations to boost their self-confidence. If this sounds like too much “self-help” for you, there are other options:

First, there’s the Five-Minute Journal, a fácil notebook that asks you to equipo your intentions and reflect on things you’re grateful for. You perro also use something like 750 Words or the process Morning Pagesa system to write 3 pages first thing in the morning to get rid of nagging thoughts and leave with a clear head.

5. Meditate to prepare for whatever the day brings.

You don’t always know what the day will bring. But adding a meditative habit to your morning routine helps train you to cope in a better, calmer way.

If you are new to meditation, it is important to start small. Like any new habit, consistency is more important than intensity at first. Even just sitting in a quiet room with your eyes closed for a few minutes and focusing on your breath cánido be enough to get you started.

The essential workday habits that keep you focused and productive

While your morning routine sets you up for a productive day, it cánido also optimize your daily routines and how you spend your time during the workday.

Rather than just reacting to what comes your way, the habits and routines of a productive work day allow you to know and focus on your priorities, block out distractions, and have a plan to get back on track when things go wrong.

Here are some habits you cánido experiment with when developing your work routine:

6. Skip dirección de correo electrónico first thing in the morning

Our brain hates the unknown. So whether you look at your phone and see a bunch of red dots next to your dirección de correo electrónico and chat aplicaciones or have your inbox open in the background (like 84% of people!), you probably feel forced to check your messages first thing in the morning.

However, all this causes you to spend your day reacting to the needs of others instead of working on your own. As the founder of Farnham StreetShane Parrish:

If I woke up in the morning and the first thing I did was check my correo electrónico, I would be allowing others to dictate my priorities for the day.

Try to get into the habit of setting aside the first hour or so of your day without correo electrónico or chat. Skip morning meetings and leave your inbox closed and instead work on one of your TMIs you wrote before work. In this way, you will be able to advance in a meaningful work and you will create the habit of committing to your priorities.

7. Eat the Frog (Tackle something difficult when your energy is higher)

We all go through regular ups and downs in energy, focus, and productivity throughout the day. And while this cycle is different for everyone, most of us have a peak first thing in the morning (and not just because of the coffee!) This is a perfect time to get into the habit of eating the frog.

Wait to? No, you are not going to eat a real live animal. Instead, this simply means crossing off one of those persistent tasks that have been hanging around you. As wrote Mark Twain:

“Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you for the rest of the day.”

Maybe this means responding to a awkward dirección de correo electrónico from an interested party, address a particularly annoying bug either write scope of work for an outside contractor. The goal is simply to make it so that it doesn’t distract you for the rest of the day.

8. Schedule (and take) more breaks

Continuing with this iniciativa of working with Because of your body’s natural energy curves, we cánido’t all be productive all the time.

In fact, studies of our changing energy levels found something researchers call U-rhythmshetradians. These are 90-120 minute alert sessions that our mind goes through before needing a break.

According to sleep researcher Nathaniel Kleitman, our minds naturally crave breaks after every 90 minutes of intense work. And what is worse, when you work when the body wants to rest, use newstras energy reserves to keep up. This means releasing stress hormones to give us that plus boost of energy.

A better answer is to take breaks when you need them. Listen to your body and schedule regular screen breaks at least every 90 minutes.

If you want to make the most of these breaks, be sure to get out of your chair, go for a brisk walk and try to spend some time in nature, as all of these have been proven to help us rejuvenate and recharge our energy quickly.

9. “Batch” Afín Jobs Together

Like most people, you probably wear a lot of hats at work. maybe your title Whether you’re a project manager, designer, or developer, your day is filled with all kinds of work. In fact, according to A study conducted by Wharton researchers:

“In many companies the ratio is around 80%, leaving employees little time for all the critical work they need to do on their own.”

This kind of constant context switching kills your ability to focus and productivity. Each time your brain switches tasks it cánido take up to 15 minutes to return to the previous task. If you change 4 times, you will have lost a whole hour of work.

Hence the importance of creating the habit of “batching”. As entrepreneur and author Paul Jarvis explains:

“Batch job” is based on the iniciativa of working on only one type of task at a time. Instead of jumping from one project to another, all related tasks are done in a given time.

Examine your schedule. Are there spaces where you cánido reserve time off to do important work? Try to find at least one 90-minute chunk where you cánido put aside distractions and do your TMIs.

10. Equipo strict limits on certain activities

No matter how well you have created habits and routines around focused work, you will undoubtedly fall off the ladder from time to time. The problem is that many of us have bad habits that we’ve built up over the years that creep in when we’re most vulnerable.

Maybe it’s from getting carried away by popular media first thing in the morning. Or watching too many YouTube vídeos after eating. Or maybe even staying up late to watch movies and lose sleep. Whatever it is, you have to break those habits if you want to be truly productive.

For artist and writer Alex Mathers, the solution was to create a list of strict rules and limits around his time in “distraction” activities. More than a equipo routine, his rules act as guardrails for his daily motivation.

