Do you know how to optimize your health with your daily schedule?
Or do you struggle following a regimen that works for you because of all the different health routines you can find online today?
Whether it be waking up at 5 AM, intermittent fasting, eating breakfast at the same time every day, or anything in between, it can be hard to keep track of the fitness and daily health routine that works for you.
Well, not to worry! The best daily schedule for your health is one that works for you and your lifestyle.
It’s time to start taking fitness back and improving your health on your schedule! Here is a helpful guide on how you can create a daily schedule to optimize your health!
Want a handy-dandy calendar to organize go through your daily schedule? Click the picture to access a copy.
Here is the Best Daily Schedule to Optimize Your Health
With so much conflicting information all around us when it comes to achieving our best health or conquering our daily schedule, you may be wondering whether you are doing ANYTHING right.
Yet, you know that what you do every day has a bigger impact on your overall health routine than what you do some of the time.
In this guide, we will talk about how to create a daily schedule to optimize your health.
Incorporate Healthy Habits
Habits are things we do without thinking. Consequently, once a habit becomes a part of your daily routine, then you will have conquered the hardest part of lifestyle change.
Up to 40% of our daily actions are powered by habits—the unconscious actions and routines we’ve developed over time. When you think about your current habits, do you even know what they are? Write down a list of some of your healthy—and not-so-healthy—habits.
Examples of good habits include:
- Eating a healthy diet
- Exercising
- Managing money
- Getting enough sleep
Examples of bad habits include:
- Eating late at night
- Choosing unhealthy foods
- Not getting enough exercise
- Not sleeping enough
It’s important to be as honest with yourself as possible when examining both your good and bad habits. When you start to hone in on your habits, you can really start to see where you need improvements in your life, and this is the first step you need to take when creating a daily schedule that will optimize your health.
Here’s an activity that can help you narrow down your habits. Write down five activities you do on a daily basis. Then, I will walk you through a simple exercise to determine whether those activities are helping or hurting your goals.
If you would like a more personal walk-through of your daily routine, let’s chat one on one.
Special note: if you have a family or work, then your usual daily routine can change based on who needs what. While there is some variability in schedules, try to focus on the most common daily schedule.
Now let’s take a closer look at your entire daily routine!
Morning
Every morning, I wake up without an alarm, prepare my coffee at home, write in my journal, and either meditate or exercise. This is typically done in the quiet hours before my family wakes up, and happens on weekends as well as weekdays.
If I miss any part of this routine, I feel the lack of it. Sometimes, I bring my favorite vanilla hazelnut coffee on a trip, and I have a handheld journal that fits nicely in my purse. Depending on how fun my location is, I either run in the area or meditate on the balcony/porch.
Now it’s your turn. What are the five things you do within the hour after you get up?
These things should not include regular maintenance such as showering, washing your hair, brushing your teeth, etc. Instead, they should be activities that can happen at any time of day, but you tend to do them only or mostly in the AM.
Decide what top five activities you conduct every morning that aren’t basic maintenance.
Are they helping or hurting your day?
If at least half of them are hurtful, then it may be time to schedule a strategy session with me to chat about how to maximize your healthy habits.
Afternoon
Did you know that many of us feel foggy and unfocused during the afternoon? It’s because our circadian rhythm is off during the day. If you had a heavy lunch, you will likely feel tired and groggy—especially if you have to participate in a work meeting.
If you work from home and have kids, your daily afternoon schedule probably looks different every day.
Ideally, I prefer to do my hardest brain tasks before noon. That is, anything creative or involving long-term effects. Then, I typically save my afternoon for connecting with people, speaking, doing videos, or taking a rest.
Evening
Ah, the evening has finally arrived! But, wait, now you have to figure out what to make for dinner, how many places you need to drive your kids to, whether you have time to hit the gym, or any number of other activities before you can get some shut-eye.
If you’re like the average person, the post-dinner time is probably the first period of time where nothing may be required of you.
When it comes to your evening routine, I would encourage you to look at the five things you do the hour before you go to bed. Because that is typically an opportune time to leverage smarter sleep habits that impact your morning routine.
Make a Plan
Now that you have a better idea of what it is that makes up the most of your time during the day, it’s time to make a daily schedule that makes you the most productive and leads you to a healthy lifestyle.
If this is the first time you are looking into your baseline habits, you might be surprised, upset, defensive, or disappointed. Or, even in denial a bit.
Here is what I can tell you, as someone who regularly helps people take control of their life through establishing a healthy routine.
No matter where you are today with your habits, you can ALWAYS improve them!
The more you can create consistency around your daily actions within the framework of your life, the more healthy you will be.
Not only does it relieve stress, but it allows you to build up anticipation.
How to Set More Consistency in Your Daily Schedule
- Set daily themes (“Follow-up Friday,”, “Transcript Tuesday,” etc.)
- Block your calendar: I block my calendar for exercise, siesta time, family time, and social time. Sometimes, I even block my calendar based on the moon cycles (you can learn more about lunar planning here)!
- Choose your guard rails: A guard rail is an outer limit of what is acceptable to you, which also allows you to stay within your goals. Without a guard rail, you are allowing yourself to be defined by someone else’s limits. For example, a guard rail for eating could be you won’t eat meat or prefer no added sugar.
At the end of the day, you are the only one who can choose what your daily schedule could look like. Once you have identified what your typical morning, afternoon and evening look like on paper, you can set your themes, block your calendar, and choose your guard rails.
Here’s to a daily schedule that you love that also loves you back!
Let Me Help You
It’s your turn! What is your most challenging time of day? What is one way you can address this? I would love to hear from you! Contact me today to find out how I can help you in your journey.
Liked this article? Here are three more about healthy living!
- Healthy Meal Planning on a Budget
- Craving Killers: Stop Food Cravings with these Simple Tricks
- From Yuck to Yum: Loving the Taste of Healthy Food
This article was originally published in September 2019 and has been updated for 2021.