Having a balanced routine is an essential part of achieving mental wellness. When you have a good routine in place, your life feels a little more ordered and under your control, which can be soothing for symptoms of mental illness. But developing a balanced routine, especially with all the pressures that most people face today, can be hard to do. It may take some trial and error to find the right balance for you, but in this blog we’ll endeavor to give you guidance on bringing structure into your life.
The Importance of a Balanced Routine For Mental Health
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, studies were conducted that showed having regular daily activities could help to reduce stress for individuals.1 With social distancing restrictions and a change in work-life balances, many people felt that their lives were thrown into turmoil. Daily routines encouraged people to take care of their hygiene, health, and sleep despite the upheaval they faced. It also provided structure and order that they otherwise lacked.
But even if you’ve returned to working in an office and seeing your family and friends regularly, balanced routines are still proven ways to help improve mental health. Some of the benefits of creating a routine include:
- Lower stress
- Better sleep
- Elevated mood
- A stronger sense of control over your life
Additionally, routines can be important for those recovering from addiction. It’s important to replace the bad habit with a good habit, and the more consistent that habit is, the better.
The Struggle With Habits and Mental Illness
Of course, just because routines are good for you does not mean that they are easy to develop. If you struggle with mood disorders or mental illnesses that leave you feeling fatigued or “brain fogged,” you might have an especially difficult time forming consistent habits. The beginning of a routine can feel exciting. You may be hopeful about all the health benefits you will receive.
But as time goes on, especially if your mood dips into depression, lethargy may get in the way of sticking to those habits. If you’re struggling to get out of bed in the morning, how much harder will it be to convince yourself to run around the neighborhood? And if you miss one day, it will be harder to pick up the next day.
Consistency is key when it comes to creating a routine, but so is being gentle with yourself. Try not to miss a day of your routine. But if you do, forgive yourself and try again the next day. You may also need to start smaller and build up to the routine you want. There’s no shame in going at your own pace. It may also help to have someone in your life serve as an accountability partner. It’s also important to keep in mind that disruptions may happen that are outside of your control, and that’s okay. You can only be responsible for yourself.
Another way to help you stick to the routines you set may be to look into medication management in order to reduce the symptoms of your mental illness. Speak to a psychiatrist at Rivia Mind about whether medication could help you with your symptoms. Taking antidepressants, for instance, may lessen the intensity of your depressive episodes, thus making it easier for you to stick to your routine and achieve your goals.
Tips For Developing Consistent Habits
So what are some tips for creating consistent habits? First, it’s important to know what you need to work into your routine. There are your primary needs, such as hygiene, sleep, eating, and exercise. These are all important to staying physically and mentally healthy. But you also need to address your secondary needs by creating routines that help you to relax or feel more fulfilled and satisfied. Routines that help you to reach your goals or simply unwind at the end of the day.
With that in mind, here are a few strategies you can utilize.
Eat Three Meals a Day
Consistency in your meals is a boon to your health, both mentally and physically. When you eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner without skipping, you’re more likely to eat with good moderation, thus staying healthy in your eating habits. Eating at roughly the same time each day will also help you stay energized throughout the day. Instead of taking a long nap at 3pm, consider eating a light midday snack that helps to push you through.
Practice Good Sleep Hygiene
Have you heard of sleep hygiene? It’s healthy habits that will help you to sleep better overall. For instance, try not to use your bedroom — or at least your bed — for anything other than sleep. This helps your brain associate your bed with sleep, making it easier to fall asleep at night. Dim the lights or stop using your digital screens around an hour before bedtime, and try to keep a consistent bedtime each day. Keep naps between 30-90 minutes and try not to nap past 3pm. You can also practice good sleep hygiene by avoiding caffeine past 3pm.
Keep a Habit Tracker
A habit tracker is a great way to hold yourself accountable for your consistent habits. You can write down each habit you want to accomplish for each day of the week and check them off when they’re completed. If you miss a day, that’s okay, but the incentive to check off your habits on your tracker may help you to become more consistent. You can even reward yourself if you check everything off for an entire week, or an entire month, and so on.
Find an Accountability Buddy
Tell someone about what you’re trying to do. Let them know about your progress. This could be someone who is also trying to develop healthy, balanced habits in their life. Through this, you could hold each other accountable gently by checking in and giving each other progress updates. It also makes forming habits seem a little less isolating and more fun when you can bring a social element into it. Your therapist can also be an accountability buddy.
Don’t Shame Yourself For Setbacks
Sometimes you’re going to slip up when trying to form a consistent habit. And while practice does make it easier to stick to your habits and consistency is key to that structure you need, shaming yourself for not having a perfect “attendance” will only make you associate your habit with shame. This will make it harder to approach it the next day. Instead, forgive yourself and simply try again. If you notice that you struggle with being consistent on one habit or another, do some problem solving to figure out something that will make it easier.
Don’t Be Afraid To Change Your Routine
This may seem counterintuitive. The point of a routine, after all, is to be consistent. But when you’re first figuring out a balanced routine, you may find that something you thought would be effective actually isn’t. In these cases, there’s no harm in changing your routine up and trying to find what works for you. Do this until you find a routine that fits your life, and then stick to it.
Rivia Mind is here to help you on your journey to mental wellness, whether it’s developing a balanced routine or medication management to help you reduce symptoms and find the motivation to stick to your routine. Contact us today to learn more or to schedule a free 15-minute consultation.
Resources:
- Regularizing daily routines for mental health during and after the COVID-19 pandemic – Hou, Wai Kai; Lai, Francisco TT; Ben-Ezra, Menachem; and Goodwin, Robin; 2020
