What is a Routine?

A routine is “a mode of behavior acquired through repeated experiences, readily reproduced in similar situations, and a way of feeling and thinking that prepares for those actions”. In other words, it’s the capability to work on a particular action persistently without strain.

Why Are We Resistant to Routine Changes?

If we’ve never played soccer before, there are many obstacles to overcome before it becomes a part of our routine. We need to first learn the skills, prepare equipment, and find an appropriate playfield. It’s difficult to make a habit of something that requires a certain set of conditions like this.

There are several other factors that make daily routines and habits difficult to stick to.

• Lack of enjoyment
• Having trouble concentrating and getting distracted
• Lack of motivation to continue because there’s no goal or end in sight
• Feeling as if there’s little return for the time and effort you put in

Once any of the above points are felt, most people struggle to continue with their new routine, resulting in failure.

Mental Health Benefits of A Routine Walk

Walking is a great way to get started without the need for equipment or space. It’s an activity that anyone can get into, at any time. The following are the benefits of making daily walks a part of your life.

1. A Change of Pace

Daily walks can serve as a change of pace in your day. According to one study, members of all ages and genders recognize exercise as being fun, helpful in relieving mental stress, and increasing concentration. Try to enjoy the scenery of the walk and avoid looking at your phone during walks. It could lead to new discoveries in your own neighborhood and bring mental clarity to some thoughts.

2. Making Friends

A walk can be a great opportunity to create connections with others. Once daily walks become a habit, you might find people who appear around your route at a similar time. You may end up forming friendships and more acquaintances by saying “hi” along the way. This will raise our spirits and sense of community, creating a positive effect on our mental health.

3. Getting in Shape

Routine walks create confidence. Walking is a form of exercise; inevitably, regular walks will help us get in better shape. As society becomes more convenient giving us fewer excuses to leave the house, it’s much easier to gain weight. This can lead to stress and a decrease in self-confidence. Regular walks can help burn calories, form healthier muscles, and boost self-confidence, all aiding to better health.

How to Make Walking a Habit

Even after we understand the positive benefits, it’s still a challenge to create healthy habits. This is especially true for people who do not already exercise on a regular basis. Here are some tips on how to make walking a habit.

1. Never Push Too Hard

Try to find a “purpose”, but don’t set too many strict “goals.” To form any routine habit, it is important to hold a purpose. The purpose will determine the walking course, speed, and method of walking. A person who wants to experience joy through new discoveries within their neighborhood and interacting with people would have a different kind of walk from someone who wants to get in shape and work on self-confidence.

Be mindful not to set goals that are too specific. For example, committing to goals like setting how many “hours/miles every day” can actually be counterproductive. High goals set from the beginning can lead to high pressure, stress, and failure to form a habit. Start small in setting specific goals. For instance, a goal like, “I will enjoy my walk every day,” is a great simple place to start.

2. Have a Walking Buddy

The best way to make walking a habit is to work on it with a friend. One of the appeals of walking is that we can start on our own right away. However, for some people, walking alone is not enjoyable enough to form a habit.

Try forming a group of friends to walk with or find a walking buddy. When we have someone walk together with us, it becomes a more social habit that’s easier to adapt without a struggle. Additionally, communicating with others while exercising brightens our mood and will excite us towards the next walking session!

Regular Walks for a Healthy Mind

If you are in a mental rut, regular walks are excellent in turning your mental health around. Adaptation of the habit may not be immediate and challenging if we don’t exercise regularly. The key is to have a solid purpose and to work with buddies to make it an enjoyable habit.

Go for a walk today and see if you can make it part of a self-care routine!

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If you’re looking for more tips on how to care for your mental health, check out some of our past blog posts!

References:
Izumi, T. (2001). Application of Behavior Analysis to Lifestyle Improvement: A Study on Habit Formation of Walking Exercise. The Bulletin of the Graduate School of Social and Cultural Studies Nihon University (2), 212-221.

Miyamoto, M. (2016). Mental Health and Life Habits: Lifestyle-Related Diseases as a Mental Dysfunction. Journal of the Japan Academy for Health Behavioral Science, 31(1), 13-21.

