New Year, New Routine?
A guide to creating new habits, from someone with a lot of them

A few weeks ago, we asked you when you struggle the most, and we found that overwhelmingly, winter is the hardest season for most of our community. It makes sense! We’re Wisconsinites after all, and the days are as short as they are cold, making it difficult to get a sufficient dose of mood-boosting fresh air and sunshine. Specifically, many people responded that they struggle with setting and keeping new routines in the colder months. While we’re big fans of hibernating in winter and saving resolutions for summer, we know that many people seek out change at the beginning of the calendar year, often by starting new habits or kicking old ones. If that sounds like you this year, these tips might help you on the road to success.

1. Have compassion for yourself – This might be the most important tip on the list. An all-or-nothing mentality is a surefire way to abandon your new routines before they even begin. You’re going to slip up. There will be a day when you can’t crawl out of your warm bed to trek to the gym. There will be a night when you can’t be bothered to cook and you order takeout for the third time that week even though you said you wouldn’t. It’s not realistic to expect a new habit to go from 0 to 100 overnight. But, if you have compassion for yourself, and remain committed to making the change even after minor setbacks, your new habit will eventually become second nature. Take each day as an opportunity to recommit to whatever goals you’ve set.
2. Schedule around your willpower – When are you most likely to do the things you know you need to do? When are you more likely to be able to find an excuse to procrastinate? If you find your motivation reserves are fullest in the morning, schedule your new habit for that time. If your brain isn’t quite up to taking on new tasks or ideas until after two to seven cups of coffee, try implementing your new habit closer to the afternoon or evening. If your goal is to floss every night but by the time you get ready for bed, you’re too tired to, try moving flossing to the beginning of your bedtime routine, or even starting the whole routine five minutes earlier.
3. Schedule around another habit – What do you already do every day without thinking about it? Take the flossing example from the last point. It makes sense to schedule this around when you brush your teeth since you probably do that every day. Maybe you want to remember to take your vitamins, so you keep them next to your breakfast cereal. The best way to build a new routine is not to start from scratch, but to simply add to the routine you already have.
4. Make it easy for yourself – Identify what is standing in the way of you adopting your new habits and figure out how to make those obstacles smaller, or better yet, disappear completely. If your goal is to drink more water, figure out what makes drinking water more enjoyable. Maybe that’s drinking from a water bottle with a straw or adding a few lemon slices for flavor. If you can’t drag yourself to the gym because it’s cold outside, try a home workout or stretching session. Be flexible and creative!
5. Start small – For the best chance of success, implement one habit at a time. Trying to change everything at once can be overwhelming! Instead of piling on a thousand new habits at once and then forgetting or running out of time and energy for them all, start with one, and only implement the next habit when the first feels like second nature. If you notice yourself skipping any one habit more often than not, don’t be afraid to pause and reintroduce it again later, or reevaluate whether or not it’s really necessary at all. Habits are about making long-term life changes, not forcing short-term results! 

Do you set New Year’s resolutions? We’d love to know! Leave a comment or tag us on social media @workbenchmke, and let us know if you have any tips that weren’t mentioned here!