Establishing a routine for better mental health – everyone’s mental health is different and everyone needs to do different things in their everyday life to maintain their overall wellbeing. One activity that can help people maintain good mental health and physical health is developing a consistent structure and routine to their day or week.

A routine is a set of regular activities or habits that you engage with on a daily or consistent basis. A routine provides structure, predictability and stability which can foster feelings of security and well-being.

Developing routines in your daily life can help you in the following ways:

• Reduce stress and anxiety – if you feel organised, are doing things in good time and not rushing to do things last minute you will feel less stressed. If you are completing things as you go along as part of your daily routine, they won’t build up and feel overwhelming. For instance, if you have a weekly cleaning routine or a routine where you deal with life admin once a week or once a month.
• Improved mood – having a daily routine which enables you to maintain regular sleep patterns and ensure you practice self-care activities will help you to not feel overwhelmed and reduce feelings of stress and depression.
• Improved productivity and focus – Having a routine can help you with concentration, productivity and achieving goals. Developing a routine which allows you to regularly break down tasks into manageable chunks and prioritise activities will allow you to make progress on tasks that you might otherwise be putting off.
• Improved Health – having a routine in your life can facilitate the formation of healthy habits and behaviours. Thinking about your routine will allow you to build in exercise, connecting with friends and planning your meals into your everyday life.

Forming a consistent routine for yourself and maintaining it can be difficult, sometimes life happens, things crop up, sometimes you get into a ‘funk’ and procrastinate or just not feel like it. All of these feelings are  common and to be expected, the key to developing a routine is to be flexible and not get hung up on making things perfect. If a routine doesn’t work for you try something different or alter it to make it more manageable.

This website contains lots of blogs on developing different practices please browse through for ideas and inspiration.

Sometimes, though there is no substitute for speaking to a professional. Paul offers Psychotherapy and counselling, EMDR and Clinical Supervision. If you are struggling with any issue and would like to make an appointment with Paul please call on 07843 813 537 or fill in the form on the Contact Page, if he doesn’t answer he is probably in a session, please leave him a message and he will call you back as soon as he can. For more information about Paul please take a look at the About Paul Page, Frequently Asked Questions Page and The Counselling Services Page.