Daily Routines to Help You Feel Better

Almost every woman I talk to, wants to feel better. To help you get started, I created this list of daily routines to help you feel better.

This isn’t a list of what you should do, this is my list that I use, so you can see how my daily routines support my life and give you some ideas for yours. Your routines may be different.

This post is not about how to get more done, though you might. It’s not about doing more for others. It’s not about being more productive.

I created this post so that you can center your entire day around YOUR wellbeing. Everything is to support you in living a life that feels great to you.

Yes, I know you have people in your life. But almost everyone reading this is an empty-nester or soon to be one.

You now have the opportunity to center your life around yourself.

The funny thing is, that so few of you are doing that. You are still looking for things to do for other people or burning out at your job.

Here’s how to tell if you are doing too much for other people.

Go look in the mirror and answer this question.

Do you like the face and body looking back at you?

Most of the women I know, are not happy with who they see in the mirror and believe they need to do something. Many seek out procedures, diets, or other invasive ways to change how they look.

However, I believe that loving yourself in the mirror starts from the inside out. And instead of an afterthought, I’m encouraging you to make yourself a priority by creating lots of daily routines to help you feel better.

Daily Routines to Help You Feel Better

These daily routines are all easy to incorporate into your life. The more you make time for yourself, the more you’ll love it.

It might feel weird at first to center your life around YOU, but it’s so worth it. These will become the habits that help you create a life you love.

Most of you are in the habit of thinking of everyone else first. Yet, at this time in our lives, women often feel like something is missing or like we aren’t important anymore

This is not true! You are important and the only thing missing is you caring for yourself as much as you do others. And this time of life, instead of being a long wind-down can be exciting and fun.

So let’s dig in and see how you can create your own daily routines to help you feel better.

Start Your Morning Off Right

Before you start your workday, you can set yourself up to have a great day on the regular. The more you take care of yourself, the better things go.

My morning daily habits are the most important part of my day!

For context, I work at home managing and writing for two websites plus my life coaching practice.

I use morning for my own personal routines as well as for all the writing I do. Over the years, I’ve created a practice that allows me to start my day gently and spiritually and also get my content writing done consistently.

There is no hitting the snooze button because I wake up naturally, which is usually between 6 and 7. I drink a big glass of water, then I go fix a cappuccino.

While the coffee machine is doing its thing, I unload the dishwasher from the night before. With coffee in hand, I go and get back in bed.

This is the time when I write in my journal and have meditation and prayer time. When I started this practice consistently, my business began to grow and make money.

It might not sound like much, but it’s made a huge difference. It gets my day off to a peaceful, calm start. I begin my day grounded, centered, and ready.

Then, I get ready to go out to my favorite coffee shop where I will devote about an hour and a half to writing.

Some people exercise in the morning to get it out of the way. I do all my writing first thing. The coffee shop setting is perfect for me.

The soft music, nearby conversations, and my coffee allow me to zone in on my writing tasks for the day.

An hour and a half may not sound like near enough time. However, I believe I do in that time what would take hours and hours if I wasn’t so focused.

By showing up ready to write, my brain just knows it is time to go and I always amaze myself by what I produce.

Even on mornings when I do not feel like writing or feel less than enthusiastic, I go anyway and the words always come. That is the power of a consistent time to focus. By giving myself less time, I get more done.

This simple daily morning routine provides a solid foundation for everything else I do.

Even if you have to get to work, I still believe that spending some quiet calm time in the morning, even 15 minutes can start your day off right.

You can build your own foundation by spending about 15 minutes in journaling, gratitude, prayer, or meditation. Then spend another 15 minutes getting your food for the day ready.

Daily Healthy Habits

Speaking of food, planning, prepping, and preparing food is really important. One of the obstacles women have is that they say they don’t have time to plan, shop, and prepare meals.

Plan, prep, and prepare real meals daily

Before you start your workday, make sure you have your meals planned and do not leave it up to chance. Leaving this undone leaves you vulnerable to energy crashes, missed meals, or a day of grazing on junk.

However, meals are essential to managing your weight. The one thing I have every client do is begin eating regular meals and stop relying on snacks. That alone will stop weight gain and also just make you feel better.

Every client tells me this is a game changer.

