Quantum Happiness Series- Routines and rituals

“The secret of your future is hidden in your daily routine,”  –Mike Murdock.

The best way to crowd out an unwanted habit is through healthy routines and rituals. These are ways to restructure our time and refocus our energy on healthy, positive habits while diverting attention from those dreaded, self-destructive weed seeds.

routines and rituals woman in tub
As research for this class, I took a hard look at how I was spending my own time, and with the help of my time monitor (see Engagement Exercise 3 at end of post) realized I was spending far too much time watching television. We were watching an hour of news every morning and three hours of entertainment every evening. That’s more than 25 hours of television a week. So, we crafted a new morning habit that involves listening to Spanish language tutorials with our morning coffee. And when we settle down in the evenings, we watch a short news broadcast followed by about an hour of entertainment.

It’s just a small change, but the new habit is already taking hold and creating a positive effect. After just two weeks, our Spanish vocabulary is remarkably improved. And as a bonus, we’ve realized that by watching the news later in the evening, it doesn’t affect our attitude the way it does first thing in the morning.

The first and last hours of the day are key. What we do during that time influences the rest of our life more than we may realize. So, consciously taking control of that precious time with positive habits is a simple way to cultivate success and progress while eradicating seeds of ennui. 

Engagement exercise 1:

Document your morning ritual. What do you do during the first hour of the day?

What changes might you make to cultivate healthy habits and set the stage for success and progress?

Engagement exercise 2:

Document your evening ritual. What do you do during the last hour of the day?

What changes might you make to cultivate healthy habits and set the stage to rest and recharge?


Engagement exercise 3:

Time monitor- Spend seven consecutive days documenting your activities in 30-minute intervals (Sample on next page and worksheet follows.) At the end of each day, categorize individual activities into one or more of five categories:

1.     Planed activity. (P)

2.     Unplanned but necessary activity. (U)

3.     Screen time (any electronics). (S)

4.     Nonproductive time. (N)

5.     Resting and relaxing. (R&R)

Now look at each of the categories and evaluate where those lost hours are hiding.

·        How many hours (outside of work) did you spend in front of a screen?

·        How many hours did you spend on tasks that could be delegated or dismissed?

·        How many hours did you spend in pursuit of your goals?





This has been an excerpt from the Everyday Vacay e-series. 

Check out the entire video series here.
*Featured Photo (top of page)  by Hanna Postova on Unsplash

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