I Found the Lazy Way to Actually Stick to a Routine

I have a problem with most routine advice.

It always seems to assume you're going to wake up tomorrow as the most motivated version of yourself.

You'll get up at the same time every day. Drink water. Stretch. Journal. Make breakfast. Get dressed. Tidy the kitchen. Plan your day. Perhaps meditate somewhere in there.

Lovely.

And honestly? You might do it.

For approximately four days.

Then you'll sleep badly, wake up late, have somewhere to be or simply decide you would rather lie in bed for another twenty minutes.

Suddenly there isn't enough time for The Routine.

So you skip it.

Then you skip it again.

And eventually the lovely new routine quietly joins all the other things you were definitely going to start doing from now on.

I don't think the problem is that you're bad at routines.

I think we've been building them backwards.

Stop designing routines for your best days

Think about a routine you've struggled to stick to.

Maybe it's your morning routine, evening routine, exercise routine or the little Sunday reset you keep meaning to do.

Now ask yourself:

Could I realistically do this on a slightly rubbish Tuesday?

Not holiday-you.

Not January 1st you.

Not the version of you who has just watched seventeen motivational videos and suddenly believes anything is possible.

I'm talking about regular you.

You slept slightly later than planned. There's washing everywhere. You've got things to do. Your motivation is hovering around 4/10.

Would your routine survive that day?

If the answer is no, I don't think you need more discipline.

I think your routine is too complicated.

So I started thinking about routines differently

Instead of asking:

What's my ideal routine?

Ask:

What's the easiest version of this routine that would still make a difference?

That's a much more useful question.

Because once you've found that version, you've got something you can actually repeat.

And repetition is the bit that makes a routine useful in the first place.

Meet your Lazy Version

Let's say you want an evening routine because your nights currently disappear into a strange black hole and then suddenly it's 11:47pm.

Your ideal version might be:

Tidy the kitchen, prepare tomorrow's lunch, shower, skincare, put your phone away, read for 30 minutes, write tomorrow's priorities and get into bed by 10:30.

That's quite a lot of opportunities to think:

Can't be bothered.

So let's create the Lazy Version.

Maybe yours is:

Put the kitchen roughly back together.

Get one thing ready for tomorrow.

Plug your phone in away from the bed.

Done.

On a good night, you can absolutely do more.

But those three things are the routine.

Everything else is a bonus.

Give yourself a floor, not a perfect target

This is the part I think makes the biggest difference.

Most of us have one version of a habit:

I did it or I didn't.

Went to the gym for an hour = did it.

Didn't have an hour = didn't do it.

Completed the entire evening routine = did it.

Only managed one part = failed.

That's a terrible system for real life.

Instead, decide on the floor.

Your floor is the smallest version that still counts.

If you want to read more, your floor might be two pages.

If you're trying to keep the house under control, it could be a five-minute tidy.

If you want to stretch every day, it might be one stretch while the kettle boils.

You're allowed to do more.

In fact, you probably will quite often.

But you don't have to do more for the habit to count.

And suddenly there's a huge difference between:

“I don't have time to do my routine.”

and:

“I can probably manage the lazy version.”

Now give it a trigger

This is where we make it even easier.

Don't leave your new routine floating around waiting for you to remember it.

Attach it to something that already happens.

For example:

After I make my morning coffee → I look at my calendar.

After dinner → I do my five-minute kitchen reset.

When I plug my phone in → I get tomorrow's things ready.

After I brush my teeth → I do my two-minute skincare routine.

You're not trying to create an entirely new section of your day.

You're hooking something new onto something your life already does.

Much less effort.

And please stop adding things

You create a lovely little three-step routine and immediately think:

Ooh, I could add stretching.

And journaling.

And vitamins.

Maybe gratitude.

Should I be dry brushing?

No.

Leave it alone.

Try your tiny routine first.

Let it become boring. Let yourself get to the point where you barely think about doing it.

Then, if something would genuinely improve your life, you can add it.

A routine doesn't become better because it has more steps.

It becomes better when it actually gets done.

Try this today

Pick one routine you've been struggling to stick to.

Now write down the version you think you're supposed to do.

Then simplify it.

Ask yourself:

What's the smallest version of this that would still help?

Choose one or two actions that make the biggest difference. Leave everything else out for now.

Then attach them to something you already do each day.

That's your routine.

It doesn't need to look impressive or match the version you imagined when you started. It just needs to be easy enough to repeat when you're tired, busy or not particularly motivated.

Build it for a slightly rubbish Tuesday, not your most organised day.

If it works then, it'll be much easier to keep going on the good days too.

Until next time, here's to getting 1% better, one day at a time.

H x