A Whole New World

My new normal.

New house.  Hubby home.  New No routines.

I don't have much that stayed the same.  Even my workouts changed.  I quit the boxing gym (less related to my move, more related to their changes).  I haven't found a replacement yet (injuries are stalling new things).

Morning routine is out the door.
Evening routine is non-existent.

I can't even get in a flow to grocery shop.  No "regular" stores.  I still go back to my old shopping (which will lessen now that we sold the house).

That's the problem -- NOTHING is flowing yet.  Nothing is actually a ROUTINE.  I can't figure out how to get some consistency.  I do the things, but not as a routine anymore.  Does that make sense?  Workout times are all over the place.  Sometimes I journal in the late morning, sometimes at night.  Even morning coffee gets delayed some days.

Doing THE THINGS as a routine amplifies the effect for me.  Scattered gives me the feeling of being unorganized and off-kilter.

Also, a routine takes away decision making.  When should I do it?  Which should I do right now?  Can I skip it?  Enter head-talk and negotiations and the ease to be steered in another direction.  Now it's extra, extra WORK with lessened reward -- lose, lose situation.

Even the time I wake up has been all over the map -- between 5:30 and 7:30.

Maybe that's where to start.  Consistent EARLY wake-up.  That will help my morning routine solidify a bit.  That means an alarm.  An alarm could mean waking dogs and hubby up.  That's why I stopped setting one -- even if I got up early, they all did too.  It defeated the purpose.

This is going to be a goal of my Whole30 -- building routines back.  They won't look the same, but I need ROUTINE.

Noticing this is BIG for me.  I keep complaining about CHANGE, but maybe the issue is ROUTINE.

I'm going to have to think outside the box to figure routines that can work consistently in MY WHOLE NEW WORLD.

I'm also going to need to get a little ugly holding those routines.  It's easy to get run over (in the morning especially) and have my stuff pushed around and out.  That's why waking up before the rest of the house worked so well -- my time without interruption and then it's finished and everyone is happy.  I've asked nicely, explained patiently and STILL I get pushed.  I think it's going to take a firm stand (or ugly stand) to be heard.  I say -- don't have to understand it, just have to respect it.

I'm on a ROUTINE BUILDING MISSION.  Stay tuned ...