Change. How many people highly dislike change? Probably a lot because it means something about the routine we’ve created has to be rethought. We as humans love routine, we love when things flow easily. We tend to not like disruption. It means a few things. We probably didn’t anticipate the change, our routine is thrown off, and based on the nature of the change it may be long term. How do we shift that dislike and appreciate change? We change perspective.
Here’s a constant, the world is always changing. If we’re not expecting it and anticipating it, we’re reacting too it. When we learn to shift with the change, we become proactive. In my experience being able to pivot is how we successfully navigate situations and circumstances we didn’t see coming. Plan for them to come. Learn to pivot gracefully when a curveball comes. Being able to adapt quicker will be easier.
Another idea that’s help me succeed with routines, be willing to adjust them. Having kids with a pandemic has taught me my routines need to stay flexible. I can’t tell you how many mornings I’ve had where some part of my routine gets thrown off. I wake up late, kids wake up early, we have to be somewhere early, or better I wake up with a migraine. It will happen. Luckily my routines are solid enough that I can rearrange and still get most things done. After all, I’m human. How many of you can relate to your day being off when your routines are thrown off? Being able to adjust will help us be proactive instead of reactive. How can we improve having our day thrown off? Learn to expect something to go wrong so your not panicked when it happens.
Finally, keep long term change in mind. When this pandemic hit, I thought there was no way it would last this long. I kept thinking, “When will this end so I can go back to my old routine?” This was the wrong way of thinking. I figured out if I planned on it being long term, I could handle the change much better. I started planning how to handle future events assuming we’d still have the limited contact. This I have a couple routines that are non negotiable which allow me to manage the change better. My morning and evening routines. Waking up early, and prepping my morning before I go to bed. This way I can anticipate what I need to do and what could trip me up and be able to handle it. Expecting time periods to last longer will help them seem manageable.
Change is not usually easy. Learning to adapt to changes will make daily routines manageable when things go wrong. Sometimes the change is good and we can take advantage. Other times, change is unwanted. We resist as much as we can and hold our breath, and wait. Being able to shift our perspective can help us appreciate change. Appreciate that it will always come. What way can you anticipate change to make it good?