Ohara, S., & Matsushita, T. (2015). Research on Habituation and Continuation of Exercise and Sports. Bulletin of Aichi Institute of Technology (50), 58-70.

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Lack of Sleep and Daily Functioning

The quality and quantity of sleep are heavily related to human health, both physically and mentally. This means that a lack of sleep will significantly impact human functioning. Multiple studies on the effects of sleep find individuals with sleep deprivation are most impacted in their mood (and emotion). Following this is cognitive performance, then motor performance. While motor performance was the least affected of the three indicators above, it was still significantly worse than those who had gotten ample sleep. In other words, if you lack sufficient hours of sleep, you will not only feel bad, but your decision-making skills will be impaired, as will your performance in physical day-to-day tasks.

Furthermore, while any lack of sleep may impact human functioning, individuals with partial sleep deprivation (getting less than 6 hours of sleep for at least 5 consecutive days) are typically more severely impacted in physical performance than those with long-term or total sleep deprivation. Individual with long-term sleep deprivation, however, are typically more heavily impacted in terms of decreased interest and attention. There are absolutely no positive effects to sleep debt, even if it’s just a few hours less sleep per night!

The Vicious Cycle of Stress and Sleep Debt

It was mentioned above that a lack of proper sleep most impacts mood and emotion. Subjects of sleep studies have reported experiencing heightened stress, anxiety and anger when deprived of sleep. Sleep-deprived individuals have a lower threshold for stress tolerance, with an amplified perception of subjective psychological stressors.

The troubling thing about this, is that high levels of stress can impact sleep quality in itself. If you lack sufficient hours of sleep, you become more easily stressed. Moreover, the more stressed you are, the more you struggle to get a good night’s sleep. This is a vicious cycle you do not want to fall into. Furthermore, if this continues long-term, you risk developing chronic sleep disturbances.

The Horror of Sleep Disorders

Even if you are not consciously depriving yourself of sleep, sleep disturbances can still impact the quality of your sleep. Consequently, the quality of your cognitive and motor performance levels are also affected. For example, sleep fragmentation is when an individual wakes up many times throughout the night, interrupting a natural sleep schedule. Fragmented sleep leads to extreme daytime fatigue, as well as potential mood disorders and unintended weight gain.

Sleep fragmentation can occur in severely stressed individuals, but can also manifest as a subproduct of an underlying sleep disorder. For example, sleep apnea (breathing problems during sleep) or narcolepsy (disorder of excessive sleepiness), in which case professional medical help should be sought out. Severe levels of disordered sleep can significantly impact your daily functioning, in more areas than one. It’s important to look out for any signs of disordered sleep, and seek professional help to sort out potential issues before they get serious.

How Can We Get the Best Sleep Possible?

It’s easy enough to say “make sure you get enough sleep”. But what exactly is the perfect amount of sleep? And how can we avoid unintentional sleep disturbances or sleep debt?

Typically, the average adult should get at least 7 hours of consecutive sleep per night for optimal health. Young adults or individuals recovering from illness may benefit from 9 hours of consecutive sleep each night. Any lack of sleep may lead to physical and psychological impairments.

In order to get the best quality of sleep you can, first and foremost, it is important to keep a regular sleep schedule. In other words, avoid the possibility of sleep debt. Firtly, be sure to go to bed and wake up around the same time every day. Even if you can’t help staying up late on some nights, the important thing is to wake up at the same time again the next morning. If you are finding it difficult to sleep, you may be stressed, or perhaps filled with excess energy. It may be beneficial to try some light exercise, such as dancing, for the double effect of stress-relief and expending energy before bed time.

Healthy Sleep for a Happy Life

Whatever your situation may be, it’s absolutely essential to maintain a healthy sleep habit in order to be your best self. Sleep is an easy thing to master once you get the hang of it – take control, and get a good night’s sleep!

