A University of Missouri study led by Eunjin Tracy has found that older adults who keep regular daily schedules tend to report less physical pain and fewer depressive symptoms, even when sleep is poor.
Researchers suggest routines such as waking up at the same time each day, eating meals on a predictable timetable, socialising, and going to bed at consistent times may help the body’s internal clock and deliver health benefits beyond improved sleep.
The findings come as sleep difficulties are common among older adults. The National Council on Aging notes that roughly half of adults aged 60 and older report insomnia symptoms.
To investigate the relationship between sleep, daily habits and overall health, Tracy examined survey responses from 67 older adults, of whom 37 reported insomnia.
As expected, those with insomnia generally reported more physical pain and higher levels of depression than participants without the condition. However, another pattern emerged when Tracy examined their daily routines.
Participants who maintained more consistent schedules tended to report less pain and fewer depressive symptoms, regardless of their sleep quality.
“Regardless of sleep quality, those who reported having a regular daily routine had lower levels of physical pain and less depression compared to those without a daily routine,” Tracy said. “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.”
Why Your Body’s Internal Clock Matters
One possible explanation involves the circadian rhythm, the body’s natural 24-hour timing system. This internal clock helps coordinate when we feel awake or sleepy and influences numerous biological processes, including hormone activity, metabolism and mood.
Rather than operating independently of our surroundings, the circadian system responds to signals that help it keep time. Light and darkness are especially important, but regular activities such as eating, working, interacting with others and sleeping can also provide timing cues.
When these signals follow a predictable pattern, they help keep the body’s biological rhythms aligned. Irregular schedules, on the other hand, can interfere with that coordination.
“When we regulate our circadian rhythm well, our bodies function well, but if it gets too distracted, our bodies don’t function as well,” Tracy said.
Although the study did not establish that regular routines directly reduce pain or depression, the findings point to circadian regulation as one possible explanation for the connection.
The Hidden Effects of Social Jet Lag
Even relatively small changes in daily schedules may disrupt the body’s internal clock. One common example is social jet lag, which occurs when a person’s sleep schedule shifts between workdays and days off.
Someone who wakes up early throughout the week but stays up late and sleeps in on weekends may experience this mismatch. The resulting disruption resembles some of the effects of travelling across time zones, even though the person has never left home.
Tracy suggests that maintaining reasonably consistent schedules throughout the entire week, including weekends, may help limit these disruptions and support healthier circadian rhythms.
“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,” Tracy 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. Since one-third of our lives will be spent sleeping, I think health and well-being research should be looked at holistically from a 24-hour perspective and not just focus on when we are awake.”
A Simple Habit With Potential Health Benefits
The research highlights an aspect of healthy living that can be easy to overlook. While getting enough quality sleep remains important, the consistency of activities throughout the day may also be connected to how people feel physically and emotionally.
Because the study relied on survey data from a relatively small group of older adults, it cannot prove that adopting a regular routine will relieve pain or depression. Larger studies would be needed to establish whether changing daily schedules directly improves these outcomes.
Still, the findings suggest that a predictable daily routine may be a useful component of a broader approach to health, particularly for people experiencing insomnia.
For older adults and potentially people of other ages, simple habits such as maintaining regular waking times, eating meals on a consistent schedule, and limiting major changes in weekend sleep patterns may help support the body’s natural rhythms.
The study, “Behavioral-social rhythms and insomnia symptoms: associations with pain, body mass index, and depressive symptoms among older adults,” was published in the Journal of Behavioral Medicine.
