The last day of Holiday - getting back to work routines

 I was telling my Mom today, even when I retire someday, I'm going to need some kind of routine. 

I feel lost without it. 

Yes, I'm a Virgo, yes I'm somewhat of a perfectionist, type A, extrovert, ESTJ on the Meyers Briggs, all of that. (And a night owl, but that doesnt really matter here)

Extrovert, Sensing, Thinking, Judging

I need structure. I need routine. 

And I need to break out of the routine too, routinely. (laughs) It's true!

So while I dont' look forward to work, necessarily, I do look forward to getting back to my routines. 

Things have a way of changing, however;  my org at work, my meetings, my classes can all shift.  It can actually cause me some anxiety to NOT get the weekly meetings set up immediately after we start tomorrow. All that unknown bothers me. 

This is why I end up building structure where there is none, planning where there is no plan. 

It's an essential skill, may I even say a virtue to be flexible, to deal with ambiguity. And given that there is a normal amount of change, it's entirely possible. 

But when the rate of change is vast, it can wear on you, causing you to lose sleep , causing confustion, and make you long for simpler times, like when the Golden Girls were on tv (Rest in Peace, Betty), or when your biggest problem was when your brother was loudly complaining while you were trying to make a mix tape off the radio. We even rewatch the same movies and tv shows because its safe, we know how it will end. 

The bigger problem lies in the learning curve of so much change is very high. And we dont do it well. We end up doing "okay" or "good enough" while in that learning curve. But good is the enemy of great. If we dont take the time to learn that change well enough before changing again, we never get to "great". 

Maybe that can't be helped in the work life, but it could be in our personal lives. For example, how many resolutions did you make this year? Were there more than 5? Can you rate them in importance and just focus on the top one or two? 

I think in the long run we probably should. And everyone should be on the same page about it too, otherwise you're just going to be running in circles. 

Take weight loss - if you try to do this and don't explain it to the kids or your husband and they notice the chips and cookies have disappeared, they may revolt or go buy some and leave them out for you to see, defeating the purpose. But say, if you give them their own cupboard for snacks and put them there, they can have them and you dont have to look at them and be tempted. 

Now if you tried to do this and run a couch to 5k and get up early and stop drinking coffee and THEN Didnt tell anyone you were doing all that, I'm sure you'd be creating some major chaos at home. 

I don't have any actual resolutions. I have a plan to lose weight and lower my sugar and cholesterol this year. I have a plan to take off days too, so I can eat whatever I want that day. But there will only be a few of those. Consistency is key, you see. 

So in the long run, consistency and routine being my friend, I am fairly excited about getting back to work tomorrow. And I hope you can see some good in it too. 

Speaking of routines, this blog will become a routine too. I'll start with Sundays and see how that goes. 

Talk next week!

Vicky