Routines and structure can make your schedule more flexible
Over the past couple years I’ve talked to some creative business owners who really feel resistance towards routines and plans,
And the common worry seem to be that it’ll take away our ability to be spontaneous, to not have flexibility, that that it’ll be too boring for free spirits.
But through my experience as a psychologist, I’ve learned that humans thrive with boundaries and structure.
When I started my business, I kind of just assumed that me having my own business would mean that I’d have a flexible schedule and lots of freedom. But that wasn’t the case. Sure, on paper I was free to do what I wanted, but in reality…
I was feeling anxious, busy, and overwhelmed regularly
I also felt unsure of what to do and when most of the time
I felt guilty when I took time away from my business but I also felt guilty when working all the time, or working late at night
I was also engaging in a bunch of busywork
I was thinking about work *all the time* → life wasn’t feeling that free or flexible
I was kind of longing back to the time when I had my job as a psychologist, where I knew exactly when I needed to be where and then the rest of my time I was free to do what I wanted – but I also know that I don’t have any desire for now to go back to a regular job. If I really needed to I could do it, but for now I am lucky enough to not have to.
But thinking in that way, missing my regular work schedule, made me realize that I could apply parameters like that to my business owner life – without adding in the elements that I didn’t like about the work as a psychologist.
→ I could have a rhythm in my day, a sort of schedule – it just didn’t need to be the 8-4 as I was used to working. It’s funny how the brain makes that connection between “routines” or “schedule” to the traditional 9-5, but it doesn’t have to be that way!
→ Even if I have a schedule, it doesn’t mean that the content of my work day has gotten any less exciting to me, it doesn’t mean that I’m back in a job where I don’t find that much enjoyment or purpose.
I also experience freedom in other ways, like…
→ I can work from anywhere – I don’t need to go to an office
→ I can work with the people I want to work with – this was not something I had control over as a psychologist working in the public sector
So we shouldn’t really equate freedom and flexibility with throwing schedules out the window!
How having routines and planning your time actually helps you enjoy more freedom and flexibility!
1. Humans thrive with structure
If there’s anything 2020 has taught us, it is that humans like predictability and structure – and we feel quite stressed and overwhelmed when things are unpredictable.
2020 just showed us this in a very big way – but if you tend to feel overwhelmed or kind of just numb or frazzled throughout your days even though you’d be free to do what you want, it’s a sign that your nervous system is craving some structure and clarity. Humans are creatures of habit – so the best thing to do is to make sure that our habits and routines align with how we want to live our lives.
It’s not about deciding and locking in what you’ll do each minute of your day and always being predictable – nor is it about perfection.
It’s just about having a rhythm in your day, which takes into account your energy and your needs, so that you feel comfortable going through your days and can actually get things done – and still enjoy yourself.
2. Routines help you make fewer decisions
When you eliminate the need to make all your decisions in the moment throughout the day, you save up a lot of mental energy and time.
It’s helpful to our nervous system to just sink into a routine and get things done at a time when it’s used to doing them, instead of you having to make decisions all the time.
There’s this notion that people are stuck in a rut if they do the same things day after day, but I would argue that this is not at all the case. Doing the things day after day is what brings progress, what builds up what we want to make of our lives.
Repetition and predictability also makes it easier on our nervous system to get things done, which brings along a sense of comfort and safety.
The important thing is really to take time every once in a while to make sure that the routines and activities are aligned with how you want to live your life, aligned with what you want to accomplish.
3. Work towards your goals on autopilot
If you have any goals that you’re working towards, making the steps towards that goal part of your routine or your habits makes it much easier to make progress – which is pretty cool!
Let’s say you want to be healthier, so it makes sense to have a routine time in your day for some kind of movement
Or if you want to create a body of work of some kind, it’s important to have time in your day or week set aside for creating that work
4. You can incorporate what matters into your life
Routines help make sure that you are doing things aligned with what you value. If you’re looking to have stronger relationships to your friends, it might make sense to have a time of the day or the week when you check in with them. If family is important to you, maybe there is a night of the week when you gather for an activity you all love.
5. It allows you to be more spontaneous
When you’ve accounted for the important stuff in your routines and structures, you can do whatever the heck you feel like, because your brain isn’t worried about when you’re gonna get the important stuff done.
And if you don’t get anything else done outside of your important tasks, you don’t feel that bad about it.
6. You’ll know when you’re done for the day
When you don’t have routines or usual practices in your day, there’s a risk of just working until you go to sleep – or always feeling like you should work if you have nothing better to do.
It’s really hard to make time for self care or time off, if that’s not planned into your day or week.
7. If something unexpected pops up in your day or your week,
It’s a lot easier to adjust already existing routines and plans, versus trying to remember all the things you gotta do and fit them somewhere because your brain has to think of eeeeverything.
All of the points that I’ve made so far all really come down to one thing:
Routines and structure free up your brain to have time and capacity to think and to be creative – because your brain doesn’t have to keep trying to solve the “when should we do the things” problem.
Now, if you still worry about a scheduled life becoming boring, I’ve got you.
Want a way to make sure that sticking to a schedule doesn’t get boring?
Plan for unplanned time within your routines and schedules – this really helps with that feeling of flexibility and freedom, too.
For example, you could say that between breakfast and lunch you do your most important tasks, and that after lunch you’re free to work on whatever feels good or exciting (not to say that the important can’t be the stuff that’s also exciting).
And then you could have a stop time of 4pm, 5pm, 2pm – whatever suits your life, and then you’re free for the rest of the day. Or maybe you do your best work between 7-11pm – so maybe you set aside that time for work while you have a bunch of unplanned time during the day. Or maybe you decide a day out of the week when you make zero plans upfront, and let yourself do what you feel like that day
So that was a good chunk of reasons why having routines and structure in your day actually brings you freedom, I hope that this helps you feel more motivated to try to create a schedule for yourself that you enjoy.
*If having no regular schedule or routines does work for you, that’s great! This is meant more as a pep talk to people who feel like they do function better when there is a structure in place – who are just dealing with that inner struggle between wanting structure and worrying about it getting boring and rigid. So if you are thriving without structure, I’m not saying that you have to create a schedule or routines for yourself – I truly believe that whatever works for you is what works for you, and you don’t need anyone to tell you to change something that’s already working.