New Year, New Routine.

It’s a new year! After a 6 week (approximately) break we always need to get back to work and our kids need to get back to the school life. Funny how we’re still talking about this half way in to January, but the truth is people resist change. People like what they know and how they do it. And after 6 weeks, it’s quite probable that you (and your family, definitely your kids) have created a new routine – a holiday routine.

This can be so tough to snap out of when crunch time hits in January and we need to move, move, move in order to get everything done in a day. People are still feeling the pressure of getting back to life. Back to traffic, back to school – and all that comes with it.

Having said all this, it is so important to have some sort of routine – especially for children.

Research has shown us, time and time again, that routines can play an important role in mental health. Having a regular routine can help you:

· Lower stress levels

· Form good daily habits

· Take better care of your health

· Feel more productive

· Feel more focused

· Getting necessary tasks out of the way can also help you find more time for healthy behaviours like exercise and leave you more time to enjoy fun activities and hobbies.

One helpful activity to build new routines (or get the old ones back in place) is to start by making a list of the things that you normally do during an average day. Include everything: from work to exercise, to running errands and picking up the kids. If the kids are doing this activity: include school, time to get dressed, homework time, sports study time and so on.

Once you know the range of things that need to be done in a day, you can layout a calendar to clarify your daily plan. Or, you can create a tick off list of things to complete throughout the week.

Stress can make it hard to concentrate, so outlining these daily activities can help you focus on what’s important.

While it’s important to get things done, don’t forget to add play time too. Make you sure that every day you have something to look forward to on the list, whether it be, a playdate or coffee with a friend; or starting a new sport or exercise regime.

Know this: no plan is going to be perfect. Not everything always works out the way we plan it, so don’t be hard on yourself – but DO allow yourself some stress relief by having some type of plan or goal in place for the day. This, allowing yourself, or your children to get back in to the swing of things in a structured and controlled way.