Routines and patterns - when they stop working.

Staring at the moon this week, as I was thinking about work, I was reminded about patterns and routines.

Bare with me.

The thing I noticed was that we’re at that time of year where the moon greets me softly at the front window in the morning, and shines brightly through the kitchen window at night.

The thing that struck me the most when we first moved to this house is that every shift in the seasons is so very clearly visible. I’d never noticed it in the same way in previous homes. It’s in part due to it’s location on a hill (we experience ‘the weather’ to a greater degree), but it’s also because of the design of the building (slim, high, with lots of windows and not much insulation), the direction it faces (hello large south facing windows), and the variety of visiting wildlife and the timing of their visits to the garden/yard. There are seasonal indicators at every turn and I have never felt such a strong awareness of how quickly time passes and seasons shift.

In summer, I cannot see the hill beyond the kitchen window because the leaves from trees block the skyline. In winter, I can see straight to the hill, and I use the view to check whether ominous weather is about roll on in.

On days like those, my morning coffee has visible ‘dragon breath’ and the water from the kitchen tap is too cold to drink without ‘brain freeze’. I have to roll the kitchen blinds high to get any natural light and I put a wash on first thing just so I can get the dryer going. It’s a much needed boost to the tired and rattling radiators. We choose to spend as little time in there as possible (avoiding it completely if we’re not wearing slippers and big cardigans) and our favourite hang out is ‘the big room’, with the door firmly shut and the fire on.

In summer, however, the kitchen comes in to its own. It’s winter negatives are quickly it’s positives. We may need the blinds down to the windowsill so we can open our eyelids for more than a couple of seconds, but if we’re not hanging out in the shade in the garden, the kitchen is our cool refuge.

I roll with these kind of routine changes, because that’s how the seasons work and I know the weather is out of my control. I lean in to them, and shift my routine so it works best for me at any given time.

This is what occurred to me as I was thinking about work and staring at the moon.

As I help other people re-focus, re-prioritise, re-schedule, and build in more effective ways of working, I always become more aware of my own patterns and what I can do to help myself.

Staring at the moon that night, I realised that my flexibility and willingness to shift routines isn’t always applied consistently.

Managing change has been my jam for years. I’m not resistant to change, but I can sometimes become emotionally attached to small routines that have worked for me. I can carry regret that a routine I am comfortable in doesn’t work for me anymore. I miss the ease.

Routines can ground us but we shouldn’t be tied to them. They can help us work smarter, make things go more smoothly, more efficiently, but they should never be the end goal. They’re just to help us get there.

The thing we can also forget, is that just as routines are there to help us, so are the changes we might need to make to them.

I feel like it’s mandatory in these moments to roll out Heraclitus, the Greek philosopher, and the wisdom that “change is the only constant.”

I needed time focusing on other people, combined with this glowing white seasonal shift reminder, to bring it home to me that if I’m missing, or mourning, a routine that worked for me, it usually means my current routine isn’t.

My challenge this week is reviewing, shifting, and tweaking. The season has changed, whether planned or not, and I need a routine that truly works for me in the now. Whether it’s a seismic shift or a tiny tweak, it’s about making change a good thing. Permanent or temporary, it’s about adjusting just enough to make things work in such a way that you see the benefits, find joy in the process (however hard the journey might be), and have the confidence that you can always adapt. It’s about falling in love with change again.

As I go off to put myself under the spotlight, I’ll leave you with the question I’ll be asking myself...

How can you shift your routines to make them work better for you in your now?

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© Highcroft Writing 2022