While getting to know people, specially mommies, entrepreneurs and women pursuing degrees of careers, my main focus is to under what kind of routine they follow, what makes them tick, how do they manage to be focused and productive. What do they do for fun, if at all! Of course, my interest is to learn from them and apply things to my own life.
We all have that friend who waits till the last minute to get something done.
But with whom, an outing is always an adventure because there is no plan.
Yet plans also fall through! There is adventure, but also unpredictability.
They are so much fun to be around.
They are always trying new things! Yet there is no consistency, and hence, no results!
On the other hand,
… there is the other friend who plans meticulously, is detail-oriented and executes perfectly.
Yet this person gets upset, if even one small, tiny detail gets messed up.
He or she is simply unable to function if there is a minor change of plan.
They may follow a routine to the tee and yet they end up getting burnt out eventually!
Which person are you comfortable with most?
With whom do you identify the most?
Having a routine life can be pretty boring or it can be the sanest thing to have, depending on what your mindset is. Irrespective of our occupation and the stage of life we are at, we all have a routine! We follow it whether we realize it or not.
Even if we choose to live life at the spur-of-the-moment, in an improvised, unplanned, unprepared, extemporaneous, our spontaneity becomes our routine. Spontaneity is fun; it is a sign of adaptability and resilience. More importantly, spontaneity reduces the tendency of procrastination.
On the other hand, having and following a careful and deliberate routine shows self-discipline, singular focus and purposefulness. Thus, our routines can make us more productive and result-oriented.
Therefore, both of the ways of living work, but ultimately, it’s the balance between the two approaches, the two mindsets that harvest long-lasting success.
So firstly, let’s learn why is it important to have a routine important?
Secondly, let’s also try to understand why is it even more important NOT to get bound with your routine and become an absolute slave to it.
Image credit: Karolina Grabowska@Pexels
Ways in Which Having a Routine is a Good Thing
So if you have never really been keen to routine, the following benefits would help you realize what you may have been missing in your journey of success:
More Stability
Modern life is demanding and therefore hectic. So, having a solid and realistic routine in place helps you bring more structure and stability to your life. This means that a routine would help you gauge how much work you can get done and consequently determine how much you should delegate. This way you would be able to manage responsibilities and expectations, conserve your energies, and prevent burnout.
Equally importantly, a routine helps you conserve your mental and emotional energy in case things are unpredictable or not going your way. So, no matter how tough the times get, if you have an easy routine in place that you consistently follow, you would be able to stay focused, stay afloat and get by. An apt example of this would be how most of us were able to survive during the pandemic and the subsequent recession.
Goal Achievement
Whether you are a student, a professional or an enterpriser and you have study, career and life goals, having a routine is a must. Since there is lesser time and many distractions around us; thus, it becomes increasingly more challenging to even keep sight of your goals.
However, a routine is like a roadmap, comprising careful planning, setting goals, establishing mindful patterns, and following steps to achieve the anticipated result. A routine helps you acquire the consistency needed for successful goal achievement. Not only this, a thought through routine allows you to strike a balance between the planning and implementation phase, anticipate the challenges and eliminate hidden time traps. Thus, a routine helps you keep working towards your long-term goals slowly, patiently and consistently.
Better Relationships
If you happen to be a solo flyer, then being spontaneous can work for you. Consequently, you can do whatever you like and whenever you like. However, if you are living with friends or have a family, then you need to synchronize your routine with that of your spouse and your children so that your familial life can function smoothly.
In fact, incompatibility of routine and failure to communicate and resolve schedule clashes are a source of marital conflicts. On the other hand, creating a synchronized routine through discussions with family members and their consent is a basic step towards creating a high functioning and successful familial life.
Work Life Balance
One long-term benefit of a routine is the achievement of better work life balance. This means that a routine would enable you to strike a reasonable balance among your work, familial commitments and leisure time. You would not only be able to make time for yourself and others but also get most of your work done.
This consequently means reduced anxiety, stress and improved sleep. Ultimately, once your sense of fulfillment and well-being improve, you are able to take on board newer pursuits.
