Hey there! You are listening to the lazy genius podcast. I am Kendra Adachi and I'm here to help you be a genius about the things that matter and lazy about the things that don't.

Today is episode 317, 5 steps to a routine that actually works. You might be itching to get into your carefully planned summer routines or maybe you know you want some but you haven't thought about what they are yet.

Regardless of where you are, you want your routines to work, right? You want them to stick and do what they're supposed to do.

So today I want to share with you the 5 steps to get to a routine that actually works.

We're hanging out with a handful of the 13 lazy genius principles today but one I want to highlight at the top is principle number 11. Go in the right order.

So often you have the right ingredients for a situation. You're not missing anything. You're just doing them in the wrong order.

And I think routines are a prime category of that. And if you go out of order in your routine, it for sure won't stick.

And I'm not talking about like the pieces and parts of the routine. If you do this thing before that thing, I mean the actual creation of the routine. The thought process behind making one.

You need to go in the right order and figuring out your routine so that you create something that actually works the way your routine is supposed to based on what matters to you.

So let's jump in to the 5 steps. Well actually before we do that, we need to define what a routine is.

Most of us think that routines are a series of things done in the same order at the same time of day. And while that is kind of true, it's only partially true.

I have a whole chapter in my first book, the lazy genius way about building the right routines. And the purpose of them is a little different than just the same things in the same order at the same time.

The purpose of a lazy genius routine is to get you somewhere. A routine is an on ramp to some kind of destination.

Now that destination can be a few different things. It can be tangible, like an actual physical objective, like getting out the door.

You have a routine for getting out the door. But your objective also might be emotional or about your energy.

A routine that gets you out the door, but your mad or frazzled or frustrated when you do it, is probably not a routine that you want to keep around.

I think the point of a routine is often way more emotional than we give a credit for.

You are moving in the direction of what feeling, what experience, what energy.

That feels very different than a routine to start work or get out of the door or go to bed.

Like, how do you want to start work or get out the door or go to bed? How do you want to feel during that process and at the end of the process?

Your routine, when thought through in the right order, it can help create that feeling.

So a lazy genius routine is an on ramp to something else.

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