Don’t Follow Routines — Create Unbreakable Processes
This is how you put your life on cruise control
We suck at life on manual mode.
Without some form of automation, we fall into old habits and expect ourselves to rely on routines.
The problem with routines is they suggest the mundane. They’re boring, and every day is a chore rather than an exploration of something new.
Living through a process is a different story. It means you’re focusing energy on events that take you closer to your grand visions.
When you allow processes to bring you into a constant state of flow, you won’t go back to routines again.
Routines lead to productivity guilt
A routine is a tightrope.
When you fall, you die. I mean, not literally. I just watched Squid Game, so I need a few days to get my mind right again.
I mean more figuratively. A routine is easily broken, and it’s tough to get back on that tight rope when you know the consequences.
A process is a fluid. When you fall, you land in the water.
I’m testing a new process of 7 AM walks to get my blood flowing. So far, I’m enjoying the activity because it forces me to start my day with the sun. It’s simple exercise that gives me time to read my favorite creators, think about my work for the day, and rummage my brain for ideas.
I’m not bound to walks. If I don’t do it, then it’s no big deal. It’s not a part of my routine. I know people whose days would shatter if they didn’t do the morning ritual they’re “supposed to do.”
Too many people fall into this habit. When something doesn’t go their way, they give up for the day and tell themselves, “I’ll pick up where I left off tomorrow.” Then, when the next day comes, they feel like trash for pushing off the work they should've done.
The opposite effect, treating every day as another part of the process, dodges the guilt you feel when you’re thrown off the track. A process is an adaptable method—a routine breaks like glass.
A process is constantly developing
As a kid, I remember playing a video game that always glitched during the same mission.
I begged my parents to take me to Blockbuster to rent a different disk of the same game so that I could beat it. I’d pop the new disk in, play from the start to the level that froze, and it would still freeze.
Lost for words, I’d stop trying and figure my Game Cube was busted. In reality, that’s what happened when developers released games to the public before the internet. Now, if there’s a glitch, Twitter lets developers know about it, and they get right to work to solve the issue.
Games nowadays are under development even after release. Treating your daily process is the same. I like to gamify my life anyway, so when something goes wrong, and you think your approach could be better, all it takes is a simple patch up to fix the glitch, and you can continue playing.
When you aren’t set in your ways, you’re open to change. Though change sounds scary on paper, it’s the best thing for personal growth.
A process changes your long-term outlook
Today is scary enough.
Looking toward the future seems like an impossible task with all of the week’s responsibilities. Routines seem like the answer because they help you accomplish your day-to-day chores.
But, if a routine is glass, how can you be so sure it’ll last you a lifetime—life changes. I was once a two-sport high school athlete, and now I’m a no-sport-playing adult with real-world bills to pay. My routine as a dorky high schooler is a heck of a lot different than it is now.
Routines are temporary. A process is forever.
Remember, as you change, so does your process. That's the best part about it. Your habits flow where you do, and every step becomes a step forward instead of the ones that lock you in a trap.
Here’s the step-by-step conversion method
Okay, this is the moment you’ve been waiting for.
You’ve been asking, but Ryan, how do I break away from my routine made of glass and turn it into a malleable process?
I’m glad you asked; it’s pretty simple:
Step one: Stop calling your daily tasks routines. Sometimes making a significant change starts with your perception. It’s just like coming to terms with calling the people who pay you, clients, if you’re a newbie freelancer.
Sometimes you have to act the part, and everything else falls into place.
Step two: Forget the “step-by-step” mindset. Adopt continuity. That means making daily progress even when you aren’t sure what the results are. Naturally, we want instant satisfaction. We want to know the hard work we’re doing is paying off in the form of tangible results. But, life doesn't operate that way.
I know because it took me 16 months to see any traction as a writer. That’s a long time to write content on the internet for free, and with no one screaming in my ear to keep going. I was able to get through the invisible barrier because I believed in my writing process. If I had relied on my life to change instantly, I would’ve quit within the first couple of months.
Step 3: Outgrow yourself like a crab too big for its shell. Routines lock you in place. If you run a mile every single morning, eventually, your body will adapt to the stress. What once burned 150 calories only burns 100 calories instead.
If you kept running that same mile, you’d never know if you could run two miles. We treat our lives like this when we follow a routine. We become too big for our riches, but we hang on to who we used to be for some reason.
When you believe in a process, you grow and don’t even realize it. Your shell grows with you. Instead of looking for a new shelter once a year, you save time by putting in the work every day and working harder than last time.
Over the long run, a process blows a routine out of the water.
It’s okay to stumble when you’re whole life is a process. When you’re one with your prices, you become unbreakable.
The mindset of a process-living superstar is adaptable to all sorts of change. Consistency beats overdoing it every time.
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