What do you think of when you hear the word “routine”? How about “structure”? There’s a chance that you immediately get bored when you read those words. However, whether you call it routine, structure, or a habit, that structure can be important to succeeding in your business. This goes double if you manage yourself or are working from home because both situations put you in charge of both your work and your time management.

So, why should you create a structure for your work day? Here are just a few reasons to create a routine for your work day.

Habits Make It Easy to Know What You Should Be Doing
Creating a structure for your workday might take some time initially, but that basic structure can be used for every day’s basic schedule. Think about your morning. It’s easier to get everything done when you know that you’re going to get up first, then have breakfast, then get dressed. You don’t have to spend time deciding what to do; the structure you’ve created allows you to do that.

The same can be said of structuring your work day. If you know that first thing in the morning you’ll check your email, then you’ll work on one task for an hour, then you’ll check your email again, then take a 15-minute break, you’ll get into habits that make it easier for you to manage your tasks. You can always change things up for particular projects, but on an average day you won’t have to worry about what to do first.

Breaking Down Tasks Make Them More Manageable
Having a defined structure for your work day will often require breaking down big projects into smaller tasks, and that’s a great way to ensure that you’ll keep your focus and make every project manageable. That can make large projects easier to manage because you’ll take them in small chunks and can adjust your course if something isn’t working along the way.

Breaking Down Your Day Lets You Create A Schedule That Works For You
Most of us have times in the day where we’re more productive. By breaking down your schedule according to that productivity, you can get more done at once. For example, if you come back from lunch feeling newly energized, reserve the hour after lunch for doing as many tasks as you are able—no meetings to get between your productive time and your most important tasks.

Structure Helps You Have a Backup Plan
Sometimes you just can’t work on the project you wanted to work on. Maybe you’re waiting on confirmation from a customer or information from a coworker. That happens. Having a structure for your day and breaking your day down into specific tasks could help keep you from waiting to work on that project. When you’ve got a structure in place, you can move tasks when you need to.

Don’t Force Yourself To Build Motivation
We all have dips in our motivation during the week, but having a routine in place can help keep flagging motivation from having an impact on your day. Using a routine to accomplish tasks is a lot easier than relying on motivation, after all, and while you will have to motivate yourself to get those habits in place you’ll be giving yourself a stronger foundation to build on every day.