Routines are a way to achieve your goals and improve efficiency

While routines can seem boring and repetitive, they are actually a very effective way of improving efficiency. Ligia Ramos from In2Motivation explains how you can use routines to realise your goals and improve your health.

Can having a routine help you focus?

One time my client said to me, “I don’t like routines, I get bored quickly." I explained to the client that, in fact, constant change was their routine, the question you then have to ask yourself is, “does this routine serve your purpose?” They answered, “No. I want more focus and organisation."

Routine is repetition, and that repetition can be doing different things over and over again.

Our brain needs a routine to maintain focus and to be able to rest. The human system creates a recipe that you repeat without having to waste a lot of time or energy to do it again. What happens is that the system doesn't filter routines based on how beneficial or not beneficial they are to us, but on how effective they are.

For example, there is a day that I am stressed and I have the intention to relax. I drink a glass of wine and I feel that relaxation, the system will not look for another way automatically if this one already works. The routine is saved, and thus easier to repeat.

How routines work

Most of the time this is the big issue when my clients express that something is not working or that something is hurting them emotionally or even physically. Behind this is a routine that was created without full awareness and is being repeated. As it continues to satisfy the intention, the system (body and mind) of the person repeats and repeats.

It is very important to find routines that support our intention and are healthy for our system.

Creating a routine

The following steps illustrate how you can start a beneficial routine:

1. Determine the intention for your day, month, meeting, life
2. What behaviours support that intention?
3. Choose / decide which behaviour is the most satisfying for your emotional and mental health
4. Start doing that behaviour
5. Discipline - maintain the chosen behaviour even if it seems strange, new or different
6. Adapt if necessary
7. Repeat

The human system needs 31 days to create a neuronal net (routine or habit); after that net is created everything is much more effective and faster. Many people end up giving up if they are not fast enough, or good at what they are doing, on the first attempt.

Time to start new routines to improve your life

Choosing routines consciously and dedicating time to observe what each routine creates in the medium and long term is very important, because in addition to being effective we are being efficient.

The return to work after the summer break is always a good time to create or manifest new routines or even keep some that we started during the holidays (like exercise, eating, connecting with friends and relaxing).

Want to achieve your goals, improve your communication and set routines that help increase your quality of life? Check out In2Motivation’s International Neuro-Linguist Programming Practitioner Course, to help realise your full potential.