Pod Insights The Psychology of your 20s 273. The psychology of routines About this episode Morning, weekly, day-time and night routines are something that successful people swear by. Whether it's a 5am wakeup followed by 45 minutes of meditating, or a structured skincare and journal routine, exercise and eating blocks, routines seem to provide what the modern world can't: certainty within the chaos.
In today's episode, we break down the exact psychology behind why routine is so powerful, including:
Why routine makes us so productive Why routine makes us happier The psychological and neurological impacts The famous routines of 5 successful people How to create a routine that actually works Why we can't forget the need for spontaneity + more Listen now to create your greatest morning or night routine!
PREORDER MY BOOK: https://www.psychologyofyour20s.com/general-clean https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/755841/person-in-progress-by-jemma-sbeg/
Follow Jemma on Instagram: @jemmasbeg https://www.instagram.com/jemmasbeg/?hl=en#
Follow the podcast on Instagram: @thatpsychologypodcast https://www.instagram.com/thatpsychologypodcast/?hl=en#
For business: [email protected] mailto:[email protected]
The Psychology of your 20s is not a substitute for professional mental health help. If you are struggling, distressed or require personalised advice, please reach out to your doctor or a licensed psychologist.
See omnystudio.com/listener https://omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcript Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.
0:00 Speaker 00 This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed Human.
0:04 Jemma Sbeg? If you've ever gone into a store for two things and walked out wondering how it cost forty seven dollars? Yeah, same. That's why some people like keeping things simple with Bank of America Advantage Safe Balance Banking. If you're under twenty five, there's no monthly maintenance fee. Plus, you can enroll in B of A Rewards and enjoy benefits like cash back on brands you love. Plus fraud and identity monitoring. And there's no fees to enroll. It's one less thing to stress about. Learn more at B of A dot com slash simple banking. Member FDIC. No one's journey is the same. That's why Delta Sky Miles moves with you. Whether it's earning miles from coffee runs to flights to redeeming for vacations your way,
0:49 Jemma Sbeg? or even unlocking exclusive experiences, a Sky Miles membership fits into your lifestyle, letting you do more of what makes you, you. It's more than travel. It's the membership that flies, dines, streams, rides and arrives with you. Because when you have a membership, that's as unique as you are. There's no telling where your journey will take you next. You know that feeling when your skin just needs a tall drink of water? That's what Clinique Moisture Surge One Hundred Hour Moisturizer is for. Moisture Surge One Hundred Hour Moisturizer absorbs instantly and hydrates for a hundred hours for plump, glowing skin. That's right, a hundred hours.
1:31 Jemma Sbeg? It is a lightweight, oil-free gel cream, safe for sensitive skin. It's allergy-tested and fragrance-free. I use this all the time. It makes my skin feel so fresh and plump and glowy. Even under makeup, I still see an amazing difference. It never leaves my skin oily or tacky. Try Clinique Moisture Surge One Hundred Hour today at Clinique dot com. Feels like Moisture Surge.
2:00 Jemma Sbeg? Along with your regular expenses like rent and student loans, just also this season for gifts, travel and those overpriced holiday themed pop up bars. Good thing Ally Bank is looking out for you and your money with fee free ATMs. No tricks, no hidden fine print. Ally meets you where your money connects with life today. Analyzing your spending to help you spend smarter and save faster for next holiday season. Ally Bank, banking built for life today. Learn more at ally.com. Use all point or money pass no fee ATMs. Plus Ally reimburses other ATM fees nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. Surprise savings is a feature of Ally Bank's savings account. Ally Bank, member FDIC.
2:43 Jemma Sbeg? I've been approaching my health really differently this year. I used to be really focused on maximizing and doing more. And now I'm just realizing that if I listen to what my body needs, I perform way better. And that's why I am obsessed with my Whoop. Truly, you guys, you know, I'm such a data and information driven person. And I love opening my Whoop app and seeing how my sleep, my stress, my strain is correlating with my mood, with my running performance, with how I'm just feeling day to day. I'm not an elite athlete by any means, but I do really benefit. And I also just really enjoy knowing more about my body. And Whoop also gives me these actionable personalized insights that have made me more intentional
3:29 Jemma Sbeg? and meant that I make smarter decisions day to day about what I need, rather than just putting my foot on the gas and just going, going, going, going. New members can try Whoop with a 30 day free trial before committing to a membership. That's join.whoop.com/psychology for your free month of Whoop. Hello, everybody. Welcome back to the show. Welcome back to the podcast, new listeners, old listeners, wherever you are in the world. It is so great to have you here back for another episode as we, of course, break down the psychology of our twenties. Today we're talking the psychology of routines. What is it about?
