HabitsTime

Daily routine

A daily routine is the set of steps you repeat every workday, grouped by part of the day: morning, midday, afternoon and after work. The planner below starts with 9 steps; give each one minutes and, if you like, a time, and it sorts them into a card you can print.

Free · No account · What you type stays on this device

Name your routine
Your steps

Change, add or remove anything. Each step sits in a part of the day and can have its own time.

  9. Sleep timing is a sleep question: goodsleep.today has sleep tools such as a bedtime calculator and a sleep diary.

Total: 165 min

Morning: 50 min · Midday: 30 min · Afternoon: 50 min · After work: 35 min

A daily routine for adults

The planner's starting point for a working day. It ends with “Wind down”, with no bedtime: when you go to sleep is a sleep question.

My daily routine

Morning50 min

  1. Plan the day in 5 minutes5 min
  2. Start the most important task45 min

Midday30 min

  1. Step away from the desk for a break15 min
  2. Answer messages in one go15 min

Afternoon50 min

  1. Do one focused work block45 min
  2. Check tomorrow's calendar5 min

After work35 min

  1. Tidy the main room10 min
  2. Get things ready for tomorrow10 min
  3. Wind down15 min

Total165 min

How to make a routine

1. List what already repeats

Write down what you do on most workdays: planning, focused work, messages, breaks, tidying, getting ready for tomorrow. A routine puts those in an order; it doesn’t need new things.

2. Put each step in a part of the day

Morning, midday, afternoon or after work. The card groups them that way, so a step you move between parts moves on the card too.

3. Give each step minutes, and a time only where it matters

Minutes show how much of the day the routine takes. Add a time to the steps that have one, like the start of a work block; inside each part, timed steps come first, in time order.

4. Print it and put it where you start the day

The card prints on one page. Nothing is saved on this site, so the card is your copy.

How to stick to a routine

Tie it to the same moment

Habits form as people repeat the same response in the same context. Most parts of this routine start at a moment your day already has: when the day starts, at midday, when work ends.

Keep the first version short

Make the first version short enough to do on a bad day. Remove steps until the total feels easy, then add one back later.

Track it as one habit

“Start tracking” adds the routine to the habit tracker as one habit. Its total of days done never resets, so after a missed day you pick it up again; nothing is undone.

Daily routine ideas by part of the day

Morning

  • Plan the day in 5 minutes
  • Start the most important task
  • Clear the inbox to what needs a reply

Midday

  • Step away from the desk
  • Answer messages in one go
  • Tidy the work area

Afternoon

  • Do one focused work block
  • Check tomorrow's calendar
  • Write a short list of what is still open

After work

  • Tidy the main room
  • Get things ready for tomorrow
  • Call or text someone
  • Wind down

Why the day ends at “Wind down”

This planner has no evening or bedtime part. “After work” holds home and admin steps, then “Wind down” with no time. For sleep tools such as a bedtime calculator, see goodsleep.today. For the end of the workday itself, build a work shutdown routine; for days at home, the work from home routine.

What happens to what you type

Your routine stays in this browser and is never sent anywhere; it lives on the card you print or save. “Start tracking” adds it as one habit to the habit tracker on this device only, with “when my day starts” as its cue. To add one new habit after a step you already do, stack it.

If you need help now

These tools are for everyday habits. They are not a crisis service. If you are struggling or don't feel safe, you can contact:

  • 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline

    988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (US): call or text 988, or chat online. Free and confidential, 24/7.

  • Emergency services (911)

    US: call 911 if you or someone you know is in immediate harm or danger.

  • Samaritans

    Samaritans (UK and Ireland): call 116 123, free, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

  • Emergency services (999 or A&E) · NHS 111, mental health option

    Call 999 or go to A&E if someone's life is at risk or you can't keep yourself or someone else safe. For urgent help that isn't an emergency, call 111 and select the mental health option (NHS).

Elsewhere, call your local emergency number.

Sources

  1. Wood W, Rünger D (2016). Psychology of Habit. Annual Review of Psychology 67:289–314. PMID 26361052
  2. 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. 988lifeline.org
  3. Contact Us. 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. 988lifeline.org
  4. Contact a Samaritan. Samaritans. samaritans.org
  5. Where to get urgent help for mental health. NHS. nhs.uk