Routine (noun)

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  1. A customary or regular course of procedure.
  2. Commonplace tasks, chores, or duties as must be done regularly or at specified intervals; typical or everyday activity.
  3. Regular, unvarying, habitual, unimaginative, or rote procedure.
  4. An unvarying and constantly repeated formula, as of speech or action; convenient or predictable response.

We all have routines. In the morning, for instance, we make our beds and brush our teeth. Routines allow us to run on autopilot and to reserve energy and headspace.  They remove the number of decisions we need to make in a day, thereby protecting us from decision fatigue. Having routines can also give us a sense of control over certain aspects of our lives. This sense of control is especially important to us during times of uncertainty and when life throws us curveballs.