It’s important to think about what goes into the daily routine of a successful woman. Success is defined differently by everyone. But whatever your definition, empowered, healthy, flourishing women all share the need for habits and routines that enable their success.
Why habits and daily routines are important for successful women
Everyone seems to know subconsciously that good habits are healthy. But why are habits important? And why are some of the most successful women taking time for certain daily routines?
Habits are simply the actions we form repetitive patterns around doing. They aren’t inherently good or bad. The actions that make up our habits are what determines a good habit or a bad habit. For example, drinking three energy drinks in the morning to start your day is an unhealthy action. If you do it every morning, it turns into an unhealthy habit. And over time, the side effects of an unhealthy habit will catch up to you - whether that’s weight gain, health issues, stress, or anxiety.
Habit development is a part of our personal development. For this reason, habits and daily routines are important parts of how we function in our daily lives. And ultimately these little things we do play a part in determining whether we will be successful women or not.
9 daily routines of a successful woman
The daily routine of a successful woman is driven by a positive mindset. And is built around the need to take care of ourselves in order to achieve success and accomplish our goals.
Whether you’re a business owner, mom, freelancer, caregiver, student… No matter how you characterize your daily life, routines are important. And some of the daily routines of successful women that play a big part in forming good habits may be things you’re already doing. Others may be things to add to your routine and daily life.
1 - Doing positive affirmations
This may not be the first thing you think of when evaluating the daily routine of a successful woman. But it is arguably one of the most revolutionary. Doing positive affirmations throughout your work day helps to rewrite our negative inner monologue. One of the best ways to practice a positive mindset is through things like gratitude journals.
Another way is through meditation. Just 10-minutes or a 20-minute meditation in the morning does not take much time. Focus on the present moment. And recite positive affirmations to let go of negativity. This simple activity could completely change the course of your day.
2 - Eating healthy
What we put in our bodies changes how we feel, influences our productivity, and impacts our long-term health. It’s important to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner. But it’s also important to fuel our bodies with foods that give us energy and help us function properly.
One great way to make sure you’re eating healthy is to keep track of your intake in a food journal. A single cup of morning coffee in the morning, green juice for a mid-morning snack, plant-based proteins like peanut butter, dairy alternatives like almond milk, and other nut milks. These are just a few foods with proven health benefits that you could add to your daily routine in order to eat healthy.
3 - Getting good sleep
If you’re someone that’s always considered yourself a night owl, that’s not necessarily a good thing. Current research shows adults need between seven and nine hours of sleep every night before the alarm clock goes off in the morning.
Getting a good night’s sleep can help reduce anxiety, stress, weight gain and increase productivity for the next day. So, are you getting good sleep? Are you getting enough sleep (ideally to eight hours every night)?
4 - Reducing chaos and clutter
With the rise of the Marie Kondo movement, minimalism and decluttering are popular right now. But there’s a reason why. In a recent Psychology Today post, Alice Boyes Ph.D. outlines the reasons why decluttering is good for our mental health.
The act of reducing the chaos and clutter in our spaces gives us a sense of self-efficacy. Plus it helps us stay organized. It’s easy to see why this is a key part of the daily routine of successful women. And equally as important as to-do lists and planning for the day ahead.
5 - Practicing self-care
Whether you schedule a spa day, massage, pedicure, take a nap, call a friend or loved ones, bake cookies, or just go outside. Whatever self-care looks like for you, it’s important to schedule those in your daily life. Successful and powerful women need to take care of themselves in order to continue achieving great things.
Not all self-care has to do with our physical bodies. It is also about prioritizing what’s important for our mental health. Take time to reflect on what you need to do in order to take care of yourself the right way each day. Then make time for it and practice self-care!
6 - Exercising
Another key ingredient to overall health and wellness is exercise. A recently published study and Healthy Living Guide for 2020/2021 showed individuals who exercise, eat healthily, keep healthy body weight, reduce alcohol intake, and do not smoke, lived more than a decade longer than other participants.
Exercise is one of these five things that is an important daily habit. And it should be a part of the daily routine of a successful woman. Exercise, even just for 20 minutes or 30 minutes each day, is a great way to get your blood pumping and prioritize your physical health. It can also help regulate hormones and increase energy levels.
7 - Maintaining work-life balance
A lot of the ways we define our success is through our work. But work can take over. Maintaining a good work-life balance is a key part of the daily routine of a successful woman.
This means not letting the workday bleed into your personal life. It also means not letting anyone else at work manipulate or guilt you into spending time on work that should be spent doing other things for yourself.
- Arrive and leave work at a consistent time every day (barring emergencies or unique circumstances)
- Take breaks throughout the day to stretch, hydrate, and go for short walks
- Set manageable expectations with your boss about after-hours availability
- Shut off emails and all other work communication at a certain time each night
- End the workweek on Friday so that you don’t work on the weekend
These are just a few examples of setting healthy work boundaries. It can be challenging but it is an important part of a sustainable business career.
8 - Have a hobby
If you don’t have one, there are lots of ways hobbies can benefit us. They’re a great way for us to learn new things and do something outside of work that challenges us mentally. Not everything is about building our careers. And hobbies can help us keep learning, explore new ideas, and develop our interests and personalities in a healthy way.
Being successful is not one-dimensional. This is why the daily routine of many successful women includes time for hobbies and other life-giving, extracurricular activities. Even 15 minutes every day of the week adds up to be an important chunk of time spent on something that challenges you and makes you happy.
At Silk+Sonder we’ve compiled a hobby list for women in their 20’s and a hobby list for women in their 30’s. Check out some of the ideas we came up with!
9 - Reduce social media
Our devices tend to rule us. Every buzz and notification causes us to stop what we’re doing to check. There’s a sense of urgency that our phones and computers have created in us. And we operate at this heightened level of awareness that isn’t sustainable or healthy. The relationships we have with our phones can even be characteristic of addiction.
One way we can reduce the amount of time we spend on our devices is to reduce the time we spend on social media. Scrolling through our social media for hours on end is one way we waste time. And it is most certainly not a part of the daily routine of a successful woman.
Example morning daily routine of a successful woman
6:30 am Alarm goes off, do not hit snooze
6:35 am Stretch and meditate
6:45 am Morning workout
7:30 am Breakfast
8:00 am Get ready for the day
9:00 am Begin work
Example evening daily routine of a successful woman
6:00 pm End work
6:30 pm Yoga and mindfulness
7:00 pm Dinner
7:30 pm Hobby or social time
9:00 pm Relax (read, bath, hot tea)
9:30 pm Bed
There are always going to be parts of our daily routines that we love more than others. But many times, the good goals and habits that are a part of our routines will pay off in the long run. For more information on how to create good habits and the daily routines of successful women, check out our blog!
1 comment
Thank you so much this was very helpful 👏
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Silk + Sonder replied:
So glad to hear it!