Ep 133: A routine is a process, not a prison

In this episode, Richard and Pilar explore the importance of approaching our routines and habits with flexibility. While they ideally work to help us be the kind of person we’d like to be, we also need to recognise when a routine or habit is no longer helpful or might even run against our own interests.

Additionally, it’s helpful to be sensitive to the impact our habits have on our context and those around us.

Habits can be an expression of our values – yet values are principles, which can and should be applied with flexibility. So it makes sense not follow our routines against all common sense, but to decide – in the moment – whether it’s a helpful thing to do. A mindful awareness of the here and now can help us notice how helpful our behaviour is likely to be. We can then craft new habits, or simply take a break from our routines as needed.

The bottom line is that our habits exist to help us. We can decide whether or not to put them into practice.

Do get in touch with your questions and comments about habits and the benefits of approaching them flexibly. You can email us at: podcast at worklifepsych dot com.

Thanks for listening!

Resources for this episode

• Our monthly community meet-up takes place on Monday 17th April and is all about building your self-awareness. This follows our episode with Lucie Ilbury all about derailment. Building our self-awareness is one of the excellent ways we can minimise derailment actually happening. So sign up for free today at worklifepsych.club
• You can read Lucie’s series of blog posts about Derailment on the blog:
  • “Understanding Career Derailment” – https://www.worklifepsych.com/understandingderailment/
  • “Derailment: how our strengths can work against us” – https://www.worklifepsych.com/derailment-how-our-strengths-can-work-against-us/
  • “Protecting yourself against derailment” – https://www.worklifepsych.com/protecting-yourself-against-derailment/
• Weds 26th: For CommunityPlus members, we have our second bite-sized learning session of the year. The topic chosen by members and it will be an interactive 90mins session on one of the following topics: Healthy us of technology, Healthy Sleep Habits, Prioritisation, or beating Procrastination. You can find out more at https://www.worklifepsych.com/communityplus