Do something, anything, else
I spent the last four days doing nothing but rewatching Downton Abbey, playing NBA 2K21, and doing some light reading — and for the first time this year, I feel refreshed.
This sense of revitalization has little to do with the British drama series, a video game, or the Susan Cain book that I’m struggling to finish. Instead, it is merely the result of a change in routine.
Although I usually don’t admit it, I like to stick to routines. By routines, I don’t mean traditions or cultural norms. I mean a daily, weekly schedule.
In high school, I spent a lot of my holidays sticking to a routine. I’d return home from boarding school and create a calendar that breaks up our holiday into time blocks. In that calendar, I had scheduled times for playing games, hanging out with family and friends, writing stories, and reading ahead for the next semester of schoolwork.
Now that I think about it, I guess I was a nerd. Maybe, I still am.
Although I’m more realistic and flexible about my schedule, I still break my days into time blocks. It helps me stay sane and organized. Yet, after weeks of sticking to my routine, taking a day or two off always feels like heaven. So, I’m learning to do away with my routine every once in a while.
With many movements still limited in these crazy times, it’s easy for us to get so used to our routines. For about a year, we’ve been doing the same things, in the same places, and mostly alone. Our lives have become so monotonous that we are waiting anxiously for the next new app that’ll do a better job of stealing our attention.
We are waiting for a change — and rightfully so. But while we all wait for the brave new world the government keeps promising, we can find new ways to safely break up our current routines and do something, anything, else.
Take a day or two off — and I don’t mean a weekend — and do something that you haven’t done in a long time. Maybe spend hours over Zoom with family, or bake something you saw on some food blogger’s website, or finish reading that book you’ve been thinking about, study your holy book if you’re religious, or just sleep all day.
A change in your routine can go a long way to rejuvenate your mind, body, and soul. We’re seven weeks into the new year, and if you started this year with so much ambition that you’ve been going full steam, I urge you to take a break soon. You’ll be better for it.
There’s an old English proverb that captures this much better than I can. It goes: a change is as good as a rest.
Get some rest.
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