Be Flexible

I had a routine meltdown….

Ok so after my diatribe about the importance of routine a couple of weeks ago, I had a routine meltdown. Whilst I wholeheartedly believe in the benefits of a well structured routine being used as mechanism to keep you disciplined, accountable and on track, it was remiss of me to omit the importance of flexibility. You’ve got your plan for the week and it is so well organised that you feel like you can tackle anything. And then you get thrown a curve ball.

Now if you are a relaxed individual that has the capacity to take things as they come I applaud you, I am working on this. For those with slight OCD tendencies, yep that’s me, these curve balls can throw you into free fall. SO….I had my whole week planned perfectly, and everything was going swimmingly until Thursday night rolled around and I was asked to do something early on Saturday morning that I was not prepared for. You see, I had allocated 3 hours on Saturday to prepare for said task in my incredibly well-planned schedule, on the understanding that I would be able to implement my preparation and study the following weekend. I was comfortable with that. Well, that plan got thrown out the window and at that moment my coping mechanisms flew out the door and panic kicked in. “This has totally interfered with my routine, I don’t have time prepare for this now, I can’t do this, rah rah rah” WOW! Little miss balance had a meltdown.

I picked up the phone and called my Mum who told me to go back and read last week’s post on Mindfulness. She always has a way of talking me off a cliff. After 5 minutes of ranting and raving I stopped and said, “you know, if I just allocated the tasks I had planned for tonight to Saturday, and I prepare for Saturday tonight, I’ll probably be OK.” TA DA!!!! Crisis averted. This made me sit back and think about routine. Now, as I said, I am a massive advocate for having a plan and scheduling your time and doing your best to stick to it, but that is the key – DO YOUR BEST!!!! Not everything goes according to plan and that is OK. Many of you may be thinking, WOW what a nutcase, calm down woman, and I hear you, I truly do. In that moment, I was a mental person, purely because I had put so much pressure on myself to successfully complete a million tasks in a week.

Drive and ambition are wonderful qualities and routine is extremely valuable in helping you to stay focussed and on track but it is also imperative that you acknowledge that you are only human and you cannot control everything that happens in your life.

So the lesson for this week is: Plan your weekly schedule, make yourself accountable and manage your time effectively. If something unexpected pops up, know that everything is manageable. Take a step back, calmly address the task or situation and just get on with it.