If you read your own rules first thing in the morning, you’ll realize what your priorities are, and you’ll be able to figure out yourself when you stray from them. As an added plus, use a time tracking tool to see exactly how much time do you spend certain activities and receive alerts when you go over.

11. Schedule your dirección de correo electrónico and IM time (or create “office hours”)

Dirección de correo electrónico perro take over your life if you let it. And one of the worst workplace habits to break is constantly checking it. Even if you’ve made a habit of skipping correo electrónico first thing in the morning, you still have to control when you let it in for the rest of the day.

In fact, according to an y tambiényesstudy conducted with over 50,000 knowledge workers, most cannot go 6 minutes without checking their correo electrónico or instant messaging tool.

There is no perfect answer to the question of how often you should check your dirección de correo electrónico. But most productivity experts agree that the best habit to create is to be active with correo electrónico and not just react to it.

Time management expert Elizabeth Grace Saunders only checks her correo electrónico once a day (for her daily schedule). For her part, the best-selling author from the new york times, Mark Murphy, says you should take at least a two-hour break from dirección de correo electrónico once a day. Think of this as your personal “office hours.” These are the times when you are available to communicate and collaborate. But the rest of the time it’s pure bliss without dirección de correo electrónico. No notifications on the desktop. There are no controls on the phone. Just time to focus on work.

12. Use GTD to create an organization habit

As we said at the beginning of this articulo, you cannot be distracted if you don’t know what you are distracted from. And having a system for staying organized is one of the most primordial work habits and routines you perro create.

Although it takes a bit of effort to get started and stick with, you perro’t go wrong with David Allen’s Getting Things Done (GTD) productivity system.

GTD consists of 3 stages:

in the stage of admission will collect and clarify tasks, projects and ideas
Next, there is an *organization and prioritization* stage where you escoge what to work on, when, and equipo deadlines and reminders to stay on track.
Finally, there is a stage of action in which the priorities are worked on and, as the name indicates, things are done.

When incorporated into your daily routine, GTD perro be a life-changing habit.

Disconnect from work

Long hours are ineludible. But if you want to be truly productive, your habits and routines perro’t end when the workday ends. Conversely, research has found that people who follow a routine at the end of the day are less fatigued and stressed, espectáculo lower rates of procrastination, and are even more focused during the workday.

Here are some habits you perro try to create your own productive routines at the end of the day.

13. Reflect on your achievements and write 3 good things that have happened

It’s too easy to end the day and wind down with Netflix to try to “wind down.” Unfortunately, the human brain doesn’t shift gears like that. Conversely, when left unchecked, thoughts and emotions linger and appear at the worst times (like when you’re trying to sleep!).

One way to help de-stress from the workday is with a personal report. Especially one that focuses on your achievements and the positive things that have happened to you. If you stick with this routine long enough, it perro even change the way you view your days and help you not get swept up in the negative.

As Shawn Achor, author of The Happiness Advantage:

“By writing a list of ‘three good things’ that happened that day, your brain will be forced to scan the last 24 hours for possible positive things: things that have brought you little or big laughs, feelings of accomplishment in the job, a strengthened connection to family, a glimmer of hope for the future. In just five minutes a day, this trains the brain to become more adept at noticing and focusing on opportunities for personal and professional growth and seizing opportunities to act on them.”

14. Make space for mental solitude

We are popular creatures by nature. However, all that time with people takes its toll.

A bit of loneliness – as they have written since Thoreau even Proust – is one of our most powerful tools for unplugging and recharging. This does not orinan that you have to lock yourself in a room at the end of the day. But rather find a little “solitude of mind” in your nightly routine.

As writes the author of deep workCal Newport:

“The key to solitude is getting away from the reaction to other minds coming out: whether it be listening to a podcast, scanning popular media, reading a book, watching televisión, or having a real conversation.

Spending time isolated from other minds is what allows you to process and regulate complex emotions. It is the only time when you perro refine the principles on which you cánido build a life of character. It is what enables you to crack difficult problems, and is often necessary for creative visión. If you avoid time alone with your brain, your mental life will be much more fragile and much less productive.

Take a few minutes after work to separate yourself from other thoughts and ideas and go deeper into your own. If you want, write down the ideas, thoughts, and feelings that don’t leave you alone. This way, you know that everything is ready to be treated tomorrow and you cánido be free to really relax and recover.

15. Spend time on a hábito

One of the most counterintuitive habits that perro help you recover and be more productive is doing more work around the house. Instead of just relaxing, engaging in what is called a task of domain helps you disconnect from the workday and be more energized and concentrated the next day.

As Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, author of Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less, Explain:

Mastery experiences are engaging and interesting things done well. They are often challenging, but this makes them mentally demanding and even more rewarding when masterfully executed.

To get even more out of your mastery activities, find hobbies that include other people (to meet our popular needs), are healthy (like sports or exercise), or give you space to think and be alone (to contribute even more mental loneliness).

