People are always telling you how to maximise your mornings, but your morning routine -- whatever it may be -- is fine. What you really need is an afternoon routine.

Commutes are frustrating because they make us feel like we don't have any control. You're either trapped on a bus or train, or trapped in a car crawling along the motorway. But if you focus on what you can control, your time heading to and from work can become the best, most enriching parts of your day.

I don't know about you, but my world has been a little more stressful since... say, last November. Even without the continuous news updates -- and the time I spend reading them, along with the various Twitter threads that try to game theorise them -- I've got a lot to manage and balance in my life: I work part-time as an editor, my debut novel comes out this May, I'm completing assignments for a number of freelance writing clients, I teach writing classes and I'm a volunteer tutor. (And that's just the work stuff.)

I've visited all seven continents, which means sleeping in many different time zones and situations. After trying to sleep on cruise ships, aeroplanes, and in cities that come alive at night, I have the perfect bedtime routine that helps me fall asleep no matter how jet lagged I am.

When a stressful situation starts to make your anxiety kick in, it's easy for your brain to get lost down the worry rabbit hole. To counteract this, give yourself an anxiety routine to run through when you feel it creeping up.

Right before you climb into bed with your partner, or say good night to your roommate, what's the last thing you talk about? If it's something that gets your anxiety or your anger up, you might be better off switching topics.

Every day your work gets interrupted by emails, phone calls and conversations with your boss. To work with focus, instead of reactively, start your day by deciding the three things you want to get done each day.

Yoga as a bedtime routine can help you relax, fall asleep quicker and get more rest so you wake feeling refreshed. If you don't have a routine that works, try this 20-minute practice designed to help you wind down after a long day.

Whether or not you have kids, you probably have an opinion on parenting. Should mums and dads enforce rules strictly, whether their kids like it or not? Or is it more important to let kids enjoy themselves, even if that means bending the rules sometimes?

One of the most discussed concepts in personal finance is the "Latte Factor," an idea first popularised by the personal finance writer and speaker David Bach. The idea, in a nutshell, is that you can achieve a great deal of personal finance success by finding small things to cut in your life, and he used the example of a daily latte that one might purchase at a coffee shop, hence the name "Latte Factor."

Actor Terry Crews has a simple mantra on how you can stick to the habit of going to the gym: treat it like a spa. You can even go and not work out, if you don't feel like it. But just go.

When you first wake up in the morning, do you check your phone? If so, you might be used to having your day hijacked before you get started. Change this by making it the last thing you check.

Whenever you use a smart phone or a website, you're using an user interface. It has been designed to help you do what you want: check your messages, read an article, find information, get stuff done. The routines with which we go about our daily lives are like an interface too. We just don't often think about it.

No matter what it is that makes you happy, you can get bored of it after a while. This is because of a concept known as "hedonic adaptation." Simply put, there's no one thing that will make you happy forever. Eventually, you get used to it and need something different. That's why you need to break your routine.

When you have kids, especially young ones, it can be tough to get everyone out the door on time. Establishing a solid morning routine can help, but what's your secret to getting your kids (and yourself) ready on schedule?

Trello is an awesome tool that can help you organise your entire life. Combine it with the automation magic of Zapier, and Trello can remind you of all your priorities and the routines you want to carry out.

Warm up routines and pregame rituals are pretty common among athletes, but we don't usually think about them with other things. Over on Medium, writer Srinivas Rao points out a pregame ritual is useful for creative types too.

The way you start your morning can make or break the rest of your day. The SAVERS acronym reminds us of six habits or rituals that can improve our morning routines.

Your mornings don't have to be disastrous, stress-filled affairs. You can create a "wake up happier" spot in your home to make mornings as calm or as exciting as you need them to be for a good boost to your mood.