Oh No! My Routine! It’s Broken!

How to reset after falling out of your routine

Click here to watch the truly iconic viral video that inspired this title.

Falling out of a healthy routine happens for all kinds of reasons. We get busy, we get sick, or we shift priorities. We skip the routine to sleep in for one morning and suddenly almost a week has passed without following your routine and we can’t figure out why we feel funky.

This happened to me over the weekend. I woke up in the middle of the night on Thursday with a stomach bug that had me throwing up, dehydrated, and exhausted so of course I didn’t get up in time to follow my morning routine.

I had a certification training I couldn’t miss in the morning, so I finished the class in pajamas, put in a time-off request for the afternoon, and went back to bed…for almost a full day. Seriously. I only got up to eat something, use the restroom, or let the dogs out so, again, I missed my morning routine.

I was feeling better by Sunday, but life, of course, was life-ing, so I once again didn’t get up to follow my morning routine. Then Monday came and I had a doctor’s appointment in the morning…

I think you probably see where this is going by now.

The routine that finally stuck

Up until very recently, I didn’t think I was a morning person. I would roll out of bed with maybe an hour to eat, shower, and get myself ready for work.

Then I started working through The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron (which I never shut up about now) and I finally found it: the perfect morning routine for me.

Step 1: At night, plug my phone in across the room, so I will have to get out of bed to turn off the alarm at 6 AM.

Step 2: Get out of bed and turn off my Alexa alarm and my phone alarm.

Step 3: Make the bed, or put the sheets in the wash if it’s laundry day.

Step 4: Take the pups for a walk or do a quick yoga video from Yoga With Bird, depending on the weather.

Step 5: Take a shower.

Step 6: Pour all of the thoughts bouncing around my head into my Morning Pages journal.

Step 7: Finish getting ready for work.

Step 8: Eat breakfast and pack lunch for the day.

Step 9: Work on a story for Medium or read until 8:40ish, when I head out the door so I can get to work by 9:00.

Am I doing a one-hour workout in the mornings? Nope, but I do start the day with some movement that I enjoy. Do I usually finish my entire story during this time? Also nope, but I have an idea and a good chunk written by the time I leave for work.

The point is, that I had to find something that worked for me and aligned with my goals. I’ve tried a ton of morning routines recommended by vloggers and podcasters, but this was exactly what I needed to set myself up for success in the mornings.

If you are struggling with your morning routine, take some time and do some reflection on the principles and practices that truly align with your values and goals. Try different combinations and different orders of operation until you find something that feels true to you.

Fixing the break

I executed my perfect morning routine for 42 days in a row before this unexpected “break” in routine. Waking up at 6:00 AM for my morning routine became something that I actually really enjoyed and relied on to keep my anxiety brain in check and make sure I was continuing to put my creative energy to work.

After four days of not following my routine, I was feeling rudderless and cranky, which is not a good combination. It usually leads to a lot of crying and unproductive days.

I was absolutely the “Oh no, our table, it’s broken,” kid from Internet fame.

That being said, that viral video has another equally funny comment at the end when the kid’s sister says, “Well, the table broke,” in a tone that feels like the vocal equivalent of the shrug emoji.

Instead of freaking out about the problem, she’s just like…well, that happened, so anyways… The girl was ready to move on with it.

After watching the video on replay a few times for the giggles, I decided to be like the table kid’s sister when it comes to getting back on track with my morning routine. Well, I broke my routine, better get back to it.

In the past, I’ve found myself using all-or-nothing thinking when it comes to routines, especially around health and wellness. If I had an off day, I had to wait for a “special” day like Monday or the start of a new month to restart my routines. This is not a sustainable way to practice habits or a new routine because you never really get anywhere with it.

For me, acknowledging the setback and getting back into my routine as soon as possible is the healthiest way to look at setbacks or unexpected changes in my routine because it doesn’t discount the hard work I did to get into that routine.

Like, yeah, I took four days off from writing on Medium, but I wrote a story for Medium for forty-two days in a row before that. I’m choosing to celebrate that achievement and keep on moving forward towards maybe making it into the $100 Club this month.

If I just stop writing for a week or a month until a “good” day rolls around, I definitely won’t achieve my goal, so I’m going to keep taking baby steps until I reach it instead of beating myself up over missed days.

I hope that next time you have to take an unexpected break in your routine, you’ll allow the grace and permission to move forward that this anxious self-critical writer on Medium gave herself to flow to you so that you can continue your journey!

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