5 Ways to Find Joy in the Routine 

Does it seem like you never have enough time to do all the things you should do and all the things you want to do? Are you overwhelmed with your to-do list, laundry, grocery shopping, and everything else? 

I know how you feel. It can be overwhelming and sometimes we all just want to break free of it. I guess that’s what vacation is for. 

But you know what can actually help? Routine. Yes, routine. I know that sounds boring but routines help us stick to a plan, they make boring jobs automatic, errands simpler, and cleaning less awful. The more I stick to my routine the happier I am. Why? Because I find joy in the routine. 

How can you find joy in the routine? How can you make a good routine that makes life easier for you? Let me share my top tips! 

What Is a Routine?

First of all, to find joy in the routine you have to know what a routine is. 

A routine is a schedule of doing things that you stick to. It doesn’t change much from day to day, week to week, month to month, unless necessary. 

That sounds kind of boring and restrictive but think of it this way. A routine is a habit. You get into the habit of doing things you enjoy or find beneficial. When something is a habit you don’t have to think very hard about doing it. It just happens. 

That’s what a routine is too! It’s something you can enjoy because it’s easy. It’s easy cause you don’t have to question it or learn it over and over each time. You like it because you find it enjoyable or see the benefit.

Surely you can see the benefit of many of the boring things you have to do. Work earns you money, grocery shopping feeds you, exercising keeps you healthy, and doing laundry makes you smell nice. 

Now that you know what a routine is let’s find joy in the routine!

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1: Create Systems to Find Joy in the Routine

The first way to find joy in the routine is to make it as easy and thoughtless as possible. Automate the things you don’t want to do by doing them the same way every time, having a schedule, and not procrastinating. When you do that you create a system. 

For example my laundry system is that I always do laundry on Mondays. I always fold the clothes while listening to an audiobook and I always put them away before the day is out. The benefit of my laundry system is that I never have a ton of laundry to do, it’s never overwhelming, and even though I don’t love it I do it because it’s already in the plan. 

You can create systems for anything. You can put car maintenance in your planner and set up the next appointment each time. Each month you could have a deep cleaning task to do. You can meal plan and grocery shop the same day each week. 

Just having these boring tasks planned and making them routine makes them easier to do! Reduce stress over this stuff! It’s not a surprise that you will have to do it regularly so find joy in the routine.

2: Use a Planner to Find Joy in the Routine

The next thing I highly recommend if you want to find joy in the routine is that you use a planner, a paper planner. Why? For so many reasons! I love my planner and I’ve been using them for years after deciding that scheduling stuff in my phone was too cumbersome and ineffective. 

You can use your planner to stay on top of important appointments and your schedule. But you can use your planner for so much more. I use my planner as a habit tracker, a reading journal, and a gratitude/prayer journal. My planner helps me take care of my physical and spiritual needs and it helps me find pockets of time for fun! If I didn’t have my planner I would probably never get together with friends, play my violin, write, sew, or exercise because I wouldn’t know when I do have time to do those things. 

If you want to find joy in the routine, get yourself a planner because planning out your day in the morning and checking things off the list in the evening is one of the most satisfying things you can do!

3: Make FUN Part of the Routine

Speaking of finding pockets of time in your schedule to have fun, you can make fun part of the routine. Not only should you find time for creative hobbies and friends on a regular basis, you should also find ways to make the boring things more fun! 

Remember when I said I always listen to my audio books when I fold laundry? That’s one way I make boring things fun. I actually listen to my audio books the whole time I clean houses for work too! But that’s not all. I always put on good music when it’s time to cook dinner. I always sip a cup of tea while I write. When I get on the recumbent bike in the morning I do my Duolingo lessons at the same time!

There are lots of little ways to make the boring jobs more fun. Find what you enjoy and make it a habit to have more fun so you can find joy in the routine. 

4: Think About How the Routine Helps Others 

There are lots of ways to find joy in the routine but sometimes you just aren’t in the mood. Sometimes you have to dig deep. That’s when I like to focus on the love. What I mean by that is that when you are doing something really boring like cleaning, organizing, working, or folding laundry you can find joy in the routine by thinking about how the things you do are benefiting others. 

For example, with my secular work, I think about how cleaning houses helps my families spend more time together and reduces work for them when they don’t feel well as they are mostly older and infirm. With my volunteer work I think about how the education I’m sharing will change the rest of their lives for the better. And when I’m folding laundry or cooking dinner I think about how it shows my love to support the family team. 

There are a lot of routine things we do that are unseen or that seem unappreciated but that’s not true. We benefit the people in our lives when we stick to the routine and they do appreciate it, even if they forget to say so sometimes. We make their lives better and they do the same for us! 

5: Use the Routine to Grow! 

Last but not least you can find joy in the routine by putting things in your regular schedule that improve your life. Remember those things in my planner? The routine I’ve set up for each day helps me exercise, be creative, and keep learning. 

What are some things you have put off? Are there hobbies or diets or workout programs or learning opportunities that you have been wanting to try when you have the time? If you keep waiting for huge windows of time they will never come but if you add small tidbits of those things to each day you will find that you have grown so much in one year. 

People don’t like sticking to a routine because it makes them feel stuck but if you do it right your routine should help you grow! Find joy in the routine by making the things you want to do part of it and you will finally reach your goals! 

See the Benefits and Find Joy in the Routine! 

Can you see all the benefits of sticking to a routine now? When you make a schedule and stick to it you never fall behind and get overwhelmed! Because those jobs don’t get too big you will find pockets of time for things you’ve been wanting to do and you will even have more fun! And when you remember that you’re efforts are beneficial for the team you feel happier about them! 

I hope this article helps you find joy in the routine so you can continue to enjoy and improve your happy simple life! What helps you stick to a routine? What would you like to add to your routine? Share in the comments below!