Creating a healthy and sustainable daily routine takes trial error. However, it is well worth the effort! Having a routine allows us to plan out our time in order to take care of our responsibilities, make time for fun, and work toward long and short term goals.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) gives us guidelines for what to consider and include when creating our routine. As with many DBT skills we use the acronym: ROUTINE which stands for Responsibilities, Ongoing Structure, Use Skills, Traditions, Interests included, Novelty, and Envision a Satisfying life.
Let’s take a look at how we can utilize these skills to create a healthy routine:
1. Responsibilities
It’s important to first look at the different responsibilities you have in your life that you need to include in your routine. Do you have children you’re looking after? School and/or work that you need to make time for? Write a list of all your responsibilities and put those into your scheule first.
2. Ongoing Structure
The purpose of routine is to get in the habit of doing certain things on a regular basis, so be sure that the structure is consistent and sustainable within your schedule! Try to set time in your calendar or create reminders in your phone to get certain things done so you don’t forget. The feeling of accomplishment once that item is crossed off your list is well worth it!
3. Utilize DBT Skills
If you are in DBT therapy, it is important to make time to practice different skills so that you will be more prepared to use them in instances where you need them. The ability to have a set of skills at your disposal that are well practiced, will be helpful in real life situations.
4. Traditions
In order to maintain any routine, we need to include the fun stuff! Make sure to include in your schedule any weekly or monthly traditions such as wine nights, Tuesday trivia, date nights, holidays, birthdays and more.
5. Interests Included
Schedule time to pursue hobbies or interests. Do you have a pottery class you want to take? Is there a topic you want to research? Books you would like to read? Write down a list of your interests and hobbies and schedule time for them. If you don’t make time to fulfill your hobbies, it’s more than likely you will give up on the routine.
6. Novelty
Make sure to leave some free time! If you start to over structure your day or week, your routine becomes too strict and it will be harder to maintain long-term.
7. Envision a Satisfying life
This is the time to consider what you want for your life long-term and how you can structure your time in order to create that life. Does the routine you made help you reach that version of your life? Take the time to reassess and restructure your routine as needed to make it work best for you.
Coming up with a healthy routine is not going to happen overnight. It may take a few tries to figure out what is sustainable for you, but following the ROUTINE outline should help!
