How to build a daily routine

This story is part of our mental health series. Find out more here.
We all know people who are very dedicated to their daily routines.

Maybe they go to the gym at the same time every day or have a set schedule in the mornings.

Research shows that routines can have a positive impact on mental health by creating a structure that helps reduce stress and anxiety.

But building a new routine — and sticking with it — can be challenging. Many of us lost our daily routines during the pandemic when we transitioned to working from home, said Samantha Zhu, a licensed mental health counselor based in New York.

“These clear boundaries between work and personal life are a lot more blurred for so many people,” she said. “The research has shown that when our environment or daily habits become unpredictable, it can disrupt emotion regulation, so there's an increase in depression. There's an increase in the likelihood of anxiety when we don't have regular routines. This lack of structure can lead to feelings of purposelessness or a loss of control.”

How does creating a routine help improve mental health? 

“There's research done by Harvard Medical School where they showed that routines help the brain conserve energy, and by doing that and automating certain activities, we can reduce mental fatigue and free up cognitive resources for more complex tasks.

“So when you're not having to think about, you know, ‘When am I going to have dinner? What's the next step that I need to engage with after work? Or how do I start my morning?’ Your brain has way more energy and space to focus on other things that also work to help improve your mental and physical health.”

What strategies can you use to help build a new routine? 

“So that actually brings up a study from the Journal of Global Health that found individuals felt better when they have a sense of normalcy. And they talked about two types of routines: primary routines like eating and sleeping, and then secondary routines like exercising, working and socializing. The ability to write these things down means not having to think about it, and it also is a source of holding you accountable. You're more likely to do it if you have it somewhere in your calendar, or if you write it down afterwards, it's a way to reflect and feel good that you accomplished the task.

“For some people, it might truly be the old school method of writing it down in a notebook or using an app to help where you get encouragement or notification reminders, and others could be like texting a friend and saying, ‘I would like to meet up on this day. Can you hold me accountable and check in?’”

Why is it so difficult to stick to a new routine? 

“I think it brings up this idea around needing instant gratification. Are you able to put in the work and know that gratification comes later because of the process? Versus I'm going to snooze because it feels good right now and I'll deal with the consequences later, in which I might feel bad that I haven't stuck to this routine that I told myself I would.”

How can you stay focused on building a new routine? 

“I know on Instagram that you can set a kind of parental time limit for how long you're going to be allowed to scroll on the app. I think the tricky thing with that is most of us just ignore that time limit. It is a balance of trying to forgive yourself and then agreeing to do better, or to try again and figure out why am I so attached to this behavior or activity that I actually want to stop or slow down.

“I think my biggest suggestion is just to give a gentle reminder to everyone to be patient and flexible with routines. It's not something that is set in stone, because your life isn't set in stone.  It's constantly moving and it's asking for you to have a lot of flexibility but also meeting yourself where you are.”

Samantha Raphelson produced and edited this interview for broadcast with Catherine Welch. Raphelson also adapted it for the web.