12 Step Action Plan That Will Improve Routine In 2023
The power of habit is strong. It’s the most fundamental law of human nature. We all want to improve our routines, but we’re guilty of focusing on the wrong things. Here are 12 action steps that will improve routine.
Changing habits is not about willpower; it’s about building new neural pathways in your brain.
There are 12 steps to building a new habit that will improve your life:
1) Identify the routine
The first step is to identify what specific routine you want to turn into a habit. A routine can be anything from going for a run every morning before work or eating an apple after lunch every day.
2) Set your intention
The next step is to set an intention for why you’re working on turning this routine into a habit. Do you want to add more exercise into your daily life? Or maybe you want to eat healthier so you feel better and have more energy?
3) Be specific
The third step is to be very specific about when you are going to do this routine. If your goal is to eat an apple every day at lunch time, then make sure that you don’t eat anything else at that time. Don’t eat two apples or go for a walk instead of eating an apple.
4) Make it easy to follow
Once you have identified your desired routine, make it as easy as possible for yourself to follow through. If going for a run in the morning is too complicated and time-consuming, try jogging in your neighbourhood after dinner instead.
If eating an apple after lunch is inconvenient because you’re at work all day, try bringing an apple with you and eating it before lunch or after dinner instead of during lunch break.
5) Set aside time
Once you’ve made it easy, set aside at least five minutes each day for the habit to take place. Once it becomes part of your daily routine, this small amount of time will become automatic and unconscious — which means that it’ll be easier for your brain to remember later on!
6) Form a trigger
Next, decide when and where you want your new routine to occur.
For example, if you want to eat an apple after lunch every day, decide when you’ll eat it (right after lunch), where (in the kitchen) and with whom (your family). Once you’ve decided on these details, it’s time to create the trigger that will remind you of this new routine each day.
For example, if you’re going for a run every morning before work, set up your alarm clock so that it goes off at 6:30 am every day.
7) Find an accountability partner
One of the best ways to stick with your new routine is to tell someone else about it and ask them to hold you accountable for sticking with it.
This could be a friend who wants to start eating healthier or someone who wants to go on runs with you every morning before work.
8) Do it at the same time every day
You need to make sure that you do this activity every single day at exactly the same time so that your brain can form a pattern around it and make it easier for you to remember what comes next without having to think about it too much.
9) Create reminders
Once you’ve identified the routine and set your intention, it’s time to create reminders so that you’ll actually do it consistently. For example, if you want to go for a run every morning before work, put your running shoes next to your bed and set an alarm on your phone or Fitbit so that it buzzes when it’s time to go (or even better, use a fitness tracker that has built-in sleep tracking). If you want to eat an apple after lunch every day, keep one in your bag at all times so that when hunger strikes after eating lunch at work, there’s no excuse not to eat an apple!
10) Make it a game
Once you’ve decided on the routine, the next step is to make it fun. If you’re trying to run every morning, make a bet with a friend who’s also trying to start running that you’ll both run on the weekends. If you’re trying to eat an apple every day, make it a competition with your co-workers: whoever eats their apple first gets a free coffee!
11) Track your progress
Once you’ve identified the routine and made it as easy as possible for yourself, start tracking how well you perform that routine on a daily basis. Use an app like Habitbrite or HabitForge to keep track of when you succeed (i.e., eating one apple per day) and when you fail (i.e., eating two apples per day). This will help motivate you by showing how well or poorly you’re doing with this new routine.
12) Be patient
It takes at least 21 days for a habit to form, so don’t give up if it seems like nothing is happening at first! It can take a while to build new routines, but with practice and patience they’ll become easier and eventually automatic.
Hopefully, you’ve already taken some steps to improve yourself and your life. If not, no matter where you’re at in the process, we wish you the best of luck with it. Ultimately, building up better habits through incremental improvement isn’t a one-shot deal — it’s a process that you have to stick with over time.
