How Do Daily Routines Help Mental Health?

Many of us have a nagging thought in the back of our minds that we should be keeping more consistent routines. Maybe you tend to stay up an hour or two later than you mean to every night, or you find yourself skipping meals, or it’s been hard to maintain an exercise routine. It’s just hard to do it all in one day, and the idea of doing it all every day? Hard to imagine.

Well, not to add more pressure - but maintaining some healthy routines might be even more important than you suspect.

I’m going to explore how daily routines can significantly improvement mental well-being, discussing benefits to specific conditions and some practical tips to help get you started.

Understanding Daily Routines

First, to define what I’m talking about: daily routines consist of regular activities performed consistently. Examples include morning exercise, scheduled meal times, and bedtime rituals. These routines are more than just habits; they provide structure and a sense of predictability, which are crucial for mental health.

Benefits of Daily Routines for Mental Health

Structure and Stability

Daily routines offer a sense of control over your life, which can reduce anxiety. Predictability helps your brain feel more at ease, knowing what to expect throughout the day.

Improved Sleep Patterns

Consistent routines promote better sleep by regulating your body's internal clock. Unpredictable sleep patterns, however, can lead to mental health issues. Disrupted sleep is linked to increased risks of depression and anxiety, and research even shows that disrupted sleep precipitates depressive or manic episodes in people with bipolar disorder Maintaining a regular sleep schedule helps mitigate these risks, ensuring your brain and body get the rest they need.

Enhanced Productivity and Focus

Having a set routine can enhance productivity by reducing the number of decisions you need to make daily. This minimizes decision fatigue, allowing you to focus better on important tasks and improve overall efficiency.

Stress Reduction

Routines can significantly reduce stress by creating a sense of order in your life. Engaging in regular stress-relieving habits, such as meditation or exercise, can further boost your mental health.

Daily Routines and Mental Health Conditions

Depression

Routines can help manage depression by providing a sense of purpose and structure. Incorporating activities like regular exercise, healthy eating, and social interactions can alleviate depressive symptoms.

If you have established routines during times when you’re feeling well, it’s going to be much easier to maintain them when you’re feeling depressed. If these routines do become disrupted during depression, they’re a lot easier to come back to if you’ve established them as being the norm in your life.

Another benefit of having an established routine for people who struggle with depression: when the routines start to slip, it might be an early sign that an episode is coming on. This will provide you with some early warning, and might redirect you to take extra care and mitigate the severity.

Anxiety

For those with anxiety, routines can create a calming effect by reducing uncertainty. Establishing routines that include relaxation techniques and mindfulness practices can be particularly beneficial. Routine can be an anchor when everything else is feeling out of control.

Bipolar Disorder

Routine is especially important for those with bipolar disorder. Research has shown that disruptions in circadian rhythm can precipitate mood episodes in people with bipolar disorder.

In other words, consistency in routines around when you sleep, when you wake up, and when you first eat in the day can help to protect you from occurrences of depressive or manic episodes. At the same time, disruptions in any of these areas may have more severe effects for those with bipolar disorder.

As a result, consistency in habits related to sleep may be an important part of managing bipolar disorder. If your body’s clock is erratic, with wildly inconsistent sleep, you’re more likely to experience a mood episode or feel generally unwell; if your body’s clock is functioning well, you’re going to feel more stable.

Tips for Establishing Daily Routines

Start Small

Begin with manageable changes. Incorporate small, effective habits like drinking water first thing in the morning or taking a short walk daily.

If you’re having trouble with sleep, look at your bed time first, and see if you can make that time more consistent. If you fall asleep at 2am three nights a week and 11pm the other nights, consider targeting a time in between as an initial bedtime, then gradually pull that time back toward 11pm throughout the following weeks. Once you’re going to bed at a consistent time, then look at waking up at a consistent time.

Consistency is Key

Staying consistent is crucial for routines to be effective. It can be helpful for some people to use tools, trackers, or apps to help track their habits and keep them accountable.

Personalize Your Routine

Tailor your routines to fit your unique needs and preferences. Balance flexibility with structure to ensure your routines are both sustainable and enjoyable.

Certain habits may require a period of discomfort, but others shouldn’t. Your first week or two of exercise is likely to feel uncomfortable, and you’ll only know how good it can feel if you push through that. Struggling with sleep, though, is counterproductive, and adds to insomnia.

It Can Take About Two Months for New Habits to Set In

Research suggests it takes about 66 days for a new habit to feel automatic. Stay committed to your new routines, and over time, they will become second nature.

Seek Professional Guidance

If you're struggling to establish or maintain routines, consider seeking help. Therapy can help provide structure and identify underlying issues that might be getting in the way.

Conclusion

Daily routines are a powerful tool for enhancing mental health. They’re particularly helpful if you’ve been struggling with depression, which can leave you feeling unmotivated.

By incorporating structured, consistent habits into your life, you can improve your well-being and manage mental health conditions more effectively. Start small, stay consistent, and celebrate small wins rather than focusing on making enormous changes in a short period of time.