4:10 Jemma Sbeg? Morning routines and nighttime routines and daily routines that people just swear by. And not just in their twenties, but throughout life, you know, parents who swear by routine for their children. Sixty year olds, seventy year olds who seem like they are the happiest people in the world because they have routine. And is it really as simple as having a morning waking time or some general activity scheduled in your day? Could that be the simple answer to making us happier? Turns out, there is a lot of evidence for routine, but also some downsides, some controversies that we're gonna talk about on today's episode. I am gonna start out by being entirely honest with you all.
4:53 Jemma Sbeg? I am by no means someone who claims to be an expert in productivity or routine for that matter. You know, if I had to choose between productivity and discipline or creativity and spontaneity. I would most of the time choose creativity and spontaneity almost every day. But I have come around to the idea and I have been convinced that routine allows for both. In, you know, a way that actually lets you get the most out of what you want from life. Even if it seems opposed to something that requires rigidity and strictness. And I have also realized in my own life that when I have structure, I feel better, I operate better.
5:37 Jemma Sbeg? I have much greater clarity and focus. That is one side of the benefits that routine brings, you know, it brings a great reduction to anxiety, it brings greater time management to name of, to just to name a few. And a recent study looking at over a thousand individuals has even suggested that people who have a morning routine, they typically earn more, they are happier. They have more fulfilling relationships even. So that is something that we need to most certainly look into. And I think even those things alone might persuade most of us who are on the fence to maybe start incorporating some rituals, some non-negotiable.
6:20 Jemma Sbeg? And some protocols into our life. So we're going to talk about all of that today. Why routine is so good for our brains, why our brains crave it. And the routines of some of the most successful people in the world and what we can take from those routines. To apply to our own lives in a smaller, more sustainable way. I also want to talk about three very important tips for creating a routine that you will actually stick with. Tips I'm guessing you probably haven't heard before, but also how to balance the need for spontaneity. And the need for novelty with a desire for structure.
7:02 Jemma Sbeg? It's a big episode, one that I think I'll probably end up coming back to myself. But as always, I hope that we learn something together. I hope that you find the psychology and the research fascinating. Without further ado, let's get into the episode.
7:22 Jemma Sbeg? Routine is quite a broad term, so not to sound too simplistic in like a textbook, but I do want to give kind of a guideline around. What this term really means, what we're talking about today. My definition of routine is that it is a series of habits that benefit your lifestyle. That are repeated on a regular basis. So in the morning, evening, daily, weekly, monthly. And these habits have to be intentional. So, you know, most people eat breakfast. That doesn't necessarily mean that it's a deliberate and specific routine. You have to be intentional with it, you know, putting a specific behavior at a time that corresponds best to your lifestyle.
8:05 Jemma Sbeg? And you have to believe that it's going to help you in some area of your life. I think if someone was going to ask me for a definition, that's the best I can come up with. Now, routine, routines have been applauded by people all over the globe, from all disciplines. From athletes to entertainers, business leaders, politicians, parents, students. You will find an example in every single domain of a routine that people swear by. And people who will, you know, very readily tell you that that has changed their life. And there is a real fascination with what do successful people do in their day that sets them apart from other people. There's thousands of YouTube videos, thousands of articles, probably hundreds of books written on this very subject.
8:50 Jemma Sbeg? But to keep it small, the reason that people love routine, specifically the routines they've created for themselves, but really any form of routine in general, is that it does for our brain what the modern world simply cannot. It provides structure and it provides a sense of predictability that makes us feel safe and secure. As, you know, much as our brain does like novelty and we crave new experiences, things that are surprising. Even the best kinds of surprises, even the good stuff, that actually still causes us stress. That's the interesting thing about stress. A lot of people think that it's this negative nasty thing.
9:35 Jemma Sbeg? Stress just means arousal. There can be good stress, there can be bad stress. It still puts pressure on the body. But when we have a routine, that kind of eases that necessary stress that we encounter in our daily lives by allowing us to almost switch off our brain for the routine stuff, for like the normal stuff we do day to day. And to save our cognitive resources for the surprising things, good and bad. And to make sure that, you know, we give our brain rest so that it doesn't have to make as many decisions throughout our day. It can find comfort and stability in the patterns and habits that we have rehearsed.
10:19 Jemma Sbeg? Basically, like I said, with so much chaos going on, routine is like a nice cozy bed. It's like a nice home to go home to. I think the biggest evidence for why routines work and why they help us is how much they actually alleviate anxiety and how much it removes so many of the unknowns that anxiety and negative stress really thrives on. So there's this two thousand and two research paper that I read for this episode that basically concluded that those of us who lack routine, we essentially leave the door open for more minor disruptions and those minor disruptions can snowball into ongoing
11:04 Jemma Sbeg? and chronic stress, but also more persistent and probable anxiety. I will say, like I said before, the times I have been most routine bound have been the days that I feel more at peace. I wake up with less sense of urgency. I have less thoughts running through my head. I don't face as much choice overload. Routine is this like very beautiful way of allowing us to explore and be creative and be big thinkers whilst also knowing that we have something to ground us. So there's two words there that I think are really crucial for understanding the benefits of routine. It's certainty and it's grounding.
