In the absence of a routine we find relief for a short time, however after a time it can threaten our mental and physical well being. Now more than ever it is important to maintain some kind of routine, even if it is something small.
When we have a few weeks vacation, we tend to throw our routines out the window. We stay up later, sleep in, go places we normally don’t during our average week, relax our diets just a little bit. This is okay and helps us release stress that may have built up. When it is done for a longer period of time we can become lazy, we have too much time on our hands to think about all the things that bother us and a new type of stress starts to settle in.
Just like we start to get children back into a routine at the end of summer for the start of school, we should be getting ourselves into a routine. Start with something simple like getting up at the same time every day. You can still sleep in but pick a set time to wake up, and when you do, make sure after you have had your coffee or tea that you have a shower and get dressed.
Establish one thing at minimum that you want to accomplish during the day. It doesn’t have to be a big ticket item but do something that you can complete . By doing this you will gain a sense of accomplishment and help stave of boredom.
Keeping busy also allows us not to spend an excessive amount of time thinking about what is happening around us right now. Many are in an essential position and they are continuing to work, most are overworked and living in a higher stress state than normal; we cannot thank them enough for their service during these times. For the remainder of us we can get an overload of information which causes stress and allows fear to build up. By keeping busy we can help alleviate these, even if just a little each day.
It is in the absence of structure and our normal daily life where we find the importance of a routine,.