FIVE STEPS TO A NEW ROUTINE

By Linda Dessau, the Self-Care Coach

I've noticed that in the two years since the major de-cluttering of my apartment, clutter has been creeping back in.

So what DO you do after you've cleared the clutter? If your day-to-day routines are continuing to create clutter, then you'll always be one step behind it.

1. Identify the problem. Think of things that tend to “sneak up” on you in your life - annual things like tax time, monthly things like invoicing clients, weekly things like running errands or daily things like meal times. For this article, we’ll use the example – “I’m always rushed in the morning”.

2. Identify the costs. If the costs aren’t that high, you probably won’t be motivated to do anything to change it. The costs of being rushed in the morning may include: poor choices for breakfast or no breakfast at all, poor digestion from eating too fast or perhaps not eating at all and having coffee on an empty stomach. Then, getting to work in a rush results in stressful travel, impatience and unpleasant interactions with fellow travelers. This will affect your whole day.

3. Back it up. So you’re rushed in the morning – what choices did you make up to this point that resulted in being rushed?

4. Experiment with some changes in your routine. Don’t be rigid; you’re in the “lab” here. One day you can try going to bed a half hour earlier and waking up a half hour earlier. The next day try laying out your clothes the night before. The next day try putting your lunch (and any other lunches you have to prepare) together the night before. The next day try a 5-minute meditation break in the morning.

5. Commit to a new daily routine. Once you’ve experimented for a week or so, look back and reflect on which strategies made the most difference to your morning (and the rest of your day). Use structures as reminders (tack up a list of your routine), inspiration (post a photo that represents the kind of relaxing morning you’d like to have) or tracking (give yourself a gold star or another fun and visual marker on the calendar for every day that you implement your new routine).

Remember that it’s not about keeping a perfect routine or beating yourself up for straying from it – it’s about making healthier choices every day. If you slip, your very next choice can set you straight again.

(c) Linda Dessau, 2005.

Linda Dessau, the Self-Care Coach, helps artists enhance their creativity by addressing their unique self-care issues. Feel like your creativity is blocked? Sign-up for the free e-course, "Roadblocks to Creativity" by visiting http://www.genuinecoaching.com.

You’re welcome to reprint this article online or in print form, as long as it remains complete and unaltered and as long as you include the author information at the end. I'd appreciate if you would email me a link to your reprint. Thanks!

Would you like to receive Linda's newest articles about creativity and self-care in your Inbox once a month? Subscribe to the Everyday Artist newsletter. It's FREE, and it includes the popular e-course "Roadblocks to Creativity."

Linda Dessau The Self-Care Coach 416-229-0263 6502 Yonge Street, P.O. 37021 North York, ON M2M 4J8 Email Linda