Quick & Easy Tips For Better Daily Habits

Are you a busy coach or entrepreneur who's juggling a million things in your business, while also trying to keep up with personal growth and development with a daily meditation practice, journaling and trying to consume as many inspirational podcast episodes as possible?

It's a lot isn't it?!

I get how exciting it is to be knee deep in self improvement, and how intoxicating learning and growing a business can be. But, if your healthy new daily habits and routines are causing more harm than good (you're exhausted and quite possibly becoming burnt out), maybe it's time to take a breath and rethink your focus.

We'll look at how habits can help your well-being and productivity and how you can create a daily routine that energises and refreshes you – and that doesn't take too long either!

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How Daily Habits Helps Growth

Habits are simply those things you do automatically – without thinking too much about it. For example, cleaning your teeth every morning and evening.

However, when you begin introducing new habits it's not always easy. I talked about this and habit formation in my last blog, where I give an example of walking a new path.

Habits are a brilliant tool for promoting and supporting improved wellness and productivity in day to day life. Once established, habits can help you remain balanced, focused and motivated in everything you're doing.

Habits don't just need to be focused on one area. You may be trying to get fitter while at the same time grow your business. Habits can support both of these and will in time, make things feel a lot easier for you.

Side note – it's important to not over-do it, especially in the beginning. Begin by focusing on one new daily habit, or a couple of small ones that you know are easy wins for you. As they become more solid, you can think about introducing new daily habits, or expanding the ones you started with.

Habits teach you how to develop consistency, understand the motives behind your behaviour, and help you develop better ways to approach your goals.

By introducing new daily habits, you're building the foundations to create the changes that you're looking for. Once habits become ingrained it's harder to change them. So by focusing on ones that will benefit you, you're giving yourself the best chance of seeing your plans through and achieving those goals.

Morning Routines

Morning routines are great for developing a new daily habit. They don't need to be huge statements or complex actions – they can be 5 or 10 minutes a day if that's all you have.

Morning routines can help set you up for the day – whether it's a personal or professional goal you're focusing on.

You already have routines in place in the mornings – brushing your teeth, getting dressed, eating breakfast and leaving the house.

Building on the foundations of what you already do will help you develop daily habits that feel easy and natural.

Quick Morning Routine Ideas:

Here are a few examples of what your morning routine could look like. Take what feels good for you and start with small changes, especially if you've found introducing habits difficult in the past.

The ideas are listed below with different times in mind, to help whether you've got 10 minutes or an hour! Flexibility is key, and making it work for you and your current situation will help to make these new daily habits feel achievable and not a drain on your energy.

No time? If possible, set your alarm to wake you 10 minutes earlier. Then, when you wake, count to 5 & get up! Then, use the next 5 – 10 minutes to do your new routine.

Here's a quick 5 minute example:

Minute 1: Deep breathing for 1 minute as you practice mindfulness.

Minute 2: Gentle movement / stretches for another 1 minute.

Minute 3: Drink some water as you think about 3 things you're grateful for.

Minute 4 -5: Journal Prompts / plan your priorities & set your intentions for the day ahead.

– The more time you have, the longer these activities can last!

Don't forget, you can also blend these new daily habits into your current routines (breakfast / shower / cleaning teeth / walking the dog)

Only 5/10 Minutes to Spare?

Morning journaling – use the 5-10 minutes to focus your mind, set your intention & practice gratitude. use a daily journal with prompts, or use these reflection prompts:

• How do I feel this morning?
• What's my energy like?
• What am I looking forward to today?
• How do I want to feel today?
• What are my main goals for today (max 3)
• What am I grateful for today?
• Write an affirmation for today: “I am…” (eg “I am capable / strong / successful / empowered / resilient / amazing / calm / productive / kind / powerful…)

You can choose to use all or some and to write as much or as little as you like. If you don't fancy writing in a journal, try using a notes app in your phone, or speaking your answers out loud.

Mindful Moments – You don't need to use a meditation app or sit in a meditation pose to do this (although if you want to then great – there are lots of short guided meditations you can find online).

Mindfulness is about quieting your mind so that you can release thoughts, worries that hold you hostage inside your head causing you to not be fully present.

You can do this as you're cleaning your teeth or as you walk to work. If you can sit for a few minutes, it's about paying attention to being in the moment. Noticing, without forcing, sounds, sensations and feelings.

As thoughts arise you release them, keeping yourself grounded, focusing on your breath or absorbing the sensations of how you are right now in that moment.

If you find it difficult, you can use your breath to slow and focus your mind. Or you could do a body scan, where you place your attention to each part of your body, moving slowly from your head down to your toes.

There's no right or wrong way to do this, so don't worry about whether you're doing it right – it's just about letting your mind be still for a while. I like to set my intention after a meditation / mindful moment.

Write Out Your Daily Goals – Use the 5 or 10 minutes to write down your daily goals. Prioritise them and spend a couple of minutes thinking about how you're going to tackle them and what you need to prepare.

I like to do this even though my week is already mapped out, because it helps my mind connect to the goal and think about the steps involved while I'm not distracted by anything else.

Drink Water – Drinking water first thing has tonnes of health benefits for you – after a night of no water it helps to quickly rehydrate your body. As 50-70% of our bodies are made up of water, it's crucial for helping your organs function properly, and for keeping your heart healthy.

Mini Exercise – Okay you may not get much out of a few minutes, but some quick movements while you're still in your pyjamas can be a great way to wake your body and mind up!

A few years back when I worked in schools (in the UK) there was this thing called “Wake and Shake”. For a few minutes at the start of the day and after the lunchtime break, the children (and teachers!) would all join in with a dance to whatever song was being blasted out into the playground that day!