So, make this a priority and work other things around your nutrition. You are THAT important!

Along with eating, we all need to move our body more. I hate morning exercise but I love late afternoon exercise. My favorite time is right after work, before dinner.

If you spend a lot of time at the computer, get up every hour and walk for five minutes or so. Add a 15-minute stretching routine to your day to get the kinks out.

Moving your body also gives you a healthy energy boost.

Take your lunch break!

The reason so many of you snack and eat junk food is because you don’t take time to eat. Get up and away from your desk. Block off this time on your schedule. Make it a priority.

When you get overtired and overwhelmed at work, you get into a cycle of never-ending piles of work. Taking control of your schedule and at the very least scheduling your lunch and maybe a couple of breaks will help break this toxic cycle.

When you begin to feel better, you’ll want to manage your work life so that it feels better. My clients who do this always do better at work. Always. And I’ve worked with some top-level employees who at first didn’t believe that was possible.

Not only are they able to focus on the most essential parts of their jobs, but they also end up getting raises, promotions, or even new jobs.

You actually do better when you feel better.

I know you think that your tired, exhausted self is absolutely necessary for the running of everything. But your rested, enthusiastic, focused self is magic.

Move your body

I love all the ways to move my body. I like walking outside and inside. I love fusion workouts that blend cardio, stretch, and strength.

Some of my clients love going to exercise classes and that helps them stick to exercising and also gets them out of work on time to get to class.

It’s all good. Pick ways to move that you enjoy and look forward to. I aim for half an hour to an hour daily. With all the time I spend at a desk and on a computer, it’s essential to my posture, my mental well-being, and my overall health.

Create some daily health habits that support you. The idea is not to just pile more stuff to do onto your plate. The idea is to change out busy work or work you really aren’t responsible for (but you do because people ask you to) with habits that make you feel better, more focused, and productive.

So many women suffer from burnout. Adding some healthier habits can lessen the burnout. I believe it’s better to make the job you have better for yourself as much as possible.

When you feel better, you can stay or look for something that is a better fit.

Self-Care Routines

Your self-care routines are also essential. Of course, everything I’ve written so far can be considered self-care too.

When I think of self-care, I think of the ways that I take care of my emotional, mental, and physical self.

My early morning routine definitely helps with my mental and emotional well-being. Exercise helps my physical body but it also helps calm my nervous system.

Most of us live with a lot of chronic stress. I’d say that the feeling of overwhelm and stress is so common, most women don’t know that you can feel different.

I’d say the greatest self-care will come from things you do that help you create calm and peace for your nervous system.

When I work with clients, I have them check in with their bodies in our sessions. My clients are often shocked by how their bodies actually feel when they focus on the sensations in their bodies.

Let’s say you had something unpleasant happen at work. You know you are upset and since you can’t do anything about it, you want to just let it go.

Your body may have a different idea. When I have clients check into their bodies, they will feel the pressure or squeezing on their heart. They’ll feel the choking around their neck. They will feel the weight on their shoulders. They’ll feel the punch in the gut.

Those common sayings are not just metaphors, they are ways our bodies feel when we are upset. So, you know that you’re upset, but you may think it’s just a thought in your head.

But it also has real feelings in your body that most of us are unconscious about because we will grab our phone to scroll, eat some junk food, have a glass of wine, or dig into some more work.

None of that makes that unprocessed feeling go away.

It’s part of the reason we all feel like crap. We walk around with all this chronic stress and unprocessed feelings.

The good news is that you can process feelings, even difficult ones. That frees up your body and your mind to make good decisions about how you take care of yourself.

So, think of self-care routines as ways you regulate your nervous system, so that you lesson the body stress load.

Exercise

It really does help. When I first wrote this post, I loved gentle moving routines where I can feel myself processing the stress and letting it go. About five months ago I started strength training and I absolutely love that now.

Think of exercise as more than a way to get thin. It’s so critical in taking care of your mental and emotional health as well.

EFT: emotional freedom technique or tapping

I’ve been interested and a dabbler in tapping for a decade. But a few months ago, I signed up for a program by Brad Yates. He has thousands of videos for free on YouTube.

But in the program, he had longer tapping sessions and these have been game changers. That and I also practiced tapping almost daily.

