# Daily routine ideas, one small step at a time

A routine is a few small habits done in the same order, so you do not have to decide each one. Pick the routine that fits your day, start with two or three of its steps, and add more once they feel easy.

## The routines

- [Morning routine](https://www.cozyhabittracker.com/routines/morning-routine): Eight small steps before the day gets busy. 8 steps, about 35 minutes.
- [Night routine](https://www.cozyhabittracker.com/routines/night-routine): Eight soft steps from dinner to lights out. 8 steps, about 45 minutes.
- [Study routine](https://www.cozyhabittracker.com/routines/study-routine): Short focus blocks, real breaks, a quick review. 8 steps, about 70 minutes.
- [After school routine](https://www.cozyhabittracker.com/routines/after-school-routine): Snack, break, homework, then time for you. 8 steps, about 2 hours.
- [Sunday reset](https://www.cozyhabittracker.com/routines/sunday-reset): Fresh sheets, a plan, and a calmer Monday. 9 steps, about 2 hours.
- [That girl routine](https://www.cozyhabittracker.com/routines/that-girl-routine): Put together, not perfect. 8 steps, about 80 minutes.
- [Work from home routine](https://www.cozyhabittracker.com/routines/work-from-home-routine): A start, real breaks, and an end to the day. 8 steps, about 2 hours.
- [Busy mom routine](https://www.cozyhabittracker.com/routines/busy-mom-routine): Five-minute pieces that fit around the kids. 9 steps, about 40 minutes.

## Build your own in four steps

None of these quite fit your day? Make your own the same way.

1. **Pick a moment that already happens.** Hook the routine onto something you do every day anyway: waking up, getting home, brushing your teeth.
2. **Choose three small steps.** Things you could still do on a tired day. Two minutes is plenty to start with.
3. **Put them in order.** The same order every time, so each step reminds you of the next. That is [habit stacking](https://www.cozyhabittracker.com/blog/habit-stacking).
4. **Track it, kindly.** Tick each step off and watch the streak grow, but let a missed day be just that. [How to build a habit](https://www.cozyhabittracker.com/blog/how-to-build-a-habit) has more.

## Make your routine in Cozy

Each step becomes a habit card that fills with color as you tick it off, in the order you do them, with a streak that forgives a hard day. [Cozy](https://www.cozyhabittracker.com/) is a cute habit tracker for iPhone and Android.

## Questions people ask

### What is a good daily routine?

One you can keep on a normal day: a few small steps in the morning, a few at night, and something for the hours in between. Start with fewer steps than you think you need.

### How many steps should a routine have?

Three to five is plenty to start. Each routine here has more than that, so you can pick the ones that fit your day.

### How long does it take to build a routine?

It varies a lot from person to person. A well-known study from University College London (Lally and others, 2009) found a median of 66 days for a new habit to feel automatic, with a range of 18 to 254. There is more in [how long it takes to form a habit](https://www.cozyhabittracker.com/blog/how-long-does-it-take-to-form-a-habit).

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This page on the web: https://www.cozyhabittracker.com/routines