Building a Productive Daily Routine: A Bufferchat Recap

Nicole Miller -

Chris Winfield stopped by #bufferchat to share his expertise and insights on building a productive daily routine.

Catch our weekly Twitter chat, #bufferchat, every week on Wednesdays, 9 am PT/Noon ET/4 pm GMT, for valuable industry insights and networking with nearly 400 other smart marketers and community managers.

Why is building a daily routine important?

From Chris:

  • A routine with good habits provides you with structure and discipline (which most of us fight but need)
  • One of my favorite quotes about this came from the late @OfficialJimRohn
  • “Happiness doesn’t come from big pieces of great success, but from small advantages hammered out day by day.”
  • It’s not the BIG wins that make us happy but rather the small, consistent victories on a daily basis
  • The American Psychological Association found that good habits were more important to meeting goals than self-control.

From the community:

  • “Having a routine keeps me organized, w/ multiple projects & teams, some things have to be on autopilot.” @shannonrenee
  • “Building a daily routine creates a sense of stability and regularity and also helps to define a better life/work balance.” @morganmatriota
  • “Counter-intuitively, having the discipline to constrain yourself to a daily routine frees you to be more creative” @sagebolden

See all the great answers to question 1 here!

What cornerstones make for building a successful routine?

From Chris:

  • It all starts with your mindset and making a decision. You don’t have to be 100% or wait for the “right time”
  • You just have to decide that you’re going to start doing things (habits) for YOU! That’s where it starts
  • And then it’s about starting small. Don’t try to do too much at once, you’ll get overwhelmed & want to give up
  • Start small. My first true habit was flossing my teeth! Starting with a commitment to one tooth
  • Seriously ? One tooth -> http://on.fb.me/1QTbyOh

From the community:

  • “Make your routine DOABLE. Life is about taking a whole lot of small steps to create big things!” @lisettevdvalk
  • “Get organised. Make lists. See if you can get others in your organisation on board as well. It helps!” @msljim
  • “Like a marathon you have to train yourself to get to the place you want 2 be. All of us will have different methods.” @deespeciale

See all the great answers to question 2 here!

How do you hold onto your routine while traveling or especially busy?

From Chris:

  • It’s all about being realistic & realizing what’s actually possible based on circumstances.
  • While still trying to maintain momentum and stay consistent.
  • For example, if I’m traveling & have lots of meetings…I might not be able to workout for the hour+ I like to
  • BUT…I can always find time to do something like take a quick jog or do the 7 Minute Workout http://nyti.ms/1QTcRNd
  • It’s important not to “Break the Chain” http://bit.ly/1QTdlD8 (thanks @JerrySeinfeld ? but also be able to “do less”

From the community:

  • “Plan ahead, especially when you’re on a trip. Leave plenty of time to get to place and through lineups” @sales_prodigy
  • “Certain routines become natural parts of your day no matter what, while others may require some flexibility when it’s busy.” @nataliebergen
  • “Sometimes my To Do list is longer than my day & I have to pause and re-prioritize. What’s most important? What can wait?” @imhappyimsam

See all the great answers to question 3 here!

What are your thoughts on managing energy, not time?

From Chris:

  • Super important but also takes time (at least for me) to really understand this one b/c u have to see what works for you
  • This is why it’s so important to test different things & see what works best for you…not what someone (like me) says
  • You might find that you work best in the morning. Or maybe in the middle of the afternoon. Who knows?
  • But once you see what works best, try to arrange your schedule (as much as possible) to work around this
  • I found that I am most energetic & productive early in the morning so I switched things up -> http://bit.ly/perfect-morning #bufferchat
  • I can get more done between 7am & 9am then I can between 3pm & 9pm so I work around that
  • But it took me awhile to realize that…it only came from experimenting and really paying attention to my body/mind
  • This post on @buffer by @LeoWid helped me so much re: energy http://bit.ly/1QTwJQm

From the community:

  • “@HarvardBiz did a great article recently on goal reactivation through breaking. http://bit.ly/1VnSLkz” @markonbrands
  • “Much of this comes down to “Know Thyself”, don’t self-sabotage by planning things for when you know you’re not at your best” @ErinMcHanaburgh
  • “Effective planning helps you conserve energy and rewards you with extra time. Takes away the stress” @basecreative

See all the great answers to question 4 here!

What is the most important part of your daily routine?

From Chris:

  • Simply having a daily routine is the most important part. I know that sounds simple but it took a long time to get that
  • Having a daily routine gives me a sense of calm & a strong foundation to build on.
  • Beyond that…I need some form of meditation, prayer, gratitude, exercise & connection each day no matter what
  • Here are two posts with more on this -> http://bit.ly/1vOQHBl & this one on @buffer -> http://bit.ly/1QTgJOk
  • A bunch of people have asked about Morning Pages, here’s how I do it -> http://bit.ly/1DUUEx2

From the community:

  • “Going to bed; I need to hit the sack so I get enough sleep to wake up early yet still refreshed.” @thepaultucker
  • “Early morning “me time” with a cup of Jo. Love peaceful mornings, enjoy tweeting and listening to soulful music” @roshnipkumar
  • “Waking up early & exercising! One provides more time & the other provides the energy & good vibes for a great day :)” @publicate_

See all the great answers to question 5 here!

What books or blogs on productivity help inspire you?

From Chris:

From the community:

See all the great answers to question 6 here!

If you’re up for sharing, what is one routine you would like to work on? 

From Chris:
  • I’m always trying to improve something in my routine. Sometimes that means trying something new or ditching something
  • Right now, my biggest challenge is trying to balance my new puppy’s need for exercise & park time into my daily routine
  • So far that has meant having to take her on long runs instead of working out in the gym but its going to get cold soon
  • BTW, here’s the little ball of energy -> http://bit.ly/1QTlibv
  • BTW, I have a special section on my site with free stuff for @Buffer readers -> http://www.chriswinfield.com/buffer enjoy!
  • One last thing…here’s my latest post on @Buffer -> http://bit.ly/1QTGP3E about my fav productivity technique ?

From the community:

  • “We want to work on organization and communication. We’re getting better at it, but there’s always more to be done” @hello_token
  • “I need to work on productivity! I get a lot done most days, I’m sure I could get even more done if I didn’t get distracted” @wcomercreative
  • “Reading fiction. I love a good mystery novel,, & yet I read so much during the day that I don’t do it enough just for me.” @dariasteigman

See all the great answers to question 7 here!

Thank you so much for everyone who joined in on this great chat!

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Image sources: UnSplash