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Five Techniques to Help with Routine Disruption

by Heidi Ardern

One of the hardest things about social distancing and stay-at-home orders is having your routine disrupted. Many people are struggling with this very thing and trying too hard to stay inside the “box” of normal life. Life is not normal right now! And you are NOT alone in your efforts to force is back to normality.  To varying degrees, we are all facing adjustments to life as we knew it and some of those adjustments are harder than others. Having a difficult time finding a new routine is natural and feelings that come up about it are valid. You can feel these emotions and process them as you need. In this blog, we will discuss five techniques that you can use to help you adjust

We all have lists of things that we want to try or tips that we’ve heard that make our lives easier. While we are in the normal bustle of life, it can be hard to implement these changes. Now is the perfect time to try something new. If it works, you can decide to keep it and if it doesn’t work, you can cross it off the list without experiencing too much loss.

This technique can help you sort through your emotions and identify patterns of thoughts and behavior. Your journal can become your go-to while we are social distancing from one another. Things that you may have discussed with a friend over coffee can be written in the journal so they can be assessed. For example, maybe through journaling, you discover that you’re being plagued by negative self-judgments about your perceived ability to balance work and homeschooling your kids. In observing these thoughts, you have the opportunity to distance yourself from them and make behavioral changes. Knowledge is power and with this understanding, you can implement changes.

Don’t Be Scared of Change

This one is easier said than done but being afraid of the current situation makes it harder to cope. I encourage you to approach this situation with an open mind, and a spirit of willingness. Sure, you might fail (and learn something in the process.). You might also create change that is real and true and experience a new kind of empowerment.  

Many people are using this time to learn new skills that can help them personally and professionally. Encourage yourself to use this time productively. Is there something you have always wanted to know more about but never had the time to dedicate to research? Is there a skill you want to add to your resume? There are a lot of free learning resources that have been opened to encourage learning and growth during this time. Be curious about the world around you and do some exploring! (Virtually, of course.)

Don’t Do It Alone

Even though you can’t see people outside of your home face-to-face right now, there are a lot of online video chat tools you can use. Facetime, Skype, Facebook Messenger, Zoom, and many others are available. Pick a buddy to work on these changes with. It’s always easier to implement new ideas when you have a cheerleader beside you. Get them involved and encourage one another.

It is always important to remember that even though we are social distancing right now, there are many therapists available to do phone or video therapy sessions. If you need to reach out to someone, I highly encourage you to do so. We’re all running a marathon, not a sprint, and no one reaches the finish line successfully without support. If you would like to talk, please let me know. You are not alone!

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I Travel A Lot I Hate Having My Life Disrupted By Routine: Travel Journal for Women with Writing Prompts Paperback – August 12, 2019

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6x9 inches | 100 pages | dot grid

Travel Journal with Writing Prompts

This 6x9 travel journal is the perfect size for documenting memories of your trips and vacations. For each day you'll find a series of writing prompts to help you capture the details as well as a blank dot grid page for additional journalling, illustrations or pasting in photographs or memorabilia from your trip.

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This diary is perfect for travellers who want to journal about their experiences, the places they visit and the people they meet.

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• Print length 100 pages
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• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Independently published (August 12, 2019)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 100 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1089949626
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• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 5.6 ounces
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.25 x 9 inches

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How To Maintain Routine When Life Is Disrupted

It’s challenging to get into a routine, but it’s pretty easy to fall out of one. And it can be a real struggle to get back into your routine.

A few weeks ago, I was going along with my day and received a call from the school nurse. My son was in her office complaining of a sore throat and exhaustion. She was wondering if I could pick him up.

I felt bad that my son wasn’t feeling well so I drove to the school and picked him up so that he could rest at home.

However, this disrupted my plans for the afternoon.

It would have been really easy to throw my hands up in the air and surrender the rest of the day because it didn’t go as planned. But I didn’t. I readjusted my day and did the best I could.

I’m sure you have experienced this before. Your child gets sick and is home for a day, or maybe multiple days, and you’re thrown off your routine. Depending on how much time goes by, it can be hard to get back into the good routine you set for yourself.

Related: The Beginners Guide to Family Routines

If you struggle to get back into routine after a minor or major disruption in life, I’m sharing with you five tips to get back into routine. These tips will help you shift perspective on your routine so that you have flexibility and don’t feel frustrated when unexpected things come up in your day.

Five Tips To Help You Get Back Into Your Routine

Here are five things you can do, when life is disrupted, to maintain some sort of routine and not have to start over again…

#1 – Go Easy On Yourself

Instead of getting frustrated with yourself for falling off course, give yourself grace.

After having Covid, I expected to get right back into my routine. My body thought different. I was exhausted and had little ambition to do more than take care of the kids.

I spent a lot of time on the couch feeling really annoyed at myself for not following through on my daily intentions . This lasted for weeks. It felt like the procrastination was getting worse and worse.

