Introduction: Let me share with you 5 simple questions that you can ask yourself to make a more detailed daily routine. These questions can help you know what habits to keep and what habits to stop doing so lets get started.
Go Through your own daily routine and see what changes you can make, based on these questions, and I will give you some examples to help you out!
- Does each habit improve something or solve a problem?
This is the foundation of self-improvement. You want to do habits that get you closer to your definition of success in life. So look through each habit on your to do list and ask ” What problem does this solve” or ” How can this help me with x”
Example: 36 daily social media networking comments: That can help you because it improves your brand reach, and you can learn what your competitors are doing right and wrong.
Or let’s say ” Read 10 pages a day” That can potentially do both: – Improve your knowledge by giving you ways to improve different areas of your life like money, health, etc.
Also it can help you solve problems like: Reading a productivity book might give you ways to stop procrastination, or overthinking.
If a habit doesn’t help with something or solves a problem, then I suggest stop doing it or doing it less depending on what the habit is.
My personal example: Social media keyword+Hashtag research. I realized that on social media most platforms just say how many posts a hashtag has but not really the search volume. So for that its best for me to just use relevant hashtags so I can drop that habit or do it less later.
2. Should this habit have a max time or max amount?
10 minute vs 10 pages example: Lets take 2 different habits for this idea: Watching self help videos on YouTube vs Reading a productivity book.
What habit should have the max time and what habit should have a max amount?
I would say: videos=max time ( Like 10 minutes), and reading= max amount ( Like 10 pages a day)
So when you go through your habit list you want to ask yourself ” does this need a max amount of time to do the habit like 15 minutes, or a max amount to do like 10 ideas think of or write 50 words.”
You could use both for each habit, but most habits do best with just 1 of them. Since some habits you want to take your time, and some habits need a clear max to do ending!
3. What is the best order for these habits?
Now you want to think of what order should you do your self improvement habits?
Just like you wouldn’t do your night routine before your morning routine, its the same idea with this. You need to know the best order to do it in, it could be starting with most important and urgent habits or having a predictable order.
So like for me: I can learn from videos+books, networking comments, Think of video/blog ideas, write script, then record the videos. I wouldn’t record the videos then write the script.
So take a few minutes and think deeply about the best order for your specific habits. Just make sure you have enough time to do your most important daily habits earlier in the day.
Framework: Morning routine, then fast easy habit, then do your hardest and most urgent habits first. Then keep going! ( Write this down so you don’t forget it!)
4. What items do I need for each habit?
For this start by writing on a paper each item or tool you need to do each habit.
So lets say you want to learn from videos: You need 1. Learning question 2. Any device 3. Wi-Fi 4. pen and paper or online notes. And that’s pretty much it.
Remember not every item is physical some are mental items or written items. So lets say during your morning routine you might read your long term and short term goals. All you need for that might be pen+ paper or just remembering your goals to read out loud during your morning stretching.
You also want to make sure you fully do the habits, then see if you are missing any items. That is the easiest way to do question #4!
5. How can I do each habit faster and better?
This is where my brand comes in! You can use my ideas for productivity and getting habits done faster, or you can also use items to help you focus better, finish habits faster, make the habits easier to start etc.
Examples: 1. Say you want to read more books and it gets very loud and distracting, what do you do? Well you need to improve your focus. So you might simply just close your door or study in a quiet room.
- Practice makes improvements: If you do a habit daily or often for a long period of time, and you analyze what you do and get feedback.
- You will naturally notice things and ways to make your habits faster and easier to do. So make sure you are consistent with all your self improvement habits so that way you can naturally find observations!
Make sure you time track your daily habits so that you can see what habits you want to optimize.
With these 5 questions you can start building a better daily routine, but you still need to do your habits without procrastination and without excuses.
Remember: I would rather you do a little of a habit daily than do it for 5 hours once a month. If you say you will do it daily then do it daily, if you say you will do the habit once a week then do it once a week. Stay true to your word and slowly everyday improve your life.
A good daily routine is the first step to a better life. Good Luck!