If you’re looking for more tips on how to care for your mental health, check out some of our past blog posts!
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Image: Unsplash

Resources:

Bertha, E. (2018, August 15). Everything You Need to Know About Sleep Fragmentation. Retrieved July 02, 2020, from https://blog.eightsleep.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-sleep-fragmentation/

Khazaie, H. (2010). The Effects of Chronic Partial Sleep Deprivation on Cognitive Functions of Medical Residents. Iran Journal of Psychiatry, 5(2): 74–77.

Minkel, J. D., et al. (2012). Sleep deprivation and stressors: Evidence for elevated negative affect in response to mild stressors when sleep deprived. Emotion, 12(5), 1015-1020. doi:10.1037/a0026871

Pilcher, J. J., & Huffcutt, A. I. (1996). Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Performance: A Meta-Analysis. Sleep, 19(4), 318-326. doi:10.1093/sleep/19.4.318

Watson, N. F., et al. (2015). Recommended Amount of Sleep for a Healthy Adult: A Joint Consensus Statement of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and Sleep Research Society. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 11(06), 591-592. doi:10.5664/jcsm.4758

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Release and Recharge for Mood Improvement

There are two distinct patterns of behavior that improve our mood: “releasing” and “recharging”. Releasing refers to a release of your pent up energy, through exercise or artistic means of self-expressionism. Recharging, on the other hand would be eating food or sleeping. The way your mood changes vary depending on which type of activity we choose.

Further categorization of these activities are listed in Figure 1 below:

The orange highlighted sections are the behavior groups that improve our mood – creativity, improvement, nature, exercise, energy intake, and rest. Mood improvements requires us to act on our appropriate needs and surrounding environments at the time.

For example, if our room is dirty and stressful, we can make improvements by cleaning to restore calmness again. If you’re tired and antsy, exercising, intaking appropriate nutrients, and resting can help restore positivity. If our distress is causing psychological pressure, we can improve your mood by immersing ourselves in nature, creativity, or actively participating in things that feel good and fun.

However, keep in mind that these activities may not address the root cause of the issue, which is always a good way to resolve our discomforts.

Find Mood Boosters Through Daily Routines

There are common tools and routines that can act as mood boosters according to the categories of the above chart.

For example, let’s take brushing our teeth. Typically, many people brush their teeth after they wake up and before they sleep, or perhaps after every meal. It’s a routine grooming act that helps us feel more cleanly, and many of us probably don’t put much thought into it. However, brushing has a direct effect on improving our mood. We use our “toothbrush” as a tool to clean and polish our teeth, and it can feel pleasantly refreshing. Brushing itself can induce our association to pleasant feelings and become a mood booster, as it connects to our sense of “improvement.”

Another routinely act we can take for example, is cooking. The common household item of a “knife” becomes a tool that connects with our “creativity” in addition to fulfilling our huger. A “vacuum” is a tool that helps create a cleaner environment and “improves” our surroundings. These tool-using behavior patterns are supposedly similar to actions we take when we’re displeased. Therefore, the use of a common household tool plays an effective role in boosting our moods. When we combine the six behavior groups from the Figure 1 chart above – creativity, improvement, nature, exercise, energy intake, and rest – there are endless possibilities for activities that could help in improving our mood at any time.

Mood Boosters Are All Around Us

There are a variety of activities and tools we can utilize to help ourselves feel a little better. Many of them are familiar activities within our daily lives. We all have different preferences in how we enjoy our time, whether it’s going for a drive, exercising, playing games, or having a drink. We all want to feel better when we feel distressed. If we look around, there are many ways to feel better within our immediate surroundings. You’d be pleasantly surprised with all the casual activities and tools that can act as an easily accessible mood booster.

→ Looking to improve your mental health? Try the SELFMIND app FREE for 1 week!
If you’re looking for more tips on how to care for your mental health, check out some of our past blog posts!

Image: Unsplash
References:

Furusawa, K., Terauchi, F., Kubo, M., & Aoki, H. (2007). Research of Action and Tools to Make Feelings Better. Japanese Society for the Science of Design: 54th Annual Conference. doi: 10.11247/jssd.54.0.A20.0

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