We all have routines in our lives. A routine is nothing more than a series of habits. And it’s not necessarily a negative thing.
For example, if every morning you have a good routine, you will be free from making a series of small decisions that could consume precious time. Routines free us from the need to make hundreds of everyday decisions, freeing space in our minds to make more important decisions.
From this perspective, routines are liberating since we will not have to be constantly forced to make decisions. We do not have to decide each morning whether we will brush our teeth or not, we just do it. Good routines allow us to be more efficient and give structure to our daytime.
However, bad routines or simply sticking too much to those habits, without introducing changes that represent a novelty, ends up taking on an emotional price. An excessive routinary life annihilates creativity and even the will to live. Doing the same things every day, without introducing variations, leads to apathy. And from there to depression there is only one step.
The short film that shows the destructive power of a routinary life
This revealing short video, made by Valeria Dakhovich, shows us how a man finds himself trapped in his daily routine. Every day he performs the same things, there is no delicity or real satisfaction in his life. And so the days, the weeks, the months and the years go by.
However, one day that routine takes shape, becomes a small and even nice monster. However, the immutability in his life is the food that nourishes that monster, which grows every day. Until it reaches the point where it directs the man, it makes him work in a kind of automatic pilot. Until one day, it’s simply too late to change.
How to get out of the routine?
– Be more flexible. People with a more rigid thinking pattern tend to be the ones who stick to routines. Therefore, a dose of flexibility does not hurt. Think that although you have done things a certain way for a long time, that does not mean that it is the only way to do them. Introduce small variations that can help you become more efficient or simply enjoy more that task.
– Open yourself to change. The world changes constantly, we are the ones who cling to routines and planning. However, from time to time it is very healthy to practice the Taoist Wu-Wei, to flow with events and let yourself be carried away by what happens. The world will bring you changes continuously if you do not cling to your ways of thinking and doing.
– Follow your emotional states. Sometimes, a task costs us a lot of effort because we do not have the right emotional state. We must begin to pay attention to our emotions because, after all, they are the compasses of our life. Therefore, whenever possible, instead of sticking to routines, adapt your daytime to your emotional states. This way you will be much more productive and tasks will cost you less.
– Add a good dose of novelty to your life. Try to do something new every day. It is not necessary that is something important, they can be small things, like changing the route when you go out to run or to work, introduce a new plate in your menu or listen to a new song. Those small changes will allow you to get out of the monotony.
– Give yourself permission to dream. Life is not only everything that happens and happened to you, it is also the road you have in front of you. Therefore, if you want to escape from the routine, give yourself permission to dream. You have responsibilities and you cannot free yourself from them, but you can project your future or just let your mind wander and imagine other scenarios. If you do not imagine them, they will never materialize.
