Extra credit routines help you do the hard jobs

I was thinking about how easy it is for me to make my routines too long, with too many tasks in them. There are things that absolutely have to be done in my morning routine – like changing nappies, breakfast dishes and so on. But then there are things that can slide more easily, like sweeping the floor post-breakfast etc, especially when I get tied up chasing toddlers around the house, and you just know they’re going to run through the swept  up piles of sweepings…

Everyone has something that seems like an insurmountable obstacle, even though it doesn’t really take that long, and those are the things that you want to build up a habit of doing.

But you don’t want to leave your regular routines incomplete while you do.  So I had an idea – split those jobs off into an extra credit routine. So I did, and I’m enjoying my completed star for my morning routine, and giving myself a funny encouraging message to do those extra important jobs as well.

2025 update

This concept works really well with the updated app!
You can now add sections to routines, so it’s possible to add extra tasks inside of a list itself.
Plus, you can mark a routine as complete even if you’re not going to finish those extras.

This allows you to list “extra” tasks above the basics, so you can take into account your your capacity, energy, and other commitments for the day, and adapt your workload accordingly.