Are routines just monotonous? Or are they valuable?
Setting useful routines ensures important things get done every day.
Call them rituals, behaviors, or habits, good routines support good physical and mental health, strengthen an organized household, and ensure that important things do not get missed. But they can also drift into rote behaviors, or mechanical, unthinking actions.
If you do the same things again and again in the same order, is that valuable? Or could you be in a rut?
Like learning a new language by memorizing vocabulary lists, rigidly following a routine without pausing to consider effectiveness is not useful. You'll never achieve goals if you keep doing the same unproductive things again and again.
So how do you know when a routine has become a rut? And when does clinging to a routine provide stability – or become a crutch?
Check out the full video here.
What is a Routine?
A routine is a series of habits you do to achieve some goal or set of goals. A healthy routine frees up the mental energy required to make a lot of small decisions.
Once a routine truly becomes a habit, you can go on autopilot and achieve goals without constant decision-making about what to do next.
Paradoxically, a good routine gives you freedom.
But an unhealthy routine can slow you down. Relaxing by watching television every night for hours can leave you tired the next day. In a community group, doing things the same way you did them 5 years ago leads ineffective programming.
Routines that are no longer refreshing, encouraging, and ultimately aligned with goals are not helpful.
Is this routine good or bad?
So how can you tell if a routine is worth it?
Answer Yes or No to the following questions:
Does it provide stability and predictability in a season of your life when that is missing?
Does it promote your overall health and wellness?
Does it protect you from other self-destructive habits?
Does it provide space for creativity and fresh ideas while helping meet your ultimate goals?
Does it support balance between work, home, play, and self-care?
If you answered no to any of these, consider changing it up.
Even good and healthy routines can and should be refreshed periodically. Consider disrupting bad routines - or ditching them altogether for something new.
It's your routine. Change it up however you like.
You don’t need to wait until a new quarter or a new year to consciously make changes that will support your overall well-being.
Examine what you're doing and see if you can make improvements.
When you're ready to tackle your tough organization project, I am here to help you learn how.
Let's RETHINK organization together.
For more information, visit the RETHINK website today.
Mandy Thomas is a professional organizer fulfilling her lifelong passion for creating order out of chaos. She finds joy in helping people tackle their most overwhelming spaces and collections to create the optimal living space and enjoy their homes.
RETHINK organization is on a mission to help you develop long-term patterns of organization that you can maintain and feel good about long after our work together is done.
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