Habitual Healing: The Unexpected Benefits of Breaking Your Routine

Imagine you're a writer who always works from a computer. You have programed yourself to think the only way to reach a level of personal creative greatness, one must summon the spirit of Hemingway, held deep within the circuits of your MacBook Pro.

Nothing else will work. You have convinced yourself that “this is the way.”

Today as you settle in for a scheduled morning writing session, you kick things off with another sip of your favorite Colombian dark roast java. In eager anticipation your morning beverage becomes the mercenary who has decided to test the liquid and heat temperature warnings of your laptop.

Needless to say, things don’t go as planned and you no longer have access to the technological crutch you feel is needed to hit today's deadline.

You can give up.

You can make excuses.

You can change course all together.

All of these are choices and all are within your control.

You accept this challenge as an opportunity, not a setback. You reach for your tools and begin. No fancy pen, no nice notebook. Just your thoughts, a half chewed on black ink pen and some paper from an old printer that you are sure is out of toner.

This simple change in routine, from typing to handwriting, slows down your process, making you more deliberate with your words.

As you read a few pages back, you realize this is some of the best work you have ever produced.

The tactile sensation of pen on paper, the sound of the scribbling, and even the physical act of writing engage different parts of your brain, sparking new ideas and a fresh approach to your storytelling.

This unexpected shift introduces a new rhythm and perspective to your creative process.

You look from the page and notice that you have been at it for over 5 hours, uninterrupted. As you read a few pages back, you realize this is some of the best work you have ever produced.

This all happened because you went against what you had pre-programmed yourself to believe.

Breaking a routine can be just as important in practice as creating a routine can be. They are not mutually exclusive. Each serves a very unique and different purpose while providing vastly different outcomes.

While routines provide structure and help in forming good habits, breaking them from time to time can prevent stagnation, promote flexibility, and encourage personal growth.

It's about finding a balance between the comfort and efficiency of routines and the refreshing change of pace that comes with breaking them.

Cheers,

Kolby