11:44 Jemma Sbeg? Those are the two really important components and we can probably add a final word in here and that is efficiency. So certainty, grounding, efficiency. So a two thousand and sixteen paper from Harvard Business School, just to float another study out there for you. They found that by decreasing anxiety, which we know is what routine does, rituals, routines, protocols, they improve mental performance and they improve cognitive performance as well. Because they become a way for us to get the most out of our hours by really streamlining processes at critical time periods. So in the morning or the evening, there's a lot that needs to get done in those opening and closing shifts.
12:27 Jemma Sbeg? And it can quickly consume our whole day if we don't use our time and the limited hours we have in those pockets of time most efficiently. That's what routine does. If you have a solid morning routine, you don't have to set your alarm every night for what time you wanna wake up. You've already done it. You know what time it will be. You don't have to think about what you're going to have for breakfast every morning. You don't have to calculate when you can squeeze in a workout. It's all laid out for you like this gift. From a prior version of you who thought, okay, let's just make this all a little bit smoother. Let's make this a little bit easier, more effortless. Routine and allocating dedicated time slots for specific tasks.
13:08 Jemma Sbeg? Have also been shown to make us more productive, obviously, because we have a distinct time period where something needs to get done. That really increases focus and what we call task-based urgency. Meaning that if you have fifteen minutes that you put aside every day to do something. You are more likely to use that time for the desired activity. You're less likely to compromise and that actually means that you'll achieve more, but also you'll be happier. Because if you can streamline kind of the annoying things, the admin tasks of life, the brushing of the teeth. The showering, like the admin emails, you do end up having more time to just be a human, to enjoy yourself, to have fun.
13:53 Jemma Sbeg? And those benefits, they are not sequestered by age. They don't disappear, you know, at a certain age. It doesn't take a specific time or age for them to start. So maybe I should explain this in a better way. Basically, routine benefits everyone. I came across a really cool paper while researching this episode from. Two thousand eighteen and it talks about how good routine is for children specifically. And how there are some pediatricians and some teachers who can tell the kids that have a bedtime. Who have a dinner time, who have homework or family time compared to those who don't. And those kids are typically more resilient, they're less stressed and they have better attention spans.
14:37 Jemma Sbeg? So when we take that same logic into adulthood, you know, when we are adults. We don't have a parent telling us to do. We are the primary grown up in our lives. Being like, okay, I'm gonna be a little bit strict with myself here and I'm going to allocate certain times, I'm gonna create routine. Those same structures that helped us as children will continue to help us as adults. This is specifically the case when life feels naturally or like contextually very stressful. Like whenever I get DMs from people being like, I'm so overwhelmed at uni. I've just been through this huge breakup and I feel like the world is crumbling underneath me. I always say, you need to start practicing some kind of grounding ritual or routine for yourself.
15:23 Jemma Sbeg? You need to lower the cognitive burden of even the most minute decision-making tasks. Because your brain needs all the stability that it can get during exam periods, during really difficult emotional times. If you can just make some things more automatic, that gives you more time to process and to think and to be able to problem solve. So I hope that just like big mound of evidence that I've just thrown at you has made a compelling case. You know, it's evidence that I probably need to re-listen to myself at times. I need to stop scheduling meetings at eight AM during my morning routine. I need to find a dedicated time to work out because it's always the last thing on my list for the day.
16:08 Jemma Sbeg? Like, I definitely need to have a better bedtime. But consider me like an imperfect version of of success or adherence here, like do better than me. But also, it's hopefully an example, like hopefully you can use my life as an example of how even just going forward imperfectly with your routine, although those things, routine and imperfect, like sound contradictory. Like if you can just show up as often as possible in your desired routine, your life does get better.
16:39 Jemma Sbeg? Alright, let's talk about some of the most effective routines in the world. What do some of the most successful people on this planet do in their mornings, evenings, afternoons and nights? Some of these are rather intense, I will say. I love hearing people's morning routines, but there are times when I'm like, wow, like 4am wake up? You get all of that done before you've even had lunch? Like, how am I even able to compare? We will be taking small lessons from these routines. Please don't consider these as like options for you to choose from. I think they're just very, very fascinating. So with that in mind, let's start with Barack Obama, former president of the United States.
17:24 Jemma Sbeg? So he would reportedly wake up at 7am every morning. Honestly, 7am is pretty early in my mind, but kinda later than I thought. A president would wake up, but that's what he does, 7am. He would work out six days a week for 45 minutes. He apparently told his aides that "The rest of my time will be more productive if you give me my workout time", which, that's a man who prioritizes. He would then have breakfast with his family if he was like in the White House, which we love a family man. Then, this is a really beautiful part of his routine. He would then walk one minute to his office, in the Oval Office, because of course he lived in the White House.
