Revelling In Routine

Routine can be the diff erence between success and failure and can even improve your wellbeing and propensity to live a happy, meaningful life.

- Marie Rowland

In an age of disruption and chasing spontaneity there’s still something to be said for predictability and process. However, when the notion of routine is raised, a shudder of boredom is the response. Many creative types or innovators feel that the drudgery of routine is an enemy of the imagination. One of the most iconic and revered of American writers, John Steinbeck, lamented, “It’s a hard thing to leave any deeply routined life, even if you hate it.” Yet, when novelty is all you seek, you forget the subtle power of routine and how it can be woven into your life to enhance it and stabilise you.

Finding your groove

While variety may be the spice of life, in times of adversity, having those rituals and routines can be the glue that keeps our lives intact. It’s not merely the routine that shores us up but the acknowledgment that our values are stored in these very habits.

Routine allows you to default to auto-pilot when life throws you a curve ball. When couples are going through a separation, for example, the daily and at times mundane routines of making school lunches, dropping kids at soccer or going for that early-morning run can actually save them from falling apart.

A routine not only can act as an effective coping mechanism but it also reminds you of what matters to you: your kids or your health, for instance. Falling back onto a routine can help make sense of what can be an incomprehensible situation at the time.

Indeed, a well-rehearsed routine can even save you from yourself. When your emotional life is in turmoil, it actually affects your physiology. Stress hormones deliver messages to either run away or make a stand. You can become confused and disoriented as you try to create order out of chaos.