NAVIGATION
Where To Start
Ryan’s Morning Routine
Ryan’s Nightly Routine
Ryan’s Weekend Routine
Hi, I’m Ryan
Making quick, minimalist daily routines part of my morning and night over the last decade has done so much to improve my life. It has positively impacted my mood, my finances, and my ability to get things done each day.
Building A Minimalist Daily Routine: Where To Start
Creating a daily minimalist routine is not meant to add unnecessary structure to your life, it’s meant to aid you along your journey of becoming the best version of you that you can be. Minimalism helps get you there by rethinking the way you spend your time.
Start With “Why” When Building A Minimalist Routine
With any minimalist habit, it’s imperative that you start by identifying the reason behind wanting to add routine to your life. Minimalism is adaptable and can work for many different lifestyles.
For me, integrating minimalist routines into my daily experience helped me focus more on the things that make me genuinely happy instead of blindly following traditional symbols of success without much thought. It helped me undo the corporate ladder mentality.
Identify The Values Of Your Daily Routine
When I was first starting out, I made a specific list of the values that I wanted my basic daily routine to reflect, taking time to identify them before jumping straight into a life of following new rules.
Your priorities are where you spend your time. If you’re spending most of your time on things that aren’t important to you, you’ll have dissatisfaction in life. If you spend most of your time on things that align with your priorities, you’re more likely to find contentment, happiness, and fulfillment.
Ryan’s List Of Minimalist Values
- Freedom with time
- Independence
- Focus on things I love
- Time and space for hobbies
- Financial freedom
- Physical health
- Mental health
- Environment that recharges me
- Efficiency with work
My list of minimalist values doesn’t have to be yours. Some people use minimalist habits to focus more on reducing anxiety and finding inner peace. You can also orient your list towards finding more avenues for creativity in the day to day. The possibilities are endless.
Think Through Tangible Steps To Build Your Daily Routine
Once you have made your own list of values that you want to focus on, create habits. Think through the ways you can integrate these values into your life in small ways through actionable tasks. These tasks don’t have to be huge, challenging, or take you from 0 to 100 overnight.
Start small. If your goal is to integrate more healthy food groups into your day, don’t clear your entire pantry on day one. Start by swapping one healthy item in place of one sugary item each day and build from there. If you hope to have more peace in your day, take a mere five minutes each morning to recalibrate.
Ryan’s Minimalist Morning Routine
In my daily morning routine, I focus on ways to get in the right headspace and reset my physical space to make the absolute most out of my day.
Wake Up Right With A Daily Minimalist Routine
The very first thing that I do every morning as a minimalist is wake up an hour early before I have to tend to any commitments. The last thing I want is to start off my morning feeling like my life is in disarray.
Move Your Body To Start Off Your Basic Daily Routine
I also try to make it a priority to go outside at least once a day for some natural sunlight. Having natural light enter your eyes triggers a whole host of hormones to signal to your body that you’re awake and ready for the day. It also helps with Vitamin D production and has psychological benefits.
Eat And Make Coffee As Part Of Your Minimalist Routine
After I exercise, I take some time to make quality coffee and a well-balanced breakfast, usually three free-range organic eggs with cheese. Some days, like when I’m following a 16:8 fasting schedule, I just opt for coffee with a little cream in the morning.
I’ve made coffee in several different ways through the years. I used to be a big fan of bulletproof coffee (coffee, 1 Tbsp. of grass-fed butter, 1 Tbsp. of MCT oil), and have also tried several different brands of coffee makers including the solar GoSun Brew.
Most recently, I’ve fallen captive to the Keurig after trying it out with my girlfriend on our most recent vacation.
It’s important to start your morning off with food you like and nutrients that fuel you well. Do what works for you.
Refresh, Reset, Get Ready For The Day
I wear a personal uniform so I don’t get burnt out by decision fatigue before my day has even begun. Since I work from home, changing into fresh clothes helps me mentally get into work mode and creates a separation between my work and personal life, despite being an at-home worker.
If you have a more in-depth getting ready routine than me (which is likely), make sure to allot yourself ample time to not feel hurried. Take the time you need to get ready and get in a positive headspace before diving into the daunting world of obligations.
Dive Headfirst Into What You Need To Accomplish
Once I’m dressed, I’m ready to dive into my task list for the day. I take time each night to create a to-do list for the following day so that I don’t have to waste any time in the morning struggling to decipher what needs to be done.
Having my task list ready to go helps me to keep my head on straight and prevents me from getting distracted easily. While I do believe it’s best for me to have a roadmap to get through my day, I know this isn’t everyone’s M.O.