18:03 Jemma Sbeg? And he said that was like his thinking time. That was like almost a meditation, a one-minute solo walk to work, basically. Where he would just allow himself to just breathe, think, imagine, do whatever a president does, I guess, with that time. I think this is a really, really simple routine for someone who was at the time, you know, like the busiest and most influential person in the world. But what I like about it was that it was predictable, it's easy to follow, and it's not like as intense as you would imagine. Let's talk about Anna Wintour's routine, obviously the editor-in-chief of Vogue. Now she apparently wakes up at 5:45am and then she plays tennis for an hour on the dot, finishing at 7.
18:47 Jemma Sbeg? So she says this keeps her physically fit, it also helps her sharpen her focus. And then following her game, she spends the next hour and a half in hair and makeup. And she does it every day. She says it's like ensures that she is ready for her demanding schedule. I think if you are like someone who wears makeup, you understand this feeling. I remember like when I was at uni, I would do a full face of makeup every single day before I left my dorm room, before I went to class. And some of my friends would be like, that seems a little bit unnecessary, but I was like, this is meditative. This is a way to just be like, I am present with myself for twenty minutes, thirty minutes,
19:30 Jemma Sbeg? doing this like ritual of like painting my face and like making myself feel presentable. That does influence how I feel for the rest of the day, which I think is really special. Let's talk about an unusual one. We've had two that seem like pretty cut and dry, like exercise as a priority, very busy people. Jim Carrey, let's talk about his routine, very famous comedian. Apparently he has just this one daily ritual that at eleven AM every single day, he calls himself and he pretends that it's someone from the past calling him with some news or calling him to tell him something and he comes up with a new character every single day.
20:13 Jemma Sbeg? And it's like a creative exercise for him to like get the juices flowing. So there you go. There's another example of how it can be very much suited to who you are. I want to touch on one more famous morning routine. You've probably heard of it before. It's Andrew Huberman's very famous ritual for his early mornings. So Andrew Huberman, he is a neuroscientist. You may have listened to him on the Huberman Lab. I will say, I don't necessarily agree with everything that the man has to say, but his morning routine is definitely interesting, definitely provocative. And according to his own research, highly productive. So let's talk about it.
20:54 Jemma Sbeg? So his morning routine consists of waking up two to three hours before you habitually wake up. So most of us have, obviously we have circadian rhythm, we have a body clock. Most of us have a time that we would naturally like to wake up at. You know, I know for me, it's around eight o'clock, like that's when my body is like, alright, we're awake. If I oversleep past that time, I always feel a little bit groggy. If I get up earlier, I'm always a little bit like, uh, I have to really pull myself out of bed. He says that's a good thing. Get up two to three hours before you would habitually wake up. Then hydrate, drink five hundred mils of water, get ten to thirty minutes of morning light exposure.
21:34 Jemma Sbeg? This one's a bit hard, like if you live somewhere that's really dark in the mornings, like, you know, if your normal wake up time is eight and you have to wake up at six or five and the sun doesn't rise till nine, this seems like a bit of a Californian thing, but let's keep going. Then you wanna exercise for at least forty minutes, forty minutes, three to four times a week, either cardio or weight training. Shower and then you do ninety minutes of focused work before lunch or like just in that first early morning bit, ninety minutes, apparently that's like, you should be able to sit down and just knock out all those early morning things.
22:13 Jemma Sbeg? And then he has something for his afternoon as well, which is, he does like ten to thirty minutes of non-sleep deep rest or hypnosis or a nap, and then he gets ten to fifteen minutes of evening light exposure. Intensive. Some key points to this. His focus really seems on streamlining alertness. Being very in touch with his body. He also has this thing of like delaying caffeine, caffeine intake by like an hour and a half after you wake up. So really letting our bodies naturally regulate through light exposure, through hydration, which you know, really does prepare the body and it stimulates a lot of
22:55 Jemma Sbeg? neuromodulators and increase arousal and mental acuity throughout the day. It's a good thing. But if we're gonna look at all of these routines holistically, they do have one thing in common. They all revolve around the thing that is most important to that person and a singular non-negotiable, whether it's exercise, whether it's makeup, whether it is alertness, whether it is a phone call. And what those like priorities indicate to me are values. They suit the person's values. Is it family, creativity, confidence, mental clarity, physical health?
23:36 Jemma Sbeg? And that kind of leads me to the question, right? Is there a best routine of all these examples? Is one of them best? And the answer is, you know, a little bit more complicated than you would think. We're going to talk about all of that and more. Stay with us after this short break.
