Routines, however flexible and varied, are pretty much unavoidable for students. Although many people object to routines because they prefer an open-ended schedule, there are many proven benefits to getting into a groove.
Research indicates that routines greatly reduce the cognitive demands on individuals and by doing so preserve our limited decision-making capacity. This means that the more we establish a daily routine, the more some things become automatic and reduce the number of small decisions we have to make in the course of a day. This essentially saves energy and brainpower for bigger decisions and can lead to more deliberate choices.
According to a 2005 study by researchers at the University of Denmark, “increasing routinization will decrease uncertainty.” Marcus C. Becker and Thorbjorn Knudsen discuss “pervasive uncertainty” – the inability to make any decisions – and argue that the problem lies in the gap between choices and their outcomes if it is not well defined. Becker and Knudsen argue that uncertainty is linked to subjective probabilities, which they explain as all of the imagined options and the associated potential outcomes for each choice. The individual is not presented with a choice between two things: first, they need to come up with all of the potential options and their outcomes, both good and bad, and the research argues that these subjective probabilities lead to uncertainty.
For a university student, the implications of these ideas relate most directly to schoolwork. When I am given an essay assignment, I am presented with some amount of choice in terms of content. I can choose to write about A, B, or C, each with their own set of anticipated consequences that I can come up with. For example, I may choose to write about A but I can anticipate that there likely isn’t much research out there to support my argument because it is an obscure topic. The outcome I have come up with in this instance is that it will be more work and the probability of this outcome occurring is fairly high. I can choose to write about B, but it’s a very predictable topic and my professor often rewards originality. The outcome I have come up with for topic B is that it will be easy, but the outcome (my grade) is less than desirable. Each course of action has a foreseeable set of consequences and anticipated outcomes and in order to make a decision, I need to weigh these options in terms of my own preferences and abilities.
These are some subjective probabilities that I can generate to inform my decision on the content of my essay. However, if I have had to make small decisions about everything from what I’m going to eat for breakfast to what shampoo I’m going to use and so on (if these things change daily and are not a part of my routine), then I may find that I have more uncertainty around my essay topic. What Becker and Knudsen are proposing is that if I was more established in a daily routine, I would have cognitive energy stores that I could draw on to make this larger decision in my day easier.
To carry this example a step further, my uncertainty around my essay topic may lead me to change my mind later and have to start over with a new topic, creating unnecessary stress as I have wasted valuable time on my first topic. Uncertainty could also lead me to procrastinate, which will only further elevate my stress levels as my deadline draws closer. This is just one example of the ways in which a routine can preserve cognitive energy for school-related decisions and help to boost productivity.
Routines manage stress by helping us know what to expect from each day. There are numerous other benefits to routines: for example, going to sleep around the same time every night and waking up around the same time each morning helps your body to adjust to a regular sleep schedule so that you will find it easier to go to sleep and wake up feeling more awake each day. Getting into a regular exercise routine has numerous benefits to physical and mental health as well. Reducing stress, getting enough sleep, and a balance of physical activity are all huge contributors to managing our mental health as students and routines are a proven and effective way to bring these factors together and help create a positive learning experience.
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The Ontarion publishes independent, student-produced news, opinion, and commentary for University of Guelph students so that they can make informed decisions in their lives. To do this, The Ontarion provides learning opportunities and training in journalism, media production, leadership, board governance, and other aspects of nonprofit news.
The Ontarion is the University of Guelph’s independent student newspaper. It began in 1951 as part of the Ontario Agricultural College and then began to represent the entire University of Guelph once it amalgamated in 1964. The Ontarion incorporated in May 1970 as The Ontarion, Inc., a not-for-profit corporation registered with the province of Ontario.