Why routines can be helpful

 

 

Like many people I was saddened to read of the passing of Sir Tom Moore a few weeks back, but I so enjoyed reading his obituary and reflecting upon his amazing life. What a contribution he had made to our country this past year. At a time when things were so ghastly his adventure brought us fun and focus and boosted morale.

I have read obituaries all my life and get a great feeling of respect and inspiration from them. Obituaries serve a purpose in that they honor the careers and lives of the dead and I would imagine that their words are a support for the families as well. I enjoyed reading Sir Tom’s. I was drawn to the fact that in his late life he still had a prescribed routine in the mornings. Even at 100 he made his own tea, rose early, let the dogs out, read his paper and ate porridge for breakfast. He, also had wonderful philosophy that he lived by:

“ tomorrow is going to be better than today, even if today was a good day”

If you don’t follow a routine then you have a lot more time to think about all the stuff that is currently going wrong, most of which you have absolutely no control over. A routine can help you focus on what you can control in your life and this is helpful for your mental health. Completing routine tasks, be it making a bed, eating or going for a walk are small but significant accomplishments. Little steps that can give us encouragement make us feel good and motivate us to carry on to the next step. Routine gives structure to our day and can nudge us to be driven more by our actions, rather than being dictated by our mood. How does your routine look?