Why You Need Flexible Routines

There’s nothing sexy about the word “routine.” Just thinking about it drains the air from my lungs. But without it, we get lost in the chaos of life, with nothing to hold onto or build from.

Routine isn’t the antithesis of a good, happy life; it’s its foundation.

As kids, routines create a sense of safety — a familiar framework that lets us explore, play, and learn without fear. As adults, routines give us purpose. Morning rituals, work schedules, and shutdown routines create a sense of control, order, and direction. These small, consistent actions are at the core of our personal, professional, and creative growth, helping us juggle our never-ending responsibilities as we tap into our deepest potential.

Routine is also the healthiest form of validation. Every time you show up for yourself — whether through exercise, writing, or a conscious breath — you remind yourself that you, as you are, already are who you want to be. Embracing routine means recognizing that greatness often lies on the path paved by our daily habits.

And if you’re a hardcore procrastinator like me, routine is the only over-the-counter medicine that works. When you define what needs to happen and when, you minimize the cracks through which distraction can slip. This approach helps you reduce your chances of getting pulled away from your ambitions, goals, and responsibilities.

But after more than a decade of trial and error — building and optimizing routines — I’ve discovered a key principle for designing effective and sustainable routines: flexibility.

Rigid structures break. Flexible structures adapt.

Rigid routines require way too much energy to maintain, eventually leading to burnout. Instead of helping you do more and better with less, by design, they leave you feeling like you’re not enough because they don’t bend, flow, and adapt to the pressures, changes, and opportunities of life.

If you want to build a routine that serves you until your bones turn to ash, focus on designing flexible routines.

I don’t know about you, but every time I travel, my habits go out the window because most of them are baked into my routines, and my routines, like most people’s, are anchored on specific places at specific times. Once you get me out of my space or mess with my bedtime, my routine crumbles. And when my routine crumbles, I crumble with it.

Why would anyone build such rigid, location-dependent routines?

Because that’s what the habit and productivity literature preaches: design your space, stack your habits, link them to cues.

If you’ve tried to build better routines and failed, you know exactly what I’m talking about.

This rigidity is a common approach to building habits — and a dangerous one. A habit should be able to function as an independent piece of your system rather than something your system depends on.

Otherwise, you fall into the routine trap — you become so dependent on your routine that you just can’t perform without it. One minute, you feel on top of the world. The next, you’re hitting a new bottom, dusting yourself off, and gearing up for the next climb.

Flexibility alone is not a great strategy, but every great strategy requires flexibility. Stay focused on the goal but flexible in the approach.