{"id":698,"date":"2020-10-12T05:44:00","date_gmt":"2020-10-12T05:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/robdix.com\/?p=698"},"modified":"2020-10-11T14:13:01","modified_gmt":"2020-10-11T14:13:01","slug":"strong-routines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/robdix.com\/strong-routines\/","title":{"rendered":"Strong routines, changed often"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I\u2019m very open about how boring I am, and how much I love routine. People often find this hard to reconcile with the fact that my wife and I travelled almost non-stop for seven years<\/a>, and go away for long stints even now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s a contradiction on the face of it, but it\u2019s given rise to a balance that works perfectly for me: strong routines, changed often<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Strong routines\u2026<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When people hear \u201ctravel\u201d, they think of endless exploration where every day is new and different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not the case for us. We base ourselves in the same place for at least a month \u2013 more commonly around three months \u2013 and within those stays, have an exceptionally consistent daily routine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wake at the same time. Same exercise. Same breakfast. Same working patterns, from the same cafes. Same grocery order every week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I need routine to be productive, and to be happy. During the first week in a new place, I get much less done and feel constantly slightly rattled. As soon as the new routine is established, I go back to normal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

…Changed often<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

At our peak we were switching cities every two weeks, which was a bit much. On average we were probably outside the UK for about nine months of the year, and visiting three to four countries during our time away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now the pattern has reversed and we\u2019re in London about three-quarters of the time. But we don\u2019t want to lose the \u201cnew experiences\u201d part \u2013 so we rent where we live<\/a>, and move to a new part of town every year or two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For me, this is a magical combination: a strong routine, but with the periodic requirement to make big changes<\/strong>. I\u2019m always tweaking my routine to see how it could be better, but there are big<\/em> changes you could never get to by tweaking alone<\/a> and require a sudden outside stimulus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When my routines stopped helping me<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For example, for years I\u2019ve had the belief that I couldn\u2019t concentrate when working from home and needed to be at a co-working space or cafe. At some point, I\u2019m sure it was true \u2013 but it stopped being true, and I only noticed when I was forced to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It happened when we were living in Seville \u2013 a city with a serious lack of co-working spaces \u2013 in an Airbnb that happened to have a home office. I found that I actually loved it, and as a result I now have a home office in London where I work from a lot of the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Further back, I had a belief that I \u201cwasn\u2019t a morning person\u201d and was naturally more creative at night, so I set up my routine for long evenings of work. Then I started living with someone who was an early riser, and now I\u2019m more likely to see 4.30am from the other<\/em> side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Point is: a strong routine is beneficial for almost everyone, yet the one you have right now is unlikely to be perfect. You either fell into it, or it\u2019s been diluted over time, or it\u2019s based on assumptions that were<\/em> true but have now changed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Making small optimisations to your routine is always worthwhile, but sometimes giving the whole etch-a-sketch a giant shake is the best way to let things settle on what\u2019s really best.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Strong routines are the foundation of good habits and a productive life. But those routines need occasional major shake-ups \u2013 here’s why…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nStrong routines, changed often - Rob Dix<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Strong routines are the foundation of good habits and a productive life. 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