How to Establish Routines at Home

The key to establishing routines for moms is consistency. To make creating and sticking to a routine easier, you’ll need to create a routine and stick to it, even when things get busy.

Here’s how to establish routines at home for yourself and your kids.

What to Expect:

Why is routine important?
How can I make a routine at home?
How do you maintain a routine?

Why is routine important?

A routine is a sequence of actions that are repeated regularly. A routine can be as simple as brushing your teeth every morning, but it can also be as complex as going to the gym, getting home, and cooking dinner.

The importance of a regular routine is that it help us to build habits and create structure in our lives.

Routines help us to create a sense of stability, and they help to provide a sense of order for the whole family in our day-to-day lives.

Routines also help younger kids to have a sense of control in their own lives because they know what all family members expect from them.

One of my favorite resources to create better habits AND a more organized home is the Impactful Habits, Organized Home course. You’ll get weekly emails to help motivate you to create a clean and happy home, and you’ll learn all kinds of tips, like “closing the loop” to stay focused.

Learn more HERE:

How can I make a routine at home?

Establishing a new routine at home is not an easy task. It takes time and effort to make a routine that can be followed every day without fail. However, the benefits of establishing routines at home are plentiful.

Remember 2020, when the world was filled with chaos and uncertain times?

Part of why 2020 was so difficult was because everyone’s existing routines flew out the window.

Routines help you establish healthy habits, become more motivated and productive, and even avoid power struggles with older children and improve your relationships with the entire family.

Routines are also helpful to create a structured environment, even when the world around is full of major change.

Creating a routine for days when you’re home all day is the perfect way to stay productive and focused and keep the entire family on track during the day.

Creating structure at home

The first step to establishing family routines is to identify what needs to be done on a daily basis.

This may seem like an easy task but it can actually be difficult for some people, especially young children, to know what they need to do on any given day.

To make this easier, start by making a list of all the things that need to be completed, regardless of who is capable of completing each task. Then, prioritize the list and assign tasks to each person, based on their capabilities. For help assigning different activities to kids based on their age, check out this age-appropriate chore list.

Once you’ve created a list of tasks that everyone, even young toddlers can be included in, add each activity into a schedule that includes the particular time each task should be completed.

For younger kids, create a visual schedule. Older children and adults can use a list of daily tasks.

Examples of basic family routines at home

When creating a family routine, you’ll need to think about things like meal times, nap times, family activities, etc.

Use these resources to help guide your routine.

The Organized Motherhood Planner is also a great tool to help you stay focused all day long. With different daily layouts, it’s perfect for days when you need to time block your schedule AND when you just need to complete a couple tasks around your baby’s nap/feeding schedule.

Morning routine

If you’re trying to create a solid morning routine for a day when you’re not leaving the house, check out these ideas:

Sample schedules for daily routines

As you create your daily routine, use this daily routine worksheet to determine exactly what needs to be done (and when) to finish your day feeling satisfied and productive.

Whether you’re creating a routine for yourself or including things like kids’ nap times, family dinner, etc., this is a great template to organize your day.

Even after you’ve followed your new routine for a period of time, come back to the daily routine worksheet to evaluate your routine and determine if you need a different starting point, less time for a certain activity, or if tasks take too long.

Bedtime routine

Include quiet time in every bedtime routine. Whether you add story time to your child’s evening routine, or some reading/journaling/meditation time to your own nighttime routine, ending the day on a positive note with peace and quiet helps you fall asleep faster and make sure everyone is getting enough sleep.

An evening routine is also perfect to set yourself up for a great next day.

Child routine chart

These printable routines for kids are a great way to set clear expectations for non-readers. Even toddlers can begin creating good habits by following a schedule.

How do you maintain a routine?

Especially when you’re getting used to a new routine, maintaining a good routine can feel like pulling teeth, especially after a long day.

One research-backed way to create consistent routines that you can stick with is to use the habit loop to add rewards and motivation into your daily routine.

The habit loop is a three-step process that we go through every time we form a new habit.

First, there is an urge to do the behavior.
Second, there is the routine of doing the behavior.
Third, there is a reward for doing the behavior.

The habit loop can be used to create new habits and break old ones.

If you want to break a bad habit, you need to identify what your routine and reward are for that behavior and then find new routines and rewards for good behaviors that will eventually replace it.

Once you’ve created your ideal routine and established a habit loop to make it stick, you’ll be on your way to having a productive day – even when you don’t leave the house.