I loved it and so did the children – shaking off any pent up or negative energy, having fun and moving their bodies!

You don't need to go full dance mode (if you don't want to), but perhaps some gentle stretches, or a little bit of resistance by using your body weight and pushing back from a wall. I do this when waiting for the kettle to boil (I drink a lot of coffee..!)

The consistency of repeating these habits daily is what matters the most, so think about what you'd like to use your 5-10 minutes for each morning! What would benefit you the most?

If you're just looking to add to your current routine to improve your daily productivity, but only have a few minutes to add, then think about what new daily habits would be most useful for this.

It could be decluttering and clearing your desk, refreshing your plan, printing off your days tasks or getting your mind focused for the day ahead. You don't need to overthink it, just be clear on what you want to introduce and work out how this can be included in your daily routine.

15-30 Minutes To Spare?

Take a look at this example 15 minute morning routine:

Up & out of bed (no phone unless to access a meditation!)

5 Minutes for mindfulness / meditation.

5 Minutes for movement (stretches / mini yoga routine / walking on the spot / dancing!).

5 Minutes to journal – this is a great amount of time – use prompts to help focus those thoughts!

If the mornings are just too hectic, think of ways you can attach to other activities you're doing, and if possible, walk to the bus / shop / work. You can use this time for mindfulness & gratitude as well!

The important thing is, is that it's something you want to do, something that will support the changes you're making, but that are also sustainable.

There are some things you can do to make this easier, for example you can prepare things the night before to help future you get ahead!

Evening Routine Benefits

Why should you have an evening routine?

As with morning routines, we all have some sort of evening routine – whether it's a ‘good' one is a different matter, but we all generally do the same kind of thing each night before bed.

The key is to not make things complicated. Usually when you're going to bed you're tired and just want to get comfy in bed.

You can choose to create an evening routine to support your mornings, or to improve the quality of your sleep and improve boundaries with using tech late at night!

Just be mindful of what you want to get out of it so that your brain isn't too wired and prevent your ability to fall asleep.

One evening routine I introduced was reviewing the day in my mind when I first got into bed at night. This habit helped me enormously when I was writing my dissertation because it could be really hard to put the pen down, switch off and relax.

With so much learning and information buzzing around my head, relaxing and falling asleep wasn't easy – especially because a lot of my best ideas filtered through during my chilled out state.

Doing a mental review helped me create an overview of all of the things I had accomplished that day. Noting anything that went well or not so well. Then very briefly, I would use this information and run through a very loose plan of what I needed to do the next day.

It was like I could once again think clearly and see the next steps without forcing it!

I didn't usually write this review, but sometimes I did as journaling was part of the study. This one evening habit changed my sleep pattern completely. I always kept my journal next to my bed so that it was easy to reach when those ideas popped up. (I still do this now!)

It was unbelievable how effective it was. I was able to feel myself physically and mentally relax after I ran through it in my head, and within minutes I'd be asleep! As an insomniac it was unreal!

Supporting Your Future Self: If your goal is to make things easier for you in the morning, you can do things like setting out your exercise clothes. Or, if you want to journal but you only have 5-10 mins, get everything out ready so that you can get up and write!

Create your plan for the next day before you go to bed so that you're clear on what needs to get done. Or, make sure there's a glass next to the kettle so that you can remind yourself to drink the water before the coffee!

And, if mornings are just too much, there's no reason why you can't use the evening to get your new habits like journaling and exercise in place!

Quick Evening Routine Ideas:

As with morning routines, the main thing is to not over-complicate things. Keep things simple where possible. (It's kind of my motto now!)

Work with what you already have. Use stacking to help you establish the new daily habits as quickly and as easily as possible.

Find what works for you. It's often trial and error with these changes, but the important thing is that you keep doing it! You repeat the new habit over and over until it becomes as automatic as cleaning your teeth before bed!

Take a look at some quick and easy daily habits you can introduce in the evenings:

• Exercise early evening.
• Stop responding to work related stuff after 7pm.
• Switch off devices by 8pm.
• Read a book in bed.
• Gentle exercise / stretching before bed.
• Daily review / brain-dump either written or thoughts.
• Daily gratitude – list 3 things you're grateful for that day.
• Journaling – reflecting on how you're feeling, .
• Breathwork / meditation.
• Skincare routine. Some self care before bed is a great way to increase positivity.
• Plan for the following day. Be structured so it doesn't turn into actually doing work though…
• Set out your equipment for the morning.

Final Thoughts

Introducing new daily habits may feel exciting at the beginning, but often they taper off after a couple of weeks as the dopamine hit disappears and the repetitive actions just feel, well repetitive!

Unfortunately the new habits aren't always exciting or appealing, but they can help you make huges changes to your day to day life and your approach to your work.

I'd love to hear how you manage the mornings and evenings, and what you find most helpful when introducing new daily habits!

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Meet Lynsey

Hey there! I'm Lynsey, a coach, counsellor, and mentor for low energy, introverted or low confident female coaches & small business owners. With over 5 years’ experience of running businesses, and over a decade as a tutor and trainer, I've learned the value of effective time management that energises you through working with your energy.

I've lived with chronic illness – ME/CFS since 2011 and since then I re-trained as a counsellor, and achieved a distinction for my MA in Counselling and Psychotherapy Practice; all while running 4 businesses! I want that for you as well & it is possible with the right support and pathway to success.

Improving your mindset, finding acceptance and developing a solution-focused approach to achieving your goals is my passion. Blending mental health support where needed, as well as a supportive space and methods to manage your work more effectively.

If you'd like to know more about working with me, you can email [email protected] or find me on socials (links in the menu)

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