23:57 Jemma Sbeg? There's this moment in your twenties where you realise, oh, no one is double checking my finances for me anymore. It's just me, my bank account and a growing list of, wait, I forgot I subscribed to that. And honestly, that can feel overwhelming. So you could look into Bank of America Advantage Safe Balance Banking. It's perfect for this stage of life where you're figuring things out as you go. There are no overdraft item fees, and if you are under 25, there's no monthly maintenance fee, which just makes it easier to stay on track. What stands out is that it doesn't try to overcomplicate things. It's not about being perfect with money. It's about having a system that helps you feel a little more in control.
24:40 Jemma Sbeg? What's more, with Safe Balance Banking, you could enrol in B of A Rewards and enjoy cash back deals plus fraud and identity monitoring. If you are in that phase of, I'm trying to get my life together financially, Bank of America Advantage Safe Balance Banking is a really solid place to start. Learn more at B of A dot com slash simple banking. Member FDIC. I've been approaching my health really differently this year. I used to be really focused on maximising and doing more. And now I'm just realising that if I listen to what my body needs, I perform way better. And that's why I am obsessed with my Whoop. Truly, you guys, you know, I'm such a data and information driven person.
25:24 Jemma Sbeg? And I love opening my Whoop app and seeing how my sleep, my stress, my strain is correlating with my mood, with my running performance, with how I'm just feeling day to day. I'm not an elite athlete by any means, but I do really benefit. And I also just really enjoy knowing more about my body. And Whoop also gives me these actionable. Personalised insights that have made me more intentional and meant that I make smarter decisions day to day about what I need, rather than just putting my foot on the gas and just going, going, going, going. New members can try Whoop with a 30 day free trial before committing to a membership. That's join dot whoop dot com slash psychology for your free month of Whoop.
26:08 Jemma Sbeg? This episode is sponsored by Gymshark. Gymshark has spent over 14 years obsessing over gym clothing and the people who wear it. And let me just say, I think we all know they are very, very good at what they do. No, seriously, their stuff is so good. Their everyday seamless collection is light, it's soft, it's stretchy. All of their stuff just looks good on and it's made for people who love to exercise, whatever exercise that is, lifting, cardio, Pilates, running around campus, maybe just doing errands. Discover Gymshark and find your new favourite gym clothing at gymshark.com.
26:45 Jemma Sbeg? No two journeys look alike. That's why Sky Miles is designed to move with you wherever life takes you. Fly, it flies with you on new adventures, family getaways, business trips, and the moments that matter most. Earn, it earns alongside your everyday life. It dines with you on special nights out, it streams alongside your favourite entertainment, rides through your daily routines, and helps turn everyday moments into something more. Redeem, it helps you redeem for what's next. From spontaneous weekend escapes to the trip that you have been dreaming about, to upgrading your next trip to a premium cabin experience, the miles you've earned along the way can help take you further. Access, and it unlocks access to exclusive, one of a kind
27:28 Jemma Sbeg? experiences and opportunities that make membership feel rewarding long before takeoff and long after landing. Because Sky Miles is more than a travel programme, it is a membership that moves with you. Fly farther, earn every day, redeem your way and access more. Because when your membership is as unique as you are, there's no telling where your next journey will take you. These days, there are more people than ever telling you how to manage your health. And we've all gone down an internet rabbit hole exploring the latest health trends. Your social media feed is packed with wellness advice telling you to cold plunge, protein max, detox, track your sleep. But what's actually real? What's exaggerated? What's just wrong?
28:13 Jemma Sbeg? That's exactly what Health vs. Hype from the American Medical Association and iHeartMedia's Ruby Studio is here to find out. Each episode, Emmy nominated science communicator Trace Dominguez, who's racked up billions of views across PBS, Discovery Channel and YouTube, talks to health influencers, real people, and most importantly, doctors, to separate fact from fiction. Because when it comes to your health, who you listen to matters. Listen to Health vs. Hype on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
28:52 Jemma Sbeg? Is there a perfect routine? The answer is no. There is not a universal routine that is going to work perfectly for everyone. But there are ingredients to a routine that will most certainly help you. And also a routine that will hit some of those core pillars of health that we want to target. Firstly, if you're going to start with a routine, choose either the morning or the evening. This is an amazing way to bookend your day with good habits. So I feel like a work, you know, a midday routine or a workday routine is a little bit complicated and takes a lot of effort.
29:37 Jemma Sbeg? But your evening and your morning routine, they kind of only take like an hour or an hour and a half. So that's really where you should begin to focus. I think, you know, your morning routine sets the tone, but your night routine gives you the last taste of the day. It allows for restoration. Whatever one you choose, depending on which you choose, what each of these routines need to be centered around is something to do with sleep, something to do with movement, and something that is going to make your life easier. So for example, laying out your outfit for the next day, gratitude journaling, not going on your phone 30 minutes after you wake up or 30 minutes before bed. Most effective routines contain at least two of the above.
