Motivation of the Day: Breaking the Routine

Practical tips to energize your daily routine

Photo by Diego PH on Unsplash

“Metro, work, sleep, repeat”

Ah, Routine! while it’s important for our daily organization, getting too stuck in monotony can have detrimental consequences for your well-being.

Boredom, frustration, the blues, depression… the adjectives could be numerous to describe your state of mind in connection with these overly smooth lives.

While analyzing the concept of routine can extend to more levels than it seems and may require some deep work, it highlights a common need for everyone, that of the need for novelty or renewal.

Indeed, our minds and personalities need to be constantly stimulated to initiate different processes aimed at our well-being. Thus, overcoming, discovering, and flourishing will be items that are part of the novelty process that accompanies the deconstruction of routine cycles and will have a positive impact on our mental health.

Today, I propose to address three levels of direct action with ideas easy to implement in our daily lives to break the routine.

And then, why not applying one or more activities from the list below as a challenge of the week?

1. Change Your Morning Habits

Morning is a crucial element of the day as it will set the foundation for your day ahead. Thus, starting the day in a panic can have heavy consequences for its course.

I’ll give you my old game plan: A good dose of grumbling at the alarm clock, a hint of getting dressed in the shower, no breakfast, and especially, getting angry at other drivers while stuck in traffic because i’m late.

If this game plan largely resembled my morning routine, one day I finally took the initiative to avoid all this morning stress.

(And yet, the 10 minutes of snooze obtained by pushing the alarm button also gave me the impression of being very important for my day.)

So, what to integrate into our morning routine?

• Wake up in a way that gives you an hour for yourself every morning

• Set a maximum time to go to bed

• Have breakfast

• Transform breakfast into a pleasurable moment, vary your desires

• Practice something you enjoy for 15 minutes

• Exercise before starting your day (This item is not the easiest, but it is incredibly effective)

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2. Change Your Environment

“A sound mind in a sound body”

Alright, if the quote isn’t exactly the one that best expresses this new item, it’s still a good metaphor nonetheless. Imagine a place where you usually work or living rooms where you spend a lot of time.

Now imagine what characterizes them as soothing sources and as sources of anxiety. If the answer leans towards the second item, you’ll need to think about changing something to improve your living spaces and make sure they’re in the same mood as the first item.

For this one, maintain your space as it is by adding the improvements you deem necessary.

Examples:

• Organize and clean your environment

• Or give it some life

• Refresh, beautify, or improve your daily environment

• Change the air by spending more time in an outdoor place

• Associate your environment with positive stimuli

Photo by Deniz Altindas on Unsplash

3. Plan Small Adventures

“Make everyday life an adventure”

While the term adventure is often associated with expensive or energy-consuming travel activities, learn to appreciate the wonders around you that you are not always aware of. Why not take a day of your weekend to try an activity you’re not used to below?

• Explore your city, your village, your region and take paths never trodden before

• Let yourself get lost and immerse yourself in the unknown

• Take a walk without having a precise plan in mind and follow your instinct

• Discover a museum, go to a concert, discover or participate in a local activity

• Go for a hike

• Organize yourself an impromptu getaway

Photo by Aziz Acharki on Unsplash

Conclusion

Routine, even if inevitable for our proper functioning, can infiltrate different aspects of our daily lives and cause feelings of discomfort.

While the concept deserves careful consideration, the tips presented above can be easy to implement and can initiate first steps toward conquering well-being on a daily basis.

The pursuit of happiness is something that may require some investments from us, so let’s break these spirals that limit or deconstruct us and replace them with solid foundations and sources of fulfillment and well-being. Ready to take up the challenge?

And you, do you feel like sharing your routines or habits to break their cycles?

Thanks for reading!