Everybody navigates task management differently. I like to have a list of tasks I need to get done sorted into categories of importance. I’ll have one category of tasks I know need to get done that day, a list of tasks that might get done that day, and then a list of tasks I know I probably won’t get to but still don’t want to forget.
Specificity helps me stay on track, but having broader goals may be better for you. Again, it’s about what works best for your brain, values, needs, and work-life balance.
Ryan’s Minimalist Nightly Routine
When it comes to my nightly minimalist routine, I like to shift my focus from productivity and efficiency to winding down and focusing on myself. My minimalist nighttime routine is about shaking the day off no matter how it went and fully resetting my body and mind.
Set A Time To Wrap Up Tasks With A Nightly Routine
Work-life balance is highly important to me as a committed minimalist. While I do take a lot of pride in my work and maximizing quality work and efficiency during the day, I never neglect my time of rest and rejuvenation.
I make it a personal boundary of mine to stop work at least two hours before my head hits the pillow for bed, sometimes even earlier. I’ve found that, for me, this is the sweet spot of time I need to get my mind off the workday. I also always take the time to make that task list for the following day.
Use A Nighttime Minimalist Routine To Reset Your Space
Every night, I reset my space and stage it for the following day. For me, this looks like cleaning up around my desk, bedroom, and kitchen so these areas are clean and tidy in the morning and don’t add stress to my morning routine.
I think about what I need to do when I wake up, and I’ll set things out to make the morning easier. For example, I pull out one set of clothes and set it out on my nightstand. I may even prep ingredients for a meal if I know the next day will be busy or I’ve got a head start.
Log Off Of Electronics To Give Your Brain A Break
However, before I log off for the night, I always take a few minutes to clean out my inbox. I get rid of the emails I don’t need, bang out things that are easy to address, then snooze low priority emails until the next morning or afternoon. That way, when I open my email in the morning, I have only a few really important messages that I need to focus on for the first few hours of my work day.
Take Some Time To Read And Reset Your Mind
Lastly, I use the final hour of my night before sleeping to do something analog (no tech) that resets my mind and helps me get in a healthy mindset to start my next day. This could mean reading a book, journaling, or any other hobby that helps me mentally reset.
Ryan’s Weekend Routine As A Minimalist
Working a full-time job makes your weekends feel extra special. In the exhaustion of that weekly grind, it can be tempting to simply turn off for the entire weekend, zone out from life, and then dive right back into the chaos come Monday.
Being intentional with the way you spend your weekend will help you get your mind in a healthier place for the week to come. Minimalist weekend routines can help you reset your physical surroundings and equip your future self with the tools you need to make your life easier when you’re overwhelmed on weekdays.
Clean The House As Part Of Your Weekend Minimalist Routine
I find that I am much more productive and on top of things when I am working in a space that is fully clean and organized. In a cluttered, messy bedroom or office, it’s genuinely much harder to get anything done because the clutter distracts me. To set myself up for success, I go through a minimalist cleaning routine every week.
Try A Sunday Reset Routine
My minimalist cleaning routine takes the form of what I like to call a Sunday reset routine. I genuinely could not get through the week ahead without relying on this routine. In a nutshell, a Sunday reset routine is a way to take back control of my space at the start of each week. This can look like cleaning, organizing, meal prepping, or instilling other habits to prioritize prepping your surroundings every Sunday.
Evaluate Key Areas Of Your Life As Part Of Your Routine
It can be hard to focus on self-improvement in the heat of a daily grind flooded with other priorities. Before the start of each week, I pause to evaluate key areas of life, what makes me happy, and where I can improve. I include many different areas of my life in the process, thinking about things like work-life balance, money management, and my personal goals.
Focus On The Things That Refuel You
The most important aspect of my weekend routine is taking the time to recharge and refuel. I do this by setting intentional time aside to spend with my loved ones, uninterrupted by anything related to work or obligations. I also make it a priority to go outside for at least one to three hours every weekend to get some sun and reset my body and mind.
Make Your Daily Minimalism Routines Last
By setting clear goals, starting small, and implementing habits that work for your lifestyle and personality, you can create a customized routine that’ll simplify your day and help you set yourself up for success.
Your Turn!
- What part of your day could improve with a daily minimalist routine?
- How can you set yourself up for success each morning and night?
I look forward to weekends spent with friends and family, and when I’m in town, time with my church. It always seems the message applies to whatever I’m dealing with that day. You won’t believe how much responsibilities multiply when you retire from work. We keep a large written calendar and daily lists.