30:21 Jemma Sbeg? And they start small before expanding. You know, after that, some people might add in meal times, liquids, showering, makeup. Whatever it is that, you know, you feel needs to be done. It is structured around firstly, things that are small and we're going to talk about why that's important. Something that I really think if you are more focused on creating like a daily routine. Instead of setting up like a specific time blocking agenda to begin with. Instead, I want you to kind of think about a checklist routine instead of like a specific time routine. And it's my opinion that your daily checklist, your daily routine checklist should prioritize these five things.
31:03 Jemma Sbeg? Something for your health, something productive, something for your mental health, something for you socially. And something just for you. So health, productivity, mental, social, just for you. If you want to hit the five pillars of happiness in our life, you may also include spirituality in there. Those are the ones that I would be focusing on. So gym in the morning, writing out a to do list as soon as I sit down at my desk. Ten minutes of meditation, seeing friends for lunch or dinner. And then watching my favorite show or doing something crafty before bed. Like that is the perfect day. That involves specific protocols I know will make me happy. It also makes sense that like when we're talking about choosing routine.
31:47 Jemma Sbeg? Different routines are going to work for different professions, different personalities, different people. So if you are someone who works night shifts. A morning routine starting at six A M. Isn't going to work for you because you're just clocking off or you're at the end of your shift. If you're someone who has A D H D, a highly intensive time bound routine. With many, many steps, many different parts also probably won't work. Or maybe it will actually, you know. I have been seeing recent studies about how time blocking for A D H D is really effective. Really helps with time blindness, but I think you've had to have had some practice before you jump straight in. My point is really this, you've got to choose what's best for you.
32:30 Jemma Sbeg? Like, I do not wake up at six AM because I know that I am most productive between seven and ten PM. So I want to prioritize that time period of my life, knowing that that's when my peak performance is, rather than trying to fit myself into the circle or the box of someone else's routine. So coming back to what we were talking before, how do I choose my routine? How do I start with the structure? Once you've kind of decided morning or night routine, the first thing I really want you to do is reflect on one thing that you are trying to prioritize in your life right now. Some examples, is it exercising? Is it limiting social media time? Is it reading more? Is it feeling more rested? All of these sound amazing, I want you to choose just one.
33:14 Jemma Sbeg? That is going to become the centerpiece upon which you are going to build everything else around. So, let's say your biggest goal is to get more daily movement. You know, you work in an office, you sit all day, you're feeling sluggish. If that's your priority, then I want you to assess your day for where there is the most time loss by doing a quick time audit. Basically, when you do a time audit, you're meant, it's really meant to help you identify where you are perhaps dedicating too much time to what I call lost hours. So, lost hours include time scrolling your phone, time sleeping past the point of restoration,
33:56 Jemma Sbeg? time spent in bed, time spent procrastinating. Of course, sometimes, you know, ha- having a bit of bed rot or brain rot is helpful. Sometimes you really do just need to turn your brain off in front of the TV for a little while. Sometimes you have slept ten hours because you really need it. But if that means, if that is consistently and it's not actually helping you, that is where your lost hours are probably sitting. So where in your day do you have the most lost hours? Is it morning, middle of the day, or afternoon slash evening? Let's say for this example, it's evening. That is where you're going to choose your first routine. Where you have that priority that you wanna get done, you're gonna put it where there is most time wasted. Pretty simple.
34:39 Jemma Sbeg? This also really helps you work with what you have instead of feeling like you need to eat into more valuable things in order to get stuff done, like working out, like you're finding space that you already have available. Like I said before, we are also going to structure our routine for seven or eight hours of sleep. So know where you want to, like where do you want to sleep? Are you someone who prefers an early night or a sleep in? In this case, we're doing evening, so we are perhaps, I'm guessing, considering a bit of a sleep in. And choose where you wanna insert your major habit, what you want your bedtime to be, and work backwards from that time to kind of create the structure. So
35:23 Jemma Sbeg? I wanna go to bed at eleven P M. My major habit is that I wanna work out. I wanna work out at least three hours before bed. I'm gonna have this really nice evening afternoon routine, working towards this idea that I will be in bed at a certain time. So this is kind of how I do it. If I know I wanna go to bed at a certain time, I know I want my teeth to be brushed, my face to be washed, my sheets to be all cozy, my water to be filled by another time. So let's say an hour, and I know I wanna get home from the gym and do X, Y, Z for maybe like thirty minutes, have a bit of a decompress. So my routine would be, okay, I finish work, I go home, I make dinner,
36:05 Jemma Sbeg? I go to the gym for an hour, even if the workout is terrible, I stay for an hour. Then I come home and then I start that secondary part of my morning routine that kind of caps, caps off the night. But really, the one thing I wanna ensure that you get out of this is that we are focusing on only one habit that we consider tier one. So your tier one habit is the one thing you cannot compromise on. As you get better at not compromising on it, then you can start adding in tier two habits, like a five-minute meditation or a fifteen-minute. You know, journal practice or of sunlight. The reason this is important to secure is that even if you fail a tier two habit,
36:47 Jemma Sbeg? your day will still be a victory if you get your tier one habit done. And this really avoids like a very unhealthy all or nothing thinking mentality of needing to have a routine with a thousand steps. We really wanna standardize one activity before we add or optimize other areas. So I say this because I see many people try and create those crazy morning routines. It's too complex. It's too complex to have too many small things that have too small miniscule, you know, time blocks and hope they all add up because things happen, things go wrong, we're busy, we're tired.
