I don’t know about you, but I have not had much of a routine since mid-March. Life was busy (it seemed like life was ‘off-the-rails’ busy) and then all of a sudden, life was different. My time was less structured and my schedule was more open. The college semester finished online, the business closed, and our little family of 3 was home all day long.
Days started to blend together, then weeks started the blend together, and then months started to blend together. And looking back at these last 90 days, it is easy to see where good habits ended and poor habits began. I started sleeping in, playing on my phone for too long, and binge-watching Netflix while eating in front of the TV … not great habits, and they totally snuck up on me. But now that we are heading into the third phase of BC’s reopening plan and life is slowly starting to resemble the structure of pre-COVID times, it is time to examine my habits and get back into a routine.
Two of my favourite authors have written about concepts that may help us hit the reset button towards some healthier habits. The first is Gretchen Rubin in her book “Better Than Before” about habit change. She discussed a “Clean Slate” in which our circumstances change and can feel like a fresh start may be possible, where everything feels new and it may be possible to re-invent our habits. So instead of letting our days pile up and blur, you can see this new reality as a time to plan out your day to look and feel a little different. This clean slate allows you to establish a new identity for yourself … perhaps you can ask what would an organized person do (or what would a healthy person do)? In my case, I could set an alarm in the morning, make time to go for a run or plan my workout, organized a healthy dinner, or read before bedtime (at a reasonable time, of course). We could look at this time as a clean slate and can design your days to match your ideal self.
The concept of Fresh Starts was introduced in Dan Pink’s book called “When, The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing.” He posits that temporal landmarks, like New Years Day, the first day of the month, an anniversary, or even Monday’s can be used as a fresh start. Pick a date, pick your habit and get going. Maybe your first day back at AHS or the first day of Summer could be a choice – which is June 21st 😊
So please join me in designing some routines and structure into my life. Maybe a clean slate or a fresh start will help you in reclaiming some good habits and a healthier summer ahead.
Welcome back to our studio, we are glad to be back together and exercising as a community of movers!
Ann