Getting into a routine

routine, new year, fresh start, Rituals

In my first post of 2018 I spoke about my New Years resolutions and goals for the upcoming year. One of my resolutions this year is to establish a daily routine for myself. I really want to create structure at what time I wake up and go to bed, since the lectures at uni are quite sporadic. For the last couple of months before Christmas I only had a couple of lectures a week in the afternoon and of course I had to work on my thesis outside of my lectures. During this time I found it quite hard to establish a routine for myself and the routine I had faded away when the holidays were approaching. This is why I want to create a structured routine for myself in 2018.

 

Pro’s of establishing a routine

  • I’ll have more energy during the day and especially in the morning
  • I would like to become more like a morning person
  • Establish an earlier go to bed routine (so my brain doesn’t switch on at 11 pm)
  • I’ve heard that a good night sleep also helps with a clear skin

 

How to establish this routine?

First I determined what is a good time for me to wake up. I use the app sleepcycle and I thought waking up between 7.30 and 8.00 am would be a good time for me. After that I calculated back at which time I need to ‘sleep’ to be able to get about 8 hours of sleep. So if I want to wake up between 7.30 – 8 am I need to ‘be sleeping’ at midnight. This is when I thought if I’m in bed by 11 ish I can read something and than go to sleep. In the end I decided that I wanted to shower and get ready for bed at around 10.

 

The second step in order to get used to this routine is of course to stick to it. I’ve now tried my new routine for 1 week and I find it quite hard to stick to this new routine. I searched a bit on the internet and I found that it takes around 2 – 3 weeks for your body to adapt to this new routine (if you stick to it). The challenges I face with adapting this new routine are:

  • Falling back asleep after my alarm went off (or just sleeping through my alarm)
  • Not be able to sleep at 11 ish and being awake in bed for a long time

I already managed to not nap during the day, because I found myself doing this a lot before Christmas. And the upcoming week I would like to be able to wake up between 7.30 – 8 am and not fall back asleep after my alarm went off. I think this is the next step into adapting to this new routine.

 

I would love to know if you faced this challenge and what you did/helped you to adapt this new routine. Also would you like me to write an update in a few weeks?

signature, xoxo Annaleid, Actually Anna

 

 

 

 

6 Comments

  1. Leontien Bakker
    January 14, 2018 / 9:33 pm

    🙂

    • Actually Anna
      Author
      January 22, 2018 / 9:18 pm

      🙂
      xoxo Annaleid

  2. January 15, 2018 / 11:19 am

    I totally struggle with waking up at a set time everyday of the week. This is since childhood and I am absolutely aware of the drawbacks and need to get things in order right away. Thanks for sharing.

    • Actually Anna
      Author
      January 22, 2018 / 9:19 pm

      You’re welcome! Do you have any tips that I didn’t mention in this post?
      xoxo Annaleid

    • Actually Anna
      Author
      January 24, 2018 / 11:05 pm

      That’s so great to hear! I’m hoping to establish a routine for myself soon 🙂
      xoxo Annaleid

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