Routine

Every morning I get up and use the restroom, wash my face, brush my teeth, and put on my contacts. I then put on my gym clothes and take my dog out for a walk. After the walk I head to the gym. I do this every day. It has gotten to the point where it is automatic. My body and mind know what do to and they do it.

How did this happen? How did this routine form?

The answer to both questions above is this: I wanted to do these things because of the benefits they provide me in the short term and the long term. In order to create the routine and habit I had to lay out my plan, my reasons, and my rewards. I then picked the time to do all of this. And yes I do most of the above activities at the same time each day, on days where this does not happen the events do happen in the same order. The natural flow created itself.

The above is, in my opinion a good routine to get into. You can mindless go through the motions on a bad routine as well. This could be something like the following:

You come home, take your shoes off, grab a drink, some snacks, and sit on the couch, grab the remote, and start watching TV. Originally you probably said let me catch up on the news, let me see the sports, but it turns into a 3 to 4 hour TV binge watching campaign. Sad part, you don’t even know what you watched.

I have been there, we all probably have. So how do we break a bad habit or routine?

For me I had to find activities that were similar, yet positive, that could replace the bad routine. So let’s use the TV watching example. I would analyze the routine and see what I wanted to do instead and why. Then I created the plan. When I came home, instead of going to the fridge, I would go to my room and change clothes. Then I would go to the fridge for a refreshment. On the door of the fridge I would have a note to myself. In this case I wanted to learn how to use a CAD program. So the note said “Its CAD Time!” I would grab my snacks and instead of going to the couch I would go to the computer. I enrolled into a CAD course that had one hour sessions. I would start it up and start watching and take notes. Some days I would take two classes. This routine took about two weeks to become automatic. I had a reason and a purpose with my actions once I got home. Once the CAD class was over, I looked for a new course or other activity that I could do that would enrich my life.

What activities and routines do you want to form?

What activities and routines to you want to get rid of?

It all starts with the desire, from there the actions will fall into place.

You can do it!