Rituals To Help You Avoid Time-Pudding
There are no more days of the week. There is only yesterday, today and tomorrow.
Since the pandemic began, this phenomenon has been getting stronger - particularly for those of us in cities, states or countries who’ve had the most significant lockdowns. Time feels like a huge pudding; homogenous, unpunctuated.
A big factor in this phenomenon is the loss of our routine; no commute, no passing our favorite cafe, no walk around the park at lunch time. We find we have no real plans for the evening or weekend because the bar is closed and the gospel choir is cancelled and virtual salsa dancing is just not quite the same.
All of this can leave us feeling somewhat adrift in an ocean of time. Perniciously, it can make it difficult not to fill the day with work since our home is our workplace. We’re seeing the evidence across the board that this problem is driving us collectively to overwork, stress and burnout.
What can we do about it?
One important way to punctuate the day (and, as a side effect, set some boundaries) is to create new rituals and routines. Think about things you can do within a day, a week or a month and carve up the time in varied ways.
Some Ideas
Daily:
Walking commute: During the time you’d normally be travelling to work, try taking a walk around your neighborhood whilst listening to your favorite podcast or music.
Bedtime wind-down: Meditation apps are great for this. We are huge fans of Balance and Calm. Across this month, we’ve been listening to The Daily Calm.
Connect and disconnect intentionally: When work starts, turn on your notifications and open the relevant apps. When work ends, close it all (and even uninstall it from your phone if you need to - it’s just a couple of taps). With modern WiFi, it’s no big deal to download Slack each day if that’s what it takes to get you to stop looking at it outside of work hours.
Have a work outfit: Choose some clothing that makes you feel good and upbeat. Get dressed for work and then, when work is done, change into your penguin pajamas or your polar bear onesie - whatever you’d never wear to work!
Weekly
Shopping on a cadence: Buy groceries on the same day each week. Lots of families used to do this and now have switched to just-in-time buying, further removing one of the ‘pulses’ from their weeks.
Start the weekend with something delightful: Make pancakes, take a bubble bath, do an extended workout or yoga session. Do something that yells to the world “this is me time”!
Start or join a book club at work: Meet on a regular, weekly cadence.
Monthly
Give yourself a monthly review: Ask yourself a few key questions at the end of the month to help you reflect on the weeks that have passed. Journal your answers because they’ll tell an interesting story as you reach the end of a year. I love Day One for this but you can use anything you like. Think about questions like...
What did I learn this month?
What went well?
What would I like to change next month?
For support with wellbeing, check out our Preventing Burnout workshop.