In The Next 30 Days

I think routines get a bad wrap as killers of creativity and squashers of all things fun.

The smallest pieces and parts of my day-to-day are taken care of by routine: the kids are buckled into their car seats the same way every time, I brush my teeth after my morning coffee but before I get dressed, I go to the grocery store on Mondays. I take comfort in this. I can know that a lot of minutia is covered, and what a relief that is.

But more than making my life predictable and easier, routines have become something of a source of motivation, a drive to learn what is possible. They make sure my little details are covered, they help establish good habits, and, maybe most importantly, they free my mind to something more fun and even more important. Because routine structures my day, I’m free to dream and create and do amazing things the rest of the day. My mind isn’t flattened and bogged down with quite so many details, so I can write the story that’s been pooling behind my eyes. And I’m thinking forward to what I can and will accomplish next.

So my routines don’t kill the creativity. Instead, they give me plenty of room to dream big.

I am trying to remember the beauty of routines this month, and then I’m trying to schedule room to be creative. Like exercise, sometimes creativity is better done when you know it’s coming, when you look forward to it, when you make sure you do it. I am finding that when I make time and space to be creative at a specific time, then those imaginative juices start flowing out of habit, they start with a little less struggle each time.

Try it. So tell me, do you love or hate your routine?