We have talked in the past about the not-so-great routines we started getting into as part of working remotely. I honestly thought those routines would change. But it seems what we intended to change, is still hanging around. Are bad habits holding you back?
You know what I am talking about. Now that you don’t have an hour commute and you’re not dropping kids off at school, you have a ton of free time in the morning. If you’re like me that 9:30 bedtime and that 4:30 start have now gone to an 11:30 bedtime and a 6 am start. For a person who is a morning person and does her best work in the morning, I have to be asking myself why in the world I have gotten into this bad habit?
Are you doing something similar? Are you spending more time on Netflix than in your business? Or more time binge-watching shows than spending time with your family?
It has happened to a lot of us. And I think I have discovered why.
At first, it was like a kid on summer break (or maybe like my kids on their summer break right now). Now that there is no defined routine holding them in place, they are staying up later and waking up later. They have freedoms that they hadn’t experienced in quite some time.
It’s the same with us. Working remotely has caused many of us to realize we can wake up later, stay in our pajamas (at least the bottom half) and grab snacks when we are hungry, play a few shows on the TV as part of a break, and of course work in-between.
And just like summer break, there was supposed to be an end date in sight. Many people anchored their changes to the day their company was returning to the office. The catch with this is that I think most of us expected a return to the office to happen in May or June. However, many companies have postponed their return to the workplace until October or even the first of 2021.
In other words, our behavior changes have been anchored into a date that is now well into the future.
So how do we solve that?
We have to anchor our changes, our return to normal, our “new” routine, into something that can’t be impacted by the outside world. It has to be based on a date or an event that we can control. Say, the last day of the month (which will arrive as planned without any changes), or after you go to the grocery store this weekend, etc.
Look at your current routine. Are bad habits holding you back? Are you spending time on the wrong things? Are you out of a productive routine? If the answer is yes to any of these questions, pick a date or an activity that you control and commit to making the changes at that time.
The world needs your contributions. So let’s get back on track!
Be Legendary!