37:27 Jemma Sbeg? We wanna simplify the process. Also, uh, research from the University of College London found that on average it takes sixty six days for a new habit to stick. If you have too many habits, they ain't gonna stick. There's gonna be too many of them that you need to be really, really loyal and dedicated to for, you know, almost two and a half months at that point. So if you set and you stick to a new plan or a new habit for sixty six days, there is a good chance that that routine is going to become something that feels like a non-negotiable and then you add on from there. Like I always think about it like building a house. You don't put the furniture in before you have a floor plan or foundation.
38:13 Jemma Sbeg? This is known in psychology and in other areas as the compound effect and it is a proven strategy. From there, we can also habit stack. I feel like I've spoken about this before. Habit stacking feels like magic, honestly. What it involves is taking one thing that you already do and then just adding one more thing to it. You know, brushing your teeth in the shower, listening to your lectures whilst on the treadmill, calling your long distance friends whilst meal prepping. Remember, your time during your day is expansive, it's not just linear. It can hold multiple tasks at the same time.
38:53 Jemma Sbeg? I think my other biggest tip for setting up a routine is to romanticize your routine. Rather than feeling like it's something you have to do, that you must do, that you're dragging yourself into. I love the feeling of exercising in the evenings, so I can be kind of like all sweaty. And like cap off my day with some final real push and then I get to have this really nice shower, like I like how that makes me feel. I love how romantic it feels to work late into the night, like I'm like some tortured writer or like a hardworking. CEO, like I like that feeling, I romanticize that feeling.
39:32 Jemma Sbeg? My friends who swear by their morning routines always tell me how peaceful and quiet it is before the sun comes up. And what it's like to really just spend three minutes with their coffee and just focus in on all the sensations. So that is really the second part of what I want you to do. Once you have your baseline secured. Once you've decided on the major habit, once you've decided whether it's a morning or a night routine. Then it's time to be like, wow, I'm so lucky I get to do this. This is fun, this is a process, this is almost a bit sentimental, a bit romantic. I'm gonna move on from all the warm and fuzzies and many, many benefits of routine. Let's talk about some of the criticisms, because nothing is ever a hundred percent faultless, otherwise.
40:15 Jemma Sbeg? Obviously, everyone would be doing it and routine setting, routine building is no different. The biggest issue or struggle that people have with routine. And let me know if you relate to this, it's that A, it can be really boring. And B, it can be difficult to be spontaneous. The monotony of doing the same thing every single day. Can weigh you down, it has its own name, it's called the Groundhog Day Effect, named after the movie Groundhog Day. So the Groundhog Day Effect basically refers to the feeling of repeatedly experiencing the same day over and over again. And how that leads to a lot of frustration, a lack of purpose, a lot of boredom.
41:00 Jemma Sbeg? And it makes you feel like there's nothing new in your life, which can at times also make us quite depressed. That is the risk with being too structured and strict with your routine. The biggest solution to this is to not go overboard. You are not a drill sergeant, you are not a member of the army. I want you to make sure that you are giving yourself a day off every couple of weekends or every weekend. I want you to break up your routine every couple of weeks. Keep the foundation the same, but make the details different. So the workouts are different, the alarm sound is different, the meal prep is different, the journal prompts are different, the commute is a little bit different.
41:42 Jemma Sbeg? And please, don't sacrifice novel experiences. Don't let yourself turn your back to newness and opportunity. You know, missing out on an amazing last minute concert is a lot worse than skipping your evening routine one day this month. I know a lot of people will stress to you, discipline, unwavering dedication, commitment. But you know, that's really not everything in life, is it? There should be room for spontaneity over constant efficiency and constant hitting of our routine KPIs.
42:21 Jemma Sbeg? We also don't want to feel like we're missing out or we're experiencing social isolation from our routine. Routine is meant to help us, it's meant to increase happiness, increase, you know, mental focus, increase productivity. If we are lonely, if we are sad, if we are resentful and frustrated, that is doing the opposite, that is not helping. I just think that if your routine also becomes too restrictive of your social life, you will present it and then you won't do it. So, stress, test your routine for kind of two to three weeks and see if, you know, it's causing a lot of roadblocks, see if it's something that will require minor adjustments.
