The end of summer can feel like a letdown.

Vacations are over. The kids are back in school. Long sunny days are starting to feel shorter.

If summer adventures are ending, what’s next? Here’s an idea: Why not embrace routine?

Turns out that keeping a daily routine is good for our mental and physical health. In Part 1 of our two-part series Let’s Make a Plan, we’ll look at what positive benefits routines can bring to our wellbeing, as well as how to make a new routine stick.

Here’s what we know about how routines are good for us:

We might be hard-wired to love routine

• A study by researchers at Tel Aviv University found that repetitive behavior in general—and especially ritualistic-like behavior—is not only a human phenomenon but also one in the animal world.
• Their conclusion: ritualistic behavior in both humans and animals developed as a way to induce calm and manage stress.

A sleep schedule is important—even for adults

• Experts at Northwestern Medicine suggest that routines for sleep—maintaining consistent times for waking and going to bed—can positively affect your mental sharpness, emotional well-being and energy.
• Maintaining consistent times for waking and going to bed can help you get better rest.

Routines are good for families and kids

A 50-year review of a study of family routines and rituals by the American Psychological Association’s Journal of Family Psychology finds that family routines and rituals are alive and well.

• These routines are associated with marital satisfaction, adolescents’ sense of personal identity, children’s health, academic achievement and stronger family relationships.

The study found that young children are healthier and their behavior is better regulated when there are predictable routines in the family.

• Children with regular bedtime routines get to sleep sooner and wake up less frequently during the night than those with less regular routines, according to one study.

Regular routines in the household, according to the review, shorten bouts of respiratory infections in infants and improve preschool children’s health.

Routines reduce “decision fatigue”

Life is complicated and decision fatigue—a state of mental overload from having to make too many decisions on a daily basis—is real, according to an article in the Journal of American Medicine Association.

Developing positive daily habits help streamline our choices.

• Simplify your life by setting up the right routines to decrease anxiety and conserve your energy for the decisions that really matter.

Three Tips for Starting a New Routine

Starting a new routine can seem daunting. You may worry: What if I fail?

Relax. Life has a way of presenting challenges to our commitments to healthy routines, but the secret is to keep at it. A new routine might not change your life overnight, but any additional daily steps you take will make life a little better. Remind yourself the reasons why you want to be healthier and happier.

Some practical tips: