Stuck In Your Routine? Check Out These 3 Tips To Help
By: Mikayla Greeley, LMSW
As we start to look forward towards the sunshine-filled days of summer, the springtime months can often leave us feeling like the days are long and never ending. While the sun is starting to set a bit later, we are coming to the point of the year where it is common to get stuck in routines, which can often bring feelings that may be difficult to describe. Regardless of the specific beliefs or thoughts that may be driving these uncomfortable feelings, there are several different ways to address them. Now, as a full disclaimer, these tips and tricks below may not be novel nor revolutionary sounding. Instead, hopefully they inspire some creativity around how to keep up momentum in achieving your goals.
The first tip sounds much more straightforward than it may be: Make Plans. Especially when we are in the throws of it, it is common to get stuck inside each evening when we were once making plans, going out, and trying new activities. Instead of battening down the hatches of our social lives, it is important that we keep filling our time with things to look forward to. Trying a new restaurant with a coworker, checking out a museum with a friend, scheduling and selecting a new movie to watch with a partner, or even setting up a Facetime or Zoom date with a friend are all possible ways to spice up your week and have something to look forward to. Not only will connecting (or reconnecting) with someone else give you a way to spend time, but it will also increase the chemicals in our brains that make us feel warm and fuzzy, even after the encounter has ended.
Move Your Body in whatever ways and forms you are able to do so. I will certainly not be the first - nor the last - person to tell you about the immense research on this topic but it is true – movement really does make us feel better! Moving our body releases those same amazing chemicals that make us feel better, emotionally, physically, and mentally. Think about this tip less as a way to check off the obligatory box of going to the gym each day, because this may make incorporating movement into your day feel even more like a chore. Instead, brainstorm ways that stretch your comfort zone and pull you out of the rut. Take a longer route on your walk to work or add in a way to do a seated stretch at your desk. For more advanced movers, check out a new workout class, yoga studio, or boxing gym, find a bike to use, sprint up a hill, or even go on a walk to chase the last bit of daylight. Of course, listen to your body and your doctor, and remind yourself that no effort at exertion is too small.
The third tip I offer will likely be no surprise coming from a therapist: Talk It Out. Find people (or a person) to share your feelings with. Challenge yourself to name the elephant in the room, whether it is loneliness, fatigue, brain fog, or restlessness. While getting connected to a therapist can be one way to process and reframe uncomfortable feelings, if jumping into therapy feels too intimidating right now, it can also be helpful to try sharing your experiences with your coworker, friend, or family member. You may be surprised by how similarly they feel about the being stuck in their routines before summer. Better yet, they may also have their own ideas to add to this list.
There are dozens more coping strategies that can help but the goal is that these three got you thinking. And remember: while it is impossible to predict the future, one thing we can be sure of is that seasons will inevitably keep changing, just know that you have the tools at your disposal to keep yourself grounded.