New Routines

 I shared earlier this month that I became aware I was living on overdrive, my mind was so busy and I was feeling burnt out. Over the last couple weeks I have been reflecting on what changes I need to make in order to live a more slow paced, fulfilled and energised life. I don't want to slow my life down entirely as this could result in lazy habits, but I do want to make sure that I have appropriate changes in my life to allow me to have the energy to invest in the things that really matter. So what new routines am I creating to look after myself?

1. Earlier nights

My night time routine has always looked different depending what season I've been in, but one thing it's always revolved around is making sure I have enough sleep. I realised I had created a routine where my head hits the pillow and suddenly a million thoughts come to my mind, I knew this needed to change. On work nights I have started heading up to bed around 9.30pm. I spend some time reading, some time listening to Lectio 365 and purposely taking things more slowly. Andy and I did this new routine for one week straight and we noticed what a difference it made, we felt more awake, felt more relaxed and overall I'd say we felt more content.

2. Dinner/Tea at the table

Our previous routine most nights looked something like this:

5.45: Helen gets home from work, Helen starts cooking tea

7:00: Andy is home 

7-10pm: We sit and eat tea on our knees and watch TV

That routine was getting so mundane, plus Andy and I barely got any time to have deep meaningful conversations. The new routine involves Andy and I spending from 7-8pm eating at the table, having conversations, clearing up the dishes so it's not tomorrow mornings dreaded job. If we're in for the evening we often do end up watching an hour of TV, but it doesn't stop us anymore from communicating and having that time to be in the moment with one another.

3. Sabbath weekends

Sabbath is the act of devoting a day a week to rest in God's presence, to take things more steady and to be in fellowship with one another. Andy and I often have busy weekends, but we are trying our best to devote either Saturday or Sunday to spending restful time together. If you want to know more about Sabbath I would recommend reading 'The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry' by John Mark Comer as he goes into great detail about the benefits of Sabbath. 

4. Reducing technology 

This has been an interesting journey for me, I'm not a fan of technology, I'd rather we all live without mobile phones and TV if I'm being truly honest. The reason why I often crave my mobile phone is because everyone else is on theirs and I wonder if I'm missing out on anything, it's not because I have a deep desire to be glued to my phone. I decided to switch my phone to grey scale and to use the do not disturb settings from 8pm - 8am. The first day after making these changes I was on the train to work, I had my phone in my bag and hadn't looked at it once. I looked around and saw everyone was either looking at their phone, had their phone in their hand or had headphones in listening to music or a podcast. That's when it hit me, gosh when did this happen?! When did people become so isolated, the other day I tried to talk to someone sat next to me and I got ignored. Andy and I are trying to slowly reduce our TV consumption and I'm trying to not be someone who is always glued to their mobile. It isn't easy because it's against the norm, but I don't want to live in a world where technology disrupts communication, real communication. 

I hope this blog has been helpful and challenging. These are just some of the new routines I'm trying to adopt to live a more peaceful, present, content life. Maybe give one or two of the above a try this week, I'm sure you'll see the benefit.

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