We’ve all been there. You wake up between 7 and 9, have a quick breakfast, or not at all, and start work. Perhaps you’re hoping to get that big project out of the way to get ahead, then blast away some of the more difficult topics while you’re on a roll.
The trouble is, if you set off working as soon as possible after waking up, the chances are that something will stop you. It could be that you’re not awake properly and so don’t work as quickly as you’d like, or that you burn out in the first few morning hours, drudging through your afternoon in a low-energy, unproductive state.
After all, despite the Pomodoro technique being effective, that little timer can quickly become the focus of as much misplaced irritation as your alarm clock.
Either way, your work day doesn’t go as planned and it feels awful. Luckily there is an easy way to counteract this: make a daily routine checklist in Process Street.
“Routine provides a sense of structure and familiarity… You wake up with a sense of ownership, order, and organization of your life.”
Consider this for a second: how many times have you searched for, or seen, a post about Richard Branson’s morning routine? People are interested in the routines of success stories such as Branson and Obama because, frankly, having a routine works.
Even if you only wake up at the same time every morning, that single act can contribute to a steadier attention span and, with regular short breaks, a better work rhythm. In short, one of the simplest ways to increase your work speed, protect your attention span, lower stress, and improve how you manage your time is to stamp out your own routine.
A daily routine checklist is a reusable sequence of tasks you follow each day so important steps do not depend on memory. In Process Street, that checklist now lives as a workflow. Each time it runs, you get a workflow run that can be assigned, scheduled, completed, and reviewed. Docs can hold the instructions, Ops can run the recurring work, and Cora can help turn messy notes into a cleaner workflow when you need help building it out.
What to Include in a Daily Routine Checklist
Your daily routine should be practical, not aspirational. Include a small set of setup tasks, priority tasks, recurring admin, breaks, and a shutdown review. A morning routine checklist might include waking up at the same time, reviewing your calendar, choosing the most important task, and starting your first focus block. A work routine checklist might include checking messages, planning your next work day, reviewing open tasks, and closing out anything that cannot wait.
If you want a more flexible way to build repeatable checklists from scratch, Process Street’s checklist creator guide is a useful companion. This post focuses on a daily routine checklist you can schedule and run every day.
How to Create a Daily Routine Checklist Using Process Street
What’s that? You don’t know how to make a daily routine checklist with us? Well, worry not. The four steps are simple: create the workflow, fill in your tasks, schedule the workflow to run daily, and track your results.
Create Your Workflow
First you need to create a new workflow. Older Process Street screenshots used the word template for this reusable structure, but the current product language is workflow. You need to be logged into your Process Street account, then create a blank workflow to start your routine from scratch.
Name your workflow something direct, like “My Daily Routine.” Once you’ve named it and submitted it, you’ll be left with your own blank workflow. This is the base process you will reuse, not the completed checklist for one specific day.
Fill in Your Tasks
Now fill in your tasks. Click into the task list and add each step of the routine in the order you want to complete it. Start with the obvious items: wake up, review your calendar, plan your day, spend time answering priority messages, take a short break, and review what was completed.
Just type into the box and name each task clearly. Once the tasks are named, add enough detail to make them useful. You can add instructions, form fields, due dates, assignments, approvals, and links to supporting documents. For a personal routine, keep the workflow lightweight. For a team routine, those controls help recurring work happen the same way every time.
Schedule the Workflow to Run Daily
Once the tasks are in place, schedule the workflow. This replaces the old “Schedule checklists” flow from the earlier version of the product. The goal is the same: make sure a fresh workflow run appears when you need it, instead of relying on yourself to remember.
For a daily routine, set the workflow to run every weekday or every calendar day, depending on how you work. If the routine is for a morning work block, schedule it before work starts. If it is for a shutdown routine, schedule it near the end of the day.
Track Your Results
Finally, track your results. Completed workflow runs show you which dates are done, which are still open, and which steps caused friction. Just like the old checklist results view, this gives you a record of what happened rather than a vague feeling that your routine is or is not working.
If a task keeps getting skipped, rewrite it. If the routine is too long, cut it down. If a handoff keeps slipping, add an assignee, due date, or notification. The checklist is not just a reminder; it is a feedback loop for how your day actually works.
Get Our Daily Routine Checklist
That’s all there is to it. As long as you have a little self-discipline, you can start improving your work speed and attention span by using your brand new daily routine workflow.
If you want a head start, use the Daily Routine Checklist template below. You can run it as-is, copy it into your own organization, or adapt it into a daily checklist template for your team.
Daily Routine Checklist FAQ
What should be in a daily routine checklist?
Include only the steps that make the day run better: planning, priority setting, recurring admin, breaks, and a shutdown review. If a step does not change what you do next, remove it.
How do you create a daily routine?
Start with the parts of the day that repeat. Write them as tasks, put them in the order you want to complete them, then schedule the routine so it appears when you need it.
Should I use a checklist, planner, or habit tracker?
Use a checklist when the order of tasks matters. Use a planner when you need to organize time. Use a habit tracker when you only need to record whether something happened. A daily routine often benefits from all three, but the checklist is the best place to start.