The Self-Improvement Menu: How to Keep Your Routine Fresh

Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash

Have you ever tried to build habits but you couldn’t get them to stick? Have you ever given up on a habit because you got bored of it? Or are you looking to give yourself more flexibility in your self-improvement routine? If you answered “Yes” to any of these questions, stick around! In this article, you’ll learn a strategy that makes self-improvement easier and more flexible. Introducing the self-improvement menu!

The self-improvement menu is a way for you to spice up your routine, create new habits, keep self-improvement fresh, and more!

Let’s dive in!

What is the self-improvement menu?

The self-improvement menu is an alternative to the popular to-do list. The self-improvement menu is not just a list of things you need to do during the day. It’s more than that.

It is a list of things you need to do during the day and a list of things you want to do. The list of things you want to do are habits that you can choose from to do during the day. 

This means that there are some things you need to do, these are your non-negotiables. This is one category. These are things you’re going to do, no matter what. You’ll want to do them all every day. Unless you’re doing something such as weightlifting, where you’re most likely on a 3-day, 4-day, 5-day, or 6-day routine. In that case, do that habit as needed.

There are also beneficial habits that you want to do. But aren’t your top priority. You want to make sure that you do at least a few things in this secondary category every day. If you can do them all, great! But if you don’t have time to do all of them, no sweat. Set a minimum amount of these things to do each day. Getting more of them done would be nice, but even if you only hit the minimum amount, you’ll feel good about the day. I like to choose at least three habits in this category every day. 

And then there is the bonus category. These are things that you may not normally do daily, but they help you when you do them. This includes the things you’d do once in a blue moon. If you do them, great! If not, you’ll still have a great day because you did the non-negotiables and the secondary habits. 

The self-improvement menu gives you flexibility

This strategy gives you flexibility in your daily routine. It reduces the stress of crossing everything off of your to-do list. The self-improvement menu builds your priorities into your daily routine. Each category tells you the level of importance of each task. That way, you can prioritize what habits you do each day.

The self-improvement menu is not an excuse to slack off on habits that you’ve already built. You still need to do your habits every day. Especially if you want to reap the benefits of them. 

Instead, the self-improvement menu is a way to fit more habits into your weekly routine that you may not have had time for. You can rotate your secondary and bonus habits each day. This allows you to fit several habits throughout the week that you may not have had time for.

The self-improvement menu also gives you flexibility with time. To-do lists can cause you to stress out about doing everything on the list throughout the day. This causes you to rush through habits. And rushing through the habits reduces the value that you get out of them.

You need to take your time through each habit. Maximize your focus and presence when you engage with each habit. That’s how you gain the rewards of them. The self-improvement menu allows you to do this. 

You won’t be stressed out trying to cross everything off your to-do list anymore. Instead, you can take more time on each habit as needed. You know that you don’t need to cross every single thing off the list.

As long as you get all of your non-negotiables and some secondary habits done, you’ll have a productive day.

Customization

Not only does the self-improvement menu give you flexibility, but it also gives you customization as well.

You get to choose which habits you’re going to work on each day. And you get to choose how many habits you’ll work on. 

This customization makes your routine more personalized. Because each category is based on the habit’s priority level for you, this menu gives you more control over what you’re doing each day. And it gives you this control because of intentionality. You’re intentionally choosing what your priorities are. And you’re intentionally choosing which habits you want to work on. 

You also give yourself clarity with this strategy. By putting each habit into a category, you know which ones are the most important for you. This helps you schedule your habits to better suit your needs. 

The customization of your self-improvement menu also helps you to bring up lagging habits that you tend to slack off on. And you can rotate your habits to keep things fresh. If you’re going to rotate habits, scheduling your rotation is a smart idea. This ensures you don’t let one habit slip. 

Keeps things fresh

You’ll no longer quickly get bored of your habits after using the self-improvement menu. Having the flexibility to do different habits each day keeps them fresh. 

Many people give up on their self-improvement habits simply because they get bored. Self-improvement involves doing the same habits over and over again. 

But you won’t fall into this trap using the self-improvement menu. Your days will be different enough to keep them from feeling stale… If you need them to be different.

Keep in mind that self-improvement habits can and will get boring from time to time. Self-improvement is a grind. It’s repetitive for a reason. You need consistency to gain the rewards of the habit. 

But, the self-improvement menu is an antidote to the boredom that will set in. The menu reduces your boredom by rotating different habits in and out of your daily routine. 

No more to-do lists…

You’ll never need to turn your self-improvement routine into a series of endless to-do lists again.

To-do lists are an effective tool for getting things done. But they can make habits boring. To-do lists can strip the meaning of the habit out of your mind. The habit becomes just another thing to cross off your list, instead of something you’re doing to help you grow as a person.

The self-improvement menu helps prevent your self-improvement habits from losing their meaning. You keep your priorities in mind each day. Each habit has its place in your routine. 

Instead of focusing your energy on doing the habit simply to cross it off the list, you take your time with it. You give each habit the attention it needs. This allows you to reap the full benefits of the habit. 

After all, would you do the habit if you weren’t going to reap the benefits of it? The answer is most likely “no”. 

How to create your self-improvement menu

The first step to creating your menu is to determine your priorities. What’s most important to you? What’s not important to you? And what’s important to you, but not as important as other things?

From there, write out all the habits you’re currently working on. Add in any self-improvement habits you do infrequently. And add in any habits you want to start working on.

Create your categories. You can go with the non-negotiables, secondary, and bonus categories like I did. Or you can create your own. It’s up to you how you divide your habits.

Then, put each habit into the appropriate category for you. Some categories will have more habits than others. 

And once you get them organized, you can then customize the categories even more.

For example, maybe you have 5 things in your secondary category. You set a goal to do 3 of them each day. Or maybe you have 3 things in your bonus category. Maybe you set a goal of 1 per week. 

It’s up to you how you set up your self-improvement menu. 

After you’ve customized your self-improvement menu, it’s time to put it into your routine. 

Breathe new life into your routine

The self-improvement menu breathes new life into your routine. 

It shakes things up. And it can help you add new habits to your routine that you’ve been meaning to try. 

You’ll take some pressure off yourself by not needing to cross a million things off of a to-do list. 

Instead, you’ll get your non-negotiable priorities done each day. And then you’ll fill the rest of your day out with what you can fit into it. 

If you can’t fit every secondary habit into the day, you can do the ones you didn’t get to the next day.

The self-improvement menu helps you stick to your habits.

I’d like to thank Marianna Morais on Medium for this idea of a self-improvement menu. Her “How To Stick To Your Morning Routine” article inspired me to create this self-improvement menu for your daily routine. Check out her article here.