Starting a new job? Kids on summer break? Going back to school? One thing is for sure, life is constantly moving forward, which means our routines change! I’ve noticed for a lot of people when life changes, they often focus on the one thing that is changing and put everything else on hold. I would suggest a different mindset.
For example, when I was laid off from my 9-to-5 office job. I decided that at least for the short term, I was not going to actively look for another 9-to-5 job. This meant that my daily routine or my “normal” was about to completely change. After I worked with my husband to determine our financial plan for the short term, I began thinking about any areas of my life that could use an upgrade. First, I looked at my health. I wanted to increase my physical activity and improve my eating habits. Then, I looked at my creative outlets. I would like to devote time to creating something new each day, whether that be writing, video content or something more artistic. Also, I examined my relationships. I wanted to spend more time with my children and my husband. Instead of saying that I will take my time to adjust to the new schedule and then come back around to adjusting these areas of my life, I decided to take a different approach. I decided to start with day one of my new schedule incorporating these changes from the beginning. I created a schedule for myself that included daily physical activity and blocked off time for creating content. I spent time researching nutrition to determine exactly how I wanted to improve my eating habits. I blocked off time to go to lunch at my kids’ school and volunteered for an upcoming field trip. The key was that I began incorporating these changes on day one!
Often people want to give themselves an adjustment period when life changes before they want to consider making changes in other areas of their lives. My experience is that by the time you’ve adjusted to the change, you have already established your new normal. The routine and habits are already solidified. It is much less likely that you will want to make more change after things have settled down. Routine is comfortable and easy! For most of us, we are constantly working toward normal. Then it becomes very difficult to make changes and you find yourself needing to change habits.
It is a huge opportunity when you know that your life or your schedule is about to change. This is a great time (before the event if possible) to assess other areas in your life that may need some improvement. It doesn’t necessarily need to be a dramatic change, but it is much easier to establish habits from the beginning. Take exercise as an example. If your kids are off for the summer, it changes your morning schedule. You prefer morning workouts or tend to be more successful if you work out in the morning. If you wait a couple weeks into the summer thinking you will figure out your workout routine, guess what life gets in the way and you are used to your new summer schedule. Chances are the workouts will go by the wayside. But what if on day one, you had a plan where you woke up 20 minutes early to get your workout in. You started this from the first day of summer when the rest of your morning routine changed anyway. It would be much easier for this new routine to feel normal after a week or two then having to come back and change the routine again.
Yes, life moves fast and time passes. Things change. Schedules and routines change. This can derail us or empower us. Seeing the opportunity in any change is extremely empowering!