It turns out that for most of us, most of our days are governed by habits. Routines that, whether we are aware of them or not, play a huge role in how we go about our day. Think about it. When was the last time you put a lot of thought into how you brush your teeth? Or how to wash a dish? I bet you have a day of the week you normally do laundry or go to the gym. You have meals that you just know how to make, you don’t have to think about it. You don’t even have to measure the ingredients anymore.
Habit and routines built of those habits free up a lot of attention. It’s why I can be thinking about how my characters are going to react to each other in a particular scene while I am folding laundry. Our minds can go on a bit of autopilot. It allows us to multitask, which in turn can save us a bit of time and frees up brain space. It also lifts a little bit of stress off. Each thing that we don’t have to actively think about while we are doing it pulls a little burden off of us. Our brains are smart like that.
Habits and routines are good…until they aren’t.
Unfortunately, this is the same mechanism that has us reaching for that third drink at night, or sleeping in on the weekends. Watching another YouTube video or cleaning our plates when we aren’t even hungry. They become so ingrained in us that we don’t even realize that we have a choice.
By becoming aware of these habits and routines, we can change our behavior where ever it is wanted or needed. We can also use this trick of our brains to our advantage.
There are several methods to do this. One is to build better elements of habits into an existing routine. For example, say that you get up, walk to the kitchen and make coffee ever morning. Try adding a step in there to promote something you want to include, like taking a short walk while you are waiting for your coffee to be ready. This is called habit stacking.
You could also replace a less desirable behavior with a more desirable one. So instead of scrolling through social media, you set your phone aside and meditate or read an article promoting wellness.
You can schedule a time when you write, or go to the gym, or a time to meditate and make it part of your routine. It just is. Using my first example, you don’t think about whether you have time to brush your teeth at night or come up with reasons why you don’t have to do it.
Routine can help to nip Resistance in the butt. It can help to stave off procrastination.
One think to leave you with that I think is very important. Focus on is adding rather than subtracting. If we focus on the subtracting, we tend to feel like we are losing something. We may feel deprived. By focusing on the adding, we are gaining. We may feel we are growing. Shifting from negative to positive. That little mindset shift can make a world of difference.
I hope this little article will give you something to think about. I highly suggest you check out the sources listed below. Most of my information about routine and habit formation came from these two books. I’m sure there are other random sources that stuck in my brain over the years, but the two main sources are:
Charles Duhigg’s The Power of Habit
James Clear’s Atomic Habits
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