Plotting a Course For a New Month: How to Change Up a Stale Routine
Project 365, Day 212/365
We’re about to turn the corner into August, and while I know adults just love saying things like “I can’t believe it’s already August!” and “how did July by so fast?” and “I mean, it’s practically Halloween, which is practically Christmas which is practically the new year,” it really does feel that fast. Hop, skip and a jump.
No, this post today isn’t about the quick passing of time. Am I astounded that it’s been a full seven months already in 2021? Yeah…I am. The hamster wheel of 2020 hasn’t changed much for me in 2021. But there’s something about the ending of a month and the looming newness of the next that makes me always stop and ponder…what do I hope for in the coming weeks? What will I bring with me from the previous 30-ish days? Without that moment to think through these things, the time literally whirls by us, days blending into other days which blend into weeks, which blend into months…a mush of passing hours.
I can honestly say July was pretty nondescript around here. While there was some nice time spent with friends, it was just a lot of the same for us. Work, meals, computers, TV shows, looking out windows, picking up groceries. The doldrums of adult life, really. It was hot, we complained about the A/C not working properly, we chatted with our neighbors in the hallway about random sounds we hear…”Did you hear that? Was it coming from your place…was it coming from the building next door? Have you heard from the new landlord?”
There’s a part of me that wants to shake it up a little bit coming into August, and it doesn’t have to be drastic. Maybe it’s finding a new morning routine (I need to start journaling for the Nichole Sachs program I’ve been meaning to start that I mentioned). Maybe I’ll become someone who makes the bed in the morning, because well…I’ve never been that type of person. I won’t declare something I know will never stick like waking up earlier or the like, but I gotta be honest…I’m a bit bored. Because I didn’t have many physical therapy appointments, I went nearly five straight days without stepping foot outside last week. I am someone who needs to feel the sun on their skin, the breeze through their fingertips, but I’m also someone who could easily not leave the house for weeks without even realizing what happened.
We’ll be traveling next month, to FINALLY see family after nearly two years (let me not go into my apprehensive of traveling at this moment, particularly to Florida where Covid is running rampant), so that’ll be a change of pace, but I think I need a bit more than that.
Here are some things I’m considering to very loosely and easily shake up the mundaneness of my recent days:
- Pick up a new book to read (any fun, saucy suggestions?)
- Take a walk after work around the neighborhood.
- Make my bed in the morning.
- Call friends more often to chat on the phone (I can be really bad about this, relying on text messages which never feels the same).
- Go back to the beach…hopefully the current sewage drainage issues currently going on will resolve quickly.
- Refresh my morning (or nightttime) routine.
- Find a place around the house that isn’t my bed to relax.
Normally, when I’m bored, I add work to my life. Give myself projects, take on tasks, but I’m trying to find joy and peace in things that aren’t actively work-related or heady in any way. In fact, I think I’m “bored” because all I do is go from my long day job to my night job (of writing), adding very few other hobbies or activities to the mix.
So that’s where I am, taking stock of the past month, plotting plans for the one to come. I welcome anyone to join me in shaking things up a little bit in August. If so, I’d love to hear about it!
See you tomorrow, FOAS.