I ended getting some coaching around the procrastination and what I learned was that mentally chastising myself and pushing back on the procrastination was actually draining me of energy. Instead, I allowed myself the time and space to feel tired, and believed that everything would get done as it should.

Once I stopped being so hard on myself, I started having more energy because I wasn’t wasting so much mental and physical energy trying to push myself.

Giving myself grace helped me to slowly get back into my routines.

#2 – Eliminate All or Nothing Thinking

This tip can apply to so many areas of life! When I stopped applying all or nothing thinking to my exercise routine, I exercised consistently. Eliminating all or nothing thinking helped me lose weight because I stopped quitting when the scale didn’t do what I wanted.

The same theory applies to disruptions in your routine.

For example, if I wake up late and miss my workout, I don’t throw my whole morning routine out the window. Instead, I readjust for the time and complete what I can in that timeframe.

Same thing with my bedtime routine . If I have a night when I’m up later than I intended, I don’t make a big deal out of it and no longer abide by my bedtime. I deal with the disruption and put my routine into place the next day.

The biggest gains out of life come from small actions taken consistently. But it’s easy for our brain to tell us if we can’t give 100%, then it isn’t worth trying.

Either way, stop telling yourself you either have to give it 100% or nothing at all. This is the biggest way to sabotage your routine.

#3 – Set Out To Accomplish Three Things

If you have a sick child at home, or visitors from out of town, ease up on how much you expect to accomplish.

Instead, set out to get three things done. When those items are done, give yourself credit and relax.

For example, earlier in the week, we had dentist appointments. It took up two hours of the afternoon. When we returned home, I remembered that I didn’t start a load of laundry (as part of my laundry routine). I honestly had no interest in starting laundry at this point of the day.

My mind starting sharing all the things I hadn’t accomplished that day. I could feel myself starting to stress. Then I reminded myself that I worked, picked my son up from school and attended an appointment, and ran an errand I had been putting off.

I did enough . The laundry could wait for the next day.

Grab the popular FREE Quick Guide to Lessen Overwhelm + Enjoy Motherhood More. You’ll find routine inspiration, helpful checklists, and a time blocking workbook! G et it here!

#4 – Let Go Of Control

If you’re reading this, I assume that you’re a structured person who thrives on routine…because it offers some sort of control.

I know that one of my faults is struggling to let go of structure and routine. Letting go feels chaotic and out of control.

I’ve become better at letting disruptions not derail me by a change in perspective. Instead of feeling stressed and anxious, I ask myself, “Is this worth the disruption to my routine?” When I ask myself this, I can recognize that whatever is happening to throw my day off will be worth it in the long run.

If family is visiting, the quality time spent with them means more to me then checking off everything on my morning routine checklist. If my child is having a hard time sleeping, laying in bed and comforting him is worth more to me than sticking to my bedtime routine .

Maybe your partner plans an impromptu family outing that throws off your plans for the day. Instead of feeling frustrated that your plans for the day are derailed, focus on the memories you will make.

Routine is great for calming anxiety, productivity, and habit building. However, you’re not going to look back on life and wish you stayed home to do the laundry instead of heading to the movies (last minute) with your family.

#5 – Have an “A” Schedule and a “B” Schedule

If your routine is often disrupted, you can create an “A” schedule and a “B” schedule. That way, you still keep some sense of routine when the unexpected happens.

For example, you have a day when your child is home sick. Your “A” schedule would be your normal daily routines. Your “B” schedule is something you create that entails the routines and tasks you want to get done knowing you will have a child at home.

Your “B” schedule can be a more relaxed version of your “A” schedule , but still offers you the opportunity to feel like you are participating in your routines and not falling off track.

If you think back to high school, you might’ve had a split schedule like this. Your “A” day classes were different than your “B” day classes. No matter the schedule, you were still in school and learning.

Related: How To Plan Your Week For Productivity

Use These Five Tips To Get Back Into Routine

When life throws you the unexpected, use these five tips to get back into routine:

• Go Easy On Yourself
• Eliminate All or Nothing Thinking
• Set Out To Accomplish Three Things
• Let Go Of Control
• Have an “A” Schedule and a “B” Schedule

Remember, don’t let one bad day ruin all the work you did to put good routines in place.

These tips will help shift your perspective so that you don’t feel frustrated or overwhelmed when unexpected things come up in your day. Using these tips will help you maintain your routine over the long run, no matter what gets in your way.

You may also find these other posts helpful:

How to plan for christmas to avoid overwhelm.

• 5 Tips To Stop Mom Overwhelm
• 5 Ways To Avoid Mom Burnout
• How To Stop Worrying (So Much) About The Future

Don’t forget to grab your free Quick Guide to Lessen Overwhelm + Enjoy Motherhood More! Click here to get it today!

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