Do you find yourself repeating the same bad behavior? Are you stuck in bad routines? There is something oddly comforting about sticking with the same old routine, albeit a poor one. We simply don’t have the time to analyze our every day so we merely continue to repeat the old and familiar patterns.
Ahhh…imagine if we only had the time. Think for a moment about the possibilities of making the time to change the habits that are no longer working for you.
If you are feeling stressed and overwhelmed with your life schedule, maybe you can identify with the following likely symptoms of a bad routine.
1. Your morning routine is actually not a routine. No 2 days are alike.
2. Most mornings you feel rushed and continually search for the same items prior to exiting your house.
3. Typically, you are jumping in for a quick shower instead of enjoying a leisurely one, and time to gather your thoughts for the day.
4. The kitchen sink seems to be always full of dirty dishes and the dishwasher is always full of clean dishes, not emptied.
5. Your solution for not hanging up your clothes is failing because every back of a chair, banister, couch, and treadmill is already over-utilized.
6. You don’t ever schedule a meal. Hence you eat whatever, whenever.
7. You don’t have time time for the things you enjoy because you are too busy with the “have-to’s”.
8. Coming home at the end of the day, you feel a more heightened sense of anxiety, rather than a place of sanctuary.
9. Increased tension by the end of every week.
Of course if these are your routines and they work for you, by all means, stay with it. No need to fix what’s not broken.
But if you are frustrated and unhappy with your daily routine, you must make it a priority to implement some change.
- Can you eliminate one thing you do every day that is counterproductive?
- Can you find a way to make a “have-to” more enjoyable?
- Can you modify the way you manage your time?
- Think about your day the night before. Prepare. Do something that will make the next day run more smoothly.
- Rise earlier, more wiggle room. Time to breathe. Have the nice long hot shower. Make the time for a healthy breakfast.
- Have a plan for the day. Follow through the entire day, including meals. It could mean defrosting necessary food, purchasing ingredients for the dinner menu, or making a reservation! It doesn’t really matter what the plan is, just have one.
- At the end of your day, hang up the clothing immediately because they won’t hang up on their own. They will still be there tomorrow and beyond. Avoid letting them accumulate. Ditto to the dishes.
All routines have a time-management component and so if any of these symptoms resonate with you, it’s time to adjust how you use your time. Here’s the simple tip; Always allow yourself more time for everything. It is an effective stress reducer.
It’s a goodhabit to change bad behavior. Give yourself a break today and break a bad habit.
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