Seven hacks for Autumn Wellbeing 1:Routine
Another September and the start of the school/agricultural/gardening year. Here I am at this garden. It’s a ritual I’ve been embracing for over thirty years. The early September ramble as a teacher, then a mother, then both has marked the boundary between the lazy days of Summer and the more structured back-to-school life that September introduces. It’s bitter sweet but life ought to be full of ebb and flow, ice creams and homemade soup, holidays and workdays, freedom and structure.
Let’s be clear. I am queen of spontaneity; I prefer to choose what’s for supper on the way home from work rather than to formulate a menu and shopping list for the week ahead.
BUT
I have decades of lived experience to illustrate that when routine and structure disappear out of the window my mood, productivity, positive relationships and general wellbeing go too.
In early September thousands of teachers are working hard to establish classroom routines that will support all children to feel safe, secure and nurtured. Predictability = safety, lower stress levels and reduced cognitive overload. Children and teachers can be more focused, more productive and more creative. Win. Win. Win.
New parents and established ones know that routines around bedtimes promote better sleep and during the day help children to develop independence and social skills as well as freeing up time for creativity and play. At the other end of life, elderly people find well-established routines to be an aid to memory and living independently.
Psychologists, psychiatrists, mental health professional, doctors and counsellors advocate establishing a routine as a rock-solid foundation upon which wellness sits. When our normal structures crumbled during the COVID pandemic, many of us established new routines around daily walks, family Zoom calls and spending more time at-home. In anxious times, people crave the security of a routine, providing structure and a secure pathway forward.
They are big business now too in the apps and resources which have been developed to support mental health, weight loss, productivity and achieving your goals. James Clear’s Atomic Habits, BJ Fogg’s Tiny Habits and the late Dr Michael Mosley’s Just One Thing all attempt to harness the superpower of routine. And those of us who work as solution-focused therapists know that tiny steps done consistently lead to big changes.
My September ramble is ritual rather than routine but it’s the gateway to structured, productive days. I have projects that need time and focus that my routines will support. It’s all systems go until the end of October. I work in blocks of seven weeks. But that’s a whole different blogpost.
What small routine can you start today to give your day/week some helpful structure?