The value of routine

Habits create routine and routines create habits
It is said that we are all creatures of habits. I guess that if you subtract your bad habits from your good habits you will have some idea if, over all, your habits are serving you well or ill. Habits, as we have said many times in our podcasts are built through consistent and persistent practice. This is termed routine. This is because we become whatever it is that we pay attention to. Most habits develop subliminally below our awareness simply from what we are doing most of the time. Our habit forming process is neutral. Your mind-brain system does not care if the habits you create are positive or negative. To your system they are just habits.

We can choose our habits
When we consciously decide what it is that we want to do with our every day lives we mindfully create positive habits that make us happy or that give us the best out of the situation that we are in. We have the capacity to build many good habits throughout life by actively, consciously and mindfully participating in what we are thinking, feeling and doing. If we simply work on a default setting we simply create habits without realising if it’s good or bad. Then we say, “that’s just the way that I am” and I say “no, that is the way that you have chosen to be through the habits that you have developed”.

Most routines and therefore habits, develop below our awareness
We live in a world of routines all the time. We live in minutes, hours, days, week months and years. The seasons roll around each year over and over again. We live in monthly cycles and yearly cycles that we do not question, they simply are what they are. The only time they are questioned is when they are subject to change. Changing habits is rarely easy.

The point is that once it is a habit, you no longer need to think about it, it is just what you do. This is automation. Once a routine is automated, positive habits increase our efficiency and happiness by enabling you to do things without thinking about it. This is equally true of negative routines which is why we need to be mindfully vigilant of what routines we are engaging in.

The good thing is that if you automatically get things done, you do not have to remind yourself, you just do it. When a habit is a habit nothing slips, everything gets done and you save all the time you would have wasted deciding what to do with your day or life.

It may take time to develop a habit but once it is a part of routine you no longer need will power or motivation you simply just do it. That is why relying on routine to accomplish a task is a lot easier than relying on willpower and motivation. Yes, when establishing a routine, you do have to will and motivate yourself to stick to the routine. But once the routine is set, it is on autopilot and the need for constant willpower and motivation is no longer necessary.

When I am teaching mindful meditation I tell the students that the practice should become like brushing your teeth. If you went out of the house in the morning without brushing your teeth you would feel odd or that there was something wrong. If you have the habit of meditation and you miss your practice, in the same way, you would feel that something was wrong.

People that develop routines get things done
There is something about creating routines and positive habits that allows us to become more efficient and effective as people. We get things done and complete tasks.

Spontaneity
To be a well organised person that lives with routines does not takeaway spontaneity. To have routines does not mean to become fixed or immoveable. The world of routines can be flexible. The powerful thing about a habit is that it is never lost. The routine practice of any activity for 90 days will encode the habit into long term memory. You never forget how to ride a bike or to swim. Once a habit is there, it is there forever and can be called upon at will. The formation of habits are the routines that we live by,

Choose you habits, ensure that they serve you well and be happy

Take care

Sean X

1 reply

Trackbacks & Pingbacks

  1. […] Sean wrote a blog post on this subject. Have a read… […]

Leave a Reply

Want to join the discussion?
Feel free to contribute!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.