Sometimes when I have a lot going on in my life, I can get off track and lose my routines. Maybe I stop working out and cooking regularly, the apartment starts to get a little messy, and my sleep schedule becomes irregular.
I often wonder which of these factors is most important to hone in on when trying to get back on track and get into good routines.
I think there is no one, correct answer to that question, and it probably varies from person to person. All I know is I am very much back on track today, and two things happened last night.
Number one: I set up an NFC tag to block distracting apps on my phone. As soon as I did that, I immediately gained a mental clarity I didn’t even realize I was missing.
With that new mental clarity, I cleaned my apartment, which gave me even more mental clarity because my physical environment impacts my mental space, and also gave me a boost of motivation because I felt I had accomplished something. Being in a disorganized environment leads me to have disorganized thoughts, but being somewhere neat has the opposite effect.
So for me, the first domino to fall was actually disconnecting from the habit of constant consumption and scrolling on social media, which improved my mental space drastically, and led me to take more positive action.
Then, cleaning up my physical space made me feel great and motivated, and I went to sleep with an internal fire to continue on this path, and fell asleep with the full intention to run in the morning.
I ran 5 kilometers in 32 minutes this morning, and that felt incredible. Now I have momentum, and this will continue until I inevitably get back off track at some point in the future when life becomes irregular again. Stability definitely helps with routine.
When I do get off track next time though, at least I know which aspect of my life might be best to take a look at first.
Related reading: How to Create a Chain Reaction of Good Habits by James Clear.
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