By Melanie Whyte
I recently found a list tucked between the pages of an old journal, dated January 2020. I remembered writing it. A small group of friends and I had gathered in a busy coffee shop to discuss our goals for the year ahead and how we'd execute them — we called our little gathering "The Goals Gals." We were excited at the prospect of becoming new versions of ourselves.
You know what happened after that.
Our well-thought-out routines went out the window as the pandemic turned our lives upside down. My January 2020 list, for example, called for me to start the day with a shower and a carefully selected outfit, part of a plan to foster confidence and creativity. Instead, I began rolling out of bed literal minutes before I had to open my laptop to tune into Zooms full of quickly overused jokes. The days felt the same, but in an out-of-control, waiting-for-the-worst way, not in a healthy routine way.
Since then, I've become a routine cynic: a nonbeliever, a nonroutiner. At first, it felt good — no more pressure to channel efficiency and productivity like a superpower. But then the daily anarchy started to sour. Instead of embracing spontaneity and valuing change, I was tired of starting from scratch every day.
With the help of experts who study habit-building, we created a step-by-step guide to finding a routine that actually works for you. It might not be social media-worthy — but it will bring more joy into your days, which is even better.
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