• Posted July 31, 2026

Daily Routine Key To Good Health, Study Says

Finding a comfortable, consistent daily schedule could be crucial to boosting your mental and physical health, a new study says.

People who maintain a consistent routine tend to have lower levels of pain and depression, researchers reported recently in the Journal of Behavioral Medicine.

There's a solid reason why: "If we are consistent with when we wake up, eat, work or study, interact with others and go to bed, those time cues help synchronize our internal body clocks. Over the long term, that seems to be linked with improved health outcomes,” according to study lead researcher Eunjin Tracy. She's assistant professor of human development at the University of Missouri, in Columbia.

The researchers noted that the health boost from sticking to a routine kicked in even if sleep didn't improve.

For the new study, researchers recruited 67 older adults with an average age of 68, including 37 who suffered from insomnia. The participants filled out questionnaires related to their daily activities, weight, depressive symptoms and pain.

Results showed that everyone felt less pain and depression if they maintained a regular schedule, even if they had insomnia. Folks who stuck to a routine also tended to have a healthier body weight, compared to those who didn't.

As Tracy explained in a news release, even small disruptions to daily schedules can interfere with a person’s internal clock, a phenomenon referred to as “social jet lag."

For example, people are doing themselves a disservice if they stay up later on the weekends, rather than keeping to their weekday schedule, Tracy said.

“As someone who wakes up and goes to bed at the same time every day, I think a daily routine can be helpful for people of all ages across their lifespan,” she said.

“There is growing awareness about the concept of social jet lag — waking up and going to bed at different times on weekends compared to weekdays — and the disruptions it causes to our circadian rhythm, so hopefully this research helps more people consider the health benefits of a daily routine,” Tracy continued.

“Since one-third of our lives will be spent sleeping, I think health and well-being research should be looked at it holistically from a 24-hour perspective and not just focus on when we are awake,” Tracy concluded.

More information

Mental Health America has more on creating healthy routines.

SOURCE: University of Missouri, news release, July 28, 2026