My sleep is better, I feel calmer, my focus is good, and maybe it’s just a coincidence but my hot flashes have almost disappeared.

I used to get acupuncture for all of the above for the last four years. But with the additional tapping, I haven’t had to go to acupuncture for a while.

Feeling your feelings

I wrote an entire post on how to feel your feelings, so I recommend you also read How to Feel Your Feelings and Not drown in them.

Many women are afraid at first to feel what they really feel because we tend to think if we start feeling, we’ll get stuck there.

The opposite is true.

We get stuck because we DON’T feel our feelings. Instead if feeling them, we overreact, numb them, or avoid them. They don’t go away. They kind of fester in our body.

Don’t believe me? Just think of something that really upset you a while back. Think about it and see how quickly that feeling comes up.

Feeling an actually feeling though, takes less than two minutes. You just let it be there in your body. And within a couple of minutes it will lighten and you’ll feel better. You might have to repeat but you’ll feel better.

Adding Small Doses of Joy

Here’s some inspiration for adding small doses of joy to your day.

Keeping pictures of loved ones handy

I love looking at pictures of my kids and grandkids. A few minutes of this and I feel full of love. I keep lots of framed pictures and I keep a lot on my phone.

Looking at people we love and feeling the love gives you a boost of good feeling hormones. It’s better than a hit of sugar or booze for sure.

Fresh flowers

Fresh flowers always make me happy. I keep them in several places around my house and at my desk. I buy a few inexpensive kinds at the store and arrange them myself in vases or even jars.f

Music

I keep a playlist of uplifting songs that I collect from everywhere. I have Shazam on my phone and I can add music to my playlist from the coffee shops, stores, television shows or movies, or from other people’s music.

I especially love to put on music when I’m preparing dinner. It makes fixing dinner fun and special.

Sitting outside

If you have a place and the weather is nice, it’s great to sit outside for a bit every day. I have a small balcony and I grow some beautiful plants there.

All times of day can be great. Coffee in the morning. Doing a few puzzles on a break. Winding down at the end of the day.

If you have an outdoor seating area, use it!

It’s a great time to reflect on all you have to be grateful for.

Nightly Routines

How you wind down your day is an important part of creating healthy habits.  As you transition to sleep time, you can do things that get you ready not just for bed but for a successful next day.

Get your home ready for tomorrow

One of the things I learned as a young wife and mom was to tidy up the kitchen before bed. Growing up, our family always did dishes right after dinner. Dad and one of us kids did the dishes as soon as we were done at the table.

I still always do my dishes each evening. I also like to wipe the counters down, pick up anything on the counters that doesn’t belong there, and shine up the sink.

Then I turn the dishwasher on, so the dishes will be clean and ready to put away while my coffee is brewing the next morning.

Before I go to bed, I’ll also reset the living room by straightening the pillows on the sofas and putting away anything that is where it shouldn’t be.

Evening is also a great time to prep your breakfast and lunch for the next day.

In the evening, I also enjoy 15 minutes or so of stretching.

Doing these things helps me get a good night’s sleep and provides some relaxation to my nervous system.

These things don’t really take much time and leave plenty of time to relax, watch some TV, go for a walk, or read. You can use the time to give someone a call, go to a class, or snuggle with your sweetie.

One thing you don’t see, is do some work. I’m not saying that you’ll never crack open your computer, but you can train yourself to do what you can during the day and call your evenings your own.

Having healthier routines in the evening can help you enjoy your daily life, get more quality time for yourself, and prevent burnout.

Taking care of your emotional well-being is the most important thing you can do for yourself and to anyone in your life.

I’ve seen this playout hundreds of times. Women think that they have to give everything they’ve got to keep everyone and everything around them going.

You aren’t THAT important. You are important; however the world will keep going even if you focus on your own wellbeing.

In fact, it is best for everyone that you do that. While it might seem like you are just being helpful, it’s a way of telling everyone that they just can’t do it without you.

Your Lifestyle and Daily Routines to Help You Feel Better

No matter what your lifestyle is, you can design some healthy habits that support your mental health, increase relaxation, and improve your overall health.

The idea is NOT to add more things to do to your life. It’s to be intentional about what you do so that you can feel better.

This means doing less of things that make you feel bad and doing more things that help you feel better!