So you think your daily routines are well honed and ultimately beneficial to you? Maybe you’re right. But you may begin to question that belief after a day or two of shoulder pain.
Are you one of those countless people stuck in your ways? Are you forever persisting with the ol’ tried and true? Meaningless titles and confusing opening paragraphs are my routine. Or maybe you’re asking, “What if . . .?” What if I volunteered to brush my teeth with my left hand today instead of my right? I reach back and wipe my ass exclusively with my right hand. Should I strive to be ambidextrous? Should I ask fewer questions? Why do people buy the same shampoo and conditioner without a second thought, even though there’s a brand on discount they’ve never tried? Why so much reliance on routine? Let’s explore.
Before we get too deep in the woods, though, how are you faring after 8 months of a pandemic? The Coronavirus sure threw a wrench into the works this year, didn’t it? Gone are many of the traditional 9-5 workweeks that so many people believed would dominate their lives until the age of 65. Don’t really need to get up early to shave, shower, or put on actual pants—or any pants—if you’re working from home, or out of a job. Later to bed means later to rise, and long ingrained sleep habits become a mess. Workouts before your morning shower or immediately after work are now absent those cues. Even your favorite sweatpants feel a bit snugger than usual. With all these stressors, your therapist agreed to double your Skype sessions to twice a week. Any of these hit close to home?
What does all this have to do with routine?
We humans have routine virtually hardwired into our DNA—our ancestors staked their very lives on it. Before the advent of agriculture, we were a nomadic people, unable to invest valuable mental resources on novel concepts. They instead relied on the routine of hunting and gathering to survive. They had to know that buffalo were routinely near watering holes at a certain time of day, that fleeing elk meant lions were in pursuit, and that certain fruits and nuts were safe to eat. Something like that—I don’t know, I have the grocery store.
Every element of our ancient ancestor’s grocery gathering that could be relegated to unconscious thought was brainpower they could dedicate to procuring their next meal, while not becoming a meal themselves. Routine kept them fed and alive. A 21st century brain still strives to create these same routines. We still wonder where our next meal will come from, but in the context of which restaurant, not whether you can make a kill or find some berries. It takes more than a couple centuries of readily available calories to undue millions of years of human evolution.
Unfortunately, these excess calories mean we now have to exercise. It’s great if you have a routine that actually gets you to workout consistently. Routine in a workout is the last thing you want, though. Not only will you get bored more easily and increase your likelihood of quitting, but the human body will quickly get used to a given routine and your results will plateau. If you get on the treadmill every day, you’re sure to increase your cardiovascular fitness, but not build muscle. Nothing but curls and bench press? It wouldn’t matter that you have chicken legs because you won’t have the stamina to run anyway. Exercise is only an example here. Ultimately, it’s important to spice things up every now and again, or any routine runs the risk of become mind-numbingly boring.
In much the same way your body shirks off plateaus with continually changing exercises, your mind can as well. As the saying goes: “Use it or lose it.” The key is breaking the little routines of daily life in order to benefit cognition in the long run. We’ve all heard about the benefits of brain-training apps, crossword puzzles, Sudoku, etc. But simple, everyday activities can be all that’s necessary to create those new synaptic connections in your brain. Attempt your entire tooth brushing routine using the opposite hand for each activity: opening the toothpaste, actually brushing, turning on the faucet, everything. Or, just try flossing; that’d be novel enough for a lot of us. But maybe refrain from trying to operate the gas and brake with your left foot—bleeding gums is one thing, but starting a 5-car pileup is quite another.
Speaking of injury, imagine this: you fall asleep on the couch one night, the reminder of your bourbon nightcap sits empty on the coffee table. Every half-hour your arm slips from the narrow couch’s edge, waking you just as you dream yourself plummeting down a snowy mountain wearing only flip-flops and a T-shirt. You awake to your phone’s alarm—sans blanket—left shoulder screaming in pain, rest of the arm numb. The conflicting sensations, like a faux phantom limb syndrome, bring a wry smile to your dry mouth. Utterly tired and numb with pain, it’s then that you gain an appreciation for how comfy your king sized bed truly is: two people, two dogs, almost too much space. Moral of the story: sometimes you need to step out of your routine to help you appreciate that which your routine has made . . . well, routine.
During COVID, companies have been forced to break from the norms of business culture. They’re gaining an appreciation that the traditional ways of doing business— everybody in the office, face-to-face—is unnecessary and, frankly, a bit dangerous. The mantra, “That’s just the way it’s always been,” no longer flies. Dramatic changes often lead to innovations. Let what COVID has taught us be a lesson to everyone: we should not as a culture—as a human race—simply continue doing things the way we were taught without first giving them our own consideration and study. Step away from the norm, away from your routine, and question why it is you do what you do. Question everything.
So, you still think routines are important? I never plan on typing up another resume or CV. Even if a better job became available, there’d have to be some pretty overwhelming perks, and a hell of a pay bump to make me leave my 18 year gig. And I’ve tried the whole, wipe-my-hole-with-my-left-hand experiment, but it turns out I’m not ambidextrous. The less said about that the better. So, I guess, yeah, come to think of it . . . You’re Probably Right.
[020] November 25, 2020
When my kids were young and I stayed home, I had a routine with everything. Doing laundry, bed time, cooking dinner, shopping. Now, I’m retired and do things when I want, and nothing has happened to me. I remember when I was young and my mom used to spring clean the house in the spring and fall. What’s the purpose if you keep it clean consistently? Oh yeah, they had coal furnises, so I could see the point. However, I do keep to a routine of bed time and reading. I am probably right.
Nobody wants to clean the whole house all at once. I break it up into small, frequent, manageable chunks.
Back in the old days I had friends tell me to be spontaneous. It was so hard for me. So I stepped out of my comfort box called Ytown and moved away, not far but enough to change my routine. But then fell onto a routine of driving home every weekend so from one routine to another. Took a long time for me to realize like what my sister said, I don’t have to wash cloths on Monday because that is what my mother did. Change is good especially if it is an improvement. That’s the way we always did it isn’t a reason to do it.
Gotta find out what works best for you. Enact the good pieces of advice, let the others go in one ear and out the other.
So the world won’t end if I don’t wash clothes on Monday, clean bedrooms and Florida room and living room on Tuesday you get my drift. Thought I was worthless and going to hell if I didn’t. Maybe I’ll wash clothes on Tuesday and clean on Monday. See if we survive.
In the work world Covid is doing exactly that. Maybe we can do a zoom meeting instead of all driving 4 hours to get together and say the same thing as we can in zoom. And look what we have saved.
Florida room? You sound fancy!