Image credit: Godisable Jacob@Pexels
Why Spontaneity Matters
Although a solid routine helps you bring more focus, stability and goal achievement, creating a wiggle room for spontaneity to the mix will add balance and value to your life:
Besides other things, the powerful modern allegorical self-help book ‘Who Moved My Cheese?’ talks about the value of spontaneity and adaptation for humans in order to cope with the unpredictability of life. Here are some of the reasons why having a routine with room for flexibility and spontaneity is the best way to lead life:
Embrace Uncertainty
By and large, our lives are unpredictable. There is greater social, economic, political instability than ever. Hence, life can change in a hard beat, people change, plans fall through. This uncertainty can really take a physical and mental toll on you. But if you happen to have a flexible and adaptable approach towards life, you would understand that this adaptability is perfectly normal.
The only certain thing in life is death itself. So once you understand these conditions about life, you would stop looking at your life in absolute black and white. As a result, you would be able to embrace the uncertainty of life and plans but may even enjoy it.
Achieve Balance
Life is all about balance, diet, routine, habits, even outlook and approaches. Interestingly, we start creating routines for ourselves because we want to avoid undue stress and unpleasant surprises. Ironically, getting obsessed with a routine can cause us stress and anxiety.
Therefore, you should also allow yourself to go with the flow sometimes. This may mean taking a routine seriously but not getting enslaved by it. It also means allowing others to take the lead sometimes and simply following them, without any ifs and buts.
Become Resilient
People who are too reliant on their routines are likely to get upset with the slightest change in the plan, a minor hiccup or delay. Even a minor glitch is enough to ruin their mood and the entire day. But in a life full of uncertainty and day-to-day chaos, this kind of rigid attitude can be extremely harmful for our mental, physical and emotional health and well-being.
On the other hand, a go-with-the-flow and roll-with-punches attitude shows a greater adaptability towards change and the uncertainty of situations and life. Once you acquire this outlook in life, you are more likely to be successful in life.
Augment Your Brain
Being spontaneous means that you find routine work boring; therefore, you try to look for ways to do the same things in a different manner. You are open to the idea of trying new things, try to make the best of every situation and readily embrace adventure.
Due to this ability to do things differently, your brain is busy in making new connections. This way your brain is protecting itself from neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease and dementia in the long run.
Strengthen Your Relationships
People who are rigidly set in their routines have a greater difficulty in getting along with others and being team players. This is because minor conflict of routines and change of plans tend to make them upset. Similarly, they are less likely to accommodate others.
On the other hand, people who are spontaneous are open to others’ wishes and the limitations of their circumstances. They often change their plans to accommodate others. As a result, people having a spontaneous nature are good at establishing social connections and sustaining relationships.
Open Yourself to Adventure
Routine improves productivity but it doesn’t necessarily get the creative juices flowing. Spontaneity, on the other hand, promises to spark the imagination and lead to out-of-the-box thinking. Spurts of spontaneity amidst routine can be, many times, fun, refreshing and a harbinger of adventure. It can mean anything, from something as radical as hopping on a plane and going to a new destination to waking up on a Sunday, packing your breakfast and heading out to the park, going on a blind date, trying a new bar or a coffee place, shopping at a different mart.
Likewise, at the workplace, spontaneity can show flexibility in approach, open mindedness and creative acumen as a leader and as a team player. However, spontaneity doesn’t mean recklessness and rash decisions. You don’t want to drop everything, hop on a plane and go on a vacation at a time when a critical deadline is around and a work project is due.
The Bottomline
To sum up, no matter what you do, whether you are a student, a professional, a homemaker, a working from home mother, a freelance, having a solid routine in place helps you get more out of life. However, you shouldn’t get trapped in your routine. There should be a little space for fun, adventure and a little magic in your routine always to keep life sane and interesting. More importantly, your routine should be adaptable and flexible enough to embrace emergencies and change. This is what I am going to discuss next, i.e., the value of flexibility or spontaneity in our approach towards life.