43:05 Jemma Sbeg? You know, but so that you don't have to give up major sacrifices because. If you will, again, like it's not going to be long lasting, you won't see the benefit, please, please, please. Start small. I will also say you can and should have periods of your life. Where you are not bound by daily, weekly or evenly, even you know, monthly commitments or protocols. You should have times in your life where the sole focus of your life is not to get things done. I think it's actually quite mentally healthy to sometimes. Give yourself space to just be a little bit free and to just wake with the sun, go down with the sun to.
43:48 Jemma Sbeg? Let yourself do what suits your rhythms best without feeling like you have to drag yourself from task. To task, it feels, you know, quite human. And I know a lot of us look at that and they're like, wow, I don't think I could have that relaxed attitude with the job I have or with the life I have. But you do have the weekend and you do have space during the holidays, like obviously that's what holidays are made for is to break you out of routine. That gives you the necessary newness and freshness to go back with renewed vigor and dedication. To the structure of, you know, a woman, not in this life. So please, life is not all about having routine, it's not all about having structure.
44:30 Jemma Sbeg? It definitely does help us and there is a lot of reasons why we should hold ourselves accountable and a lot of other strategies. Like time blocking or time management that also fits in with this, but. Hopefully this is like a basic instruction on how to get started. Hopefully this has convinced you of why you need. A small routine with just a couple of things, specifically a wake up time, specifically one core habit. And you can kind of build it out from there. Again, I appreciate that you've listened this far. If you have, the emoji I want you to leave in the comments is an alarm clock. If you want to detail your routine in the comments, I am fascinated by it.
45:12 Jemma Sbeg? I cannot wait to read them. I love seeing what people do because they can be so niche and so specific to the individual. So drop like a couple hours of your morning routine or your evening routine or your daily routine down below. Extra points if they're interesting, but also just as many points if they're just plain old because we can all get some inspiration from that. Make sure if you have someone who you know who might like this episode, that you send them a link that is how it helps. This is how the show really grows and reaches new ears, reaches new audiences, reaches new people. Also, follow us along on Instagram at that psychology podcast. If you have further interesting questions, thoughts, feelings about this episode.
45:55 Jemma Sbeg? Or you wanna just suggest a new episode, you can just shoot me a message. I do, you know, infamously do a lot of episodes that are suggested by listeners. So if you want that to potentially be you, we'll see you over there. And until next time, stay safe, be kind, be gentle to yourself and we will talk very, very soon.
46:21 Jemma Sbeg? Your twenties are full of firsts. First job, first rent payment, first time checking your balance. Wow, that's a lot. Having the right setup helps. Bank of America Advantage Safe Balance Banking has no monthly maintenance fee if you are under twenty five. It's simple, which is honestly exactly what most people need right now. Plus, when you open a new safe balance banking account, you can explore what B of A rewards has to offer. Like cash back deals plus fraud and identity monitoring. Learn more at B of A dot com slash simple banking. Member FDIC. I've been really trying to prioritize my health in a realistic way this year. And something that has kept me really motivated is my Whoop.
47:05 Jemma Sbeg? I am such a data person, which is why I love Whoop, because I can genuinely see why my body feels differently depending on the day, why I'm running differently, why I'm maybe less focused. Whoop effortlessly tracks my sleep, it tracks my strain, my recovery, my stress, and most importantly, my overall health. And it just gives me all that data and all those patterns so I can make better decisions, which includes knowing when to go easy and knowing when to go hard. New members can try Whoop with a 30 day free trial before committing to a membership. That's join.whoop.com/psychology for your free month of Whoop. This episode is sponsored by Gymshark. Gymshark has spent over 14 years obsessing over gym clothing and the people who wear it.
47:50 Jemma Sbeg? And let me just say, I think we all know, they are very, very good at what they do. No, seriously, their stuff is so good. Their everyday seamless collection is light, it's soft, it's stretchy. All of their stuff just looks good on and it's made for people who love to exercise, whatever exercise that is, lifting, cardio, Pilates, running around campus, maybe just doing errands. Discover Gymshark and find your new favorite gym clothing at gymshark.com.
48:20 Jemma Sbeg? Hi, this is Jemma Sbeg. Taking care of yourself doesn't have to mean completely changing your routine. Naturewise Vitamin D3 is an easy way to support immune, bone, and muscle health every single day. And because quality matters, Naturewise has one of the first NSF certified Vitamin D3 currently on the market. Plus, it's non-GMO, gluten-free, and third-party tested. Visit naturewise.com to explore their Vitamin D3 options and find the one that's right for you. Naturewise.com.
48:56 Speaker 00 This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed Human.
Previous 272. How I overcame my fear of flying Next 274. The psychology of the youngest child Page updated November 4, 2026 · transcript and summary are machine-generated