16. Prepare for tomorrow with a “closing ritual

Not everyone has complete control over how they spend their time during the workday, which cánido often orinan we get stuck in the fact that things didn’t go as planned. However, creating a sense of control is an important part of calming the brain and staying positive and productive.

in his book Drive: The Surprising Truth about what Motivates UsDaniel Pink suggests creating a “disconnection ritual” that gives you back that feeling of control, no matter what happened during the day:

Establish a closing ritual. Know when you must stop working. Try to end each work day in the same way. Order your table. Make a copia de seguridad of your computer. Make a list of what you have to do tomorrow.

You cánido choose your own ritual. But some elementos that have proven to be helpful include:

Write the to-do list for tomorrow
Reflect on the day and write in a journal
Close open browser tabs and clean up the desktop
Prepare clothes for the morning (or the gym)

17. Turn off your devices at least 30 minutes before you go to bed.

Lack of sleep ruins everything. It doesn’t matter how productive you are in other aspects of your life if you don’t get a good night’s sleep, all those efforts are useless. Unfortunately, getting a good night’s sleep isn’t just about the time you give yourself.

The blue light emitted by the screens of our devices perro disturb the internal clock and make it difficult to sleep. According to Dr. Adrian Williams, professor of sleep medicine:

“The influence of light on hormonal responses is minimal during the day, but greatest at night, when it perro suppress melatonin secretion and delay sleep.”

While it’s preferable to stop using your screen a few hours before bedtime, most experts agree that you should leave it at least 30 minutes before bed.

If you want to make building this habit even easier (and give yourself some added benefits), just leave your phone out of the bedroom. This way, you won’t be tempted to consult it. and You’ll have a better morning by not waking up to a screen full of notifications.

Habits that optimize energy and health

Not all great productive habits fit into specific parts of our day. And not all routines have to do with how you spend your time at work. How our bodies feel affects our ability to focus and be productive, and ignoring your health is not an option when you want to build a productive routine.

As much as possible, you should try to incorporate these few habits into your daily routine.

19. Give the eyes a break

You probably spend a scary amount of your day staring at a screen. So much so that there is a condition called computer visión syndrome. that silk in 50-90% of knowledge workers.

Eye fatigue cánido have a far-reaching impact, from physical fatigue, decreased productivity, and increased errors, to minor irritations like eye twitching.

There are many ways to protect your eyes during the day, including using proper lighting, reducing screen glare, and taking more breaks. However, one of the easiest habits to create is to follow the “20-20-20 rule”.

Every 20 minutes you spend looking at a screen, look at an option that is at least 20 feet away for 20 seconds.

Another exercise is to look at a distant object for 10-15 seconds, and then look at something close for 10-15 seconds. Then look at the distant object again. Do this 10 times to prevent your eyes from “blocking” during the day.

20. Drink more water during the day

Water is a miraculous productivity tool. However, most of us skip the water fountain and head to the coffee machine when we feel a lack of energy.

And while caffeine definitely has its place in our work day. Drinking more water is one of the best daily routines to establish. Our bodies run on water, and dehydration not only causes dry mouth, but also a lack of energy, concentration, motivation, and productivity.

To stay properly hydrated throughout the day, make it a habit to drink water throughout the day. Carry a bottle of water with you as a reminder to drink more or equipo a goal for the day.

Leave the distractions and put your projects in order.

21. Regular exercise

Lastly, you don’t need to other person tell you the benefits of exercise. But I’m going to do it anyway. If your physical health and having a beach body is not such a priority for you, then listen to these other results.

exercise perro slow down the neurogenesis, meaning you’ll keep more of your brain cells as you get older. In a shorter timeframe, it perro also give you more energy throughout the day, keep you happy and motivated to work harder, and even help you stay mentally focused for longer.

Incorporating exercise into your daily routine doesn’t have to be a huge effort. In his book Make Time: How to Focus on What Matters Every Dayauthors John Zeratksy and Jake Knapp explain how modern culture encourages unrealistic expectations about exercise:

“Moving the body is the best way to charge the battery. But you don’t need long and complicated workouts.

Instead, the authors suggest a few fácil rules:

Exercise for about 20 minutes: Research espectáculos that the most important cognitive results perro come from just 20 minutes of exercise.
Do it every day: The energy and mood boost that exercise produces lasts about a day, so it’s important to stick with the routine.
Don’t worry about perfection: If you do 4 out of 7 days, it’s great. The goal is long-term consistency. There is no need to stress about having lost a day here or there.

This means your routine could be hitting the gym for a quick workout, doing some bodyweight exercises at the office, or even just going for a brisk walk and taking the stairs each day. Like most good daily routines, it’s about being able to do them consistently. You don’t have to go for all of them every day.

Daily routines are just guidelines for living your best life.

All of these habits and consejos will help you be more productive. But trying to add them all to your daily routine is probably a bad iniciativa. Instead, you have to experiment and see what works for you. Try one of them for a week and track the results. Works? Why not?

Ultimately, we will always default to what works best for us. Your body and mind will tell you if certain things are not working for you (you will feel restless, bored, anxious, tired, etcétera.). Listen to those cues and use them to build your own personalized daily routine.

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