I don't feel like I have a lot of "routines." I have habits and traditions and rituals, but they don't really feel like routines. When I checked in with Jenn, though, she encouraged me to think of these things as routines and include them in the list. Here's what I came up with:
- Morning coffee when I'm getting ready for work
- Taking walks during work breaks
- Saturday morning workouts
- Weeknights at Life Time Fitness
- Weekday morning work chats (I have some great colleagues)
- Working from home on Mondays and Fridays
- Annual Christmas decorating (at home and at church)
- Working out (um ... that's in there a lot. I'm trying to love it more these days.)
- Breakfast after Saturday morning workouts
A lot of my routines center around working out or work itself. I think that's because we tend to use those appointment-like habits as the framework around which we build the rest of our life. So, that's where most of my routines come from.
The second part of this list was to circle the routines that bring joy and crossing out the ones you don't like. I didn't cross out any, because honestly there's nothing on here that I dislike; however, it would appear the ones that involve food or coffee rank toward the top.
You're not surprised at all, are you?
Routines are tricky business, because the word itself doesn't feel inherently positive. I'd like to introduce some new ones into my world, but I think of them more as rituals. Things I'm going to be trying over the next few weeks (maybe to become a habit by late February?) are tea before bedtime and a short yoga flow in the morning.
What about you? Are there any routines you'd like to add to your list that aren't there yet?
