It was February 24, 2015 when it all started and I don’t think it’s over yet. On that day we have been accused of something we did not do, it came unexpected, kind of out of the blue, we were blindsided.
Blood rushed into my head, I was shocked and hurt, how could anybody think of us this way? We started defending ourselves, justifying, trying to proof that they were wrong. We even got it in writing from a third party, that we did not do what we were accused of.
It did not help!
We were, and still are, being harassed.
The topic started to take over our whole life. It was the first thought in the morning after waking up and the last thought before going to sleep. We could not talk about anything else, we could not get a good night sleep, we could not concentrate, we got angry, we justified to each other, talked it through from every angle, got frustrated, scared, unreasonable…. in short, we were in huge turmoil and stress.
But life goes on, animals want to be fed and customers want to be served.
What got me through these days were the routines that I’ve set up. I could put the auto-pilot on, go through my routines, and life did not fall apart (completely).
Thanks to routines our animals still got fed, our house did not become a pig stall, our companies are still in business, the invoices got paid, and the emails answered.
Which in turn was an anchor to hold onto, a life ring that kept my head above water until the storm (turmoil) calmed down.
According to Merriam-Webster routines are: “habitual or mechanical performance of an established procedure”. Habitual actions, routines, don’t need any extra effort or extra thinking. That’s why:
The routines are live-savers.
Routines are a crutch in times of turmoil.
With routines one finds strength to get through the day and through the tunnel to the light.
Contrary to the popular belief,
that routines make your life boring and bland,
routines can be a godsend and live-saver
in times of turmoil and stress.
I am not saying routines solve your problems. What I am saying is, routines get you through what life throws at you. It get’s you through the hours or days when you can’t think straight.
Especially as business owners and entrepreneurs this is a blessing. While we might not be able to think creative, or do new and creative things due to the turmoil we are in, we can still take care of things, take care of our business, serve our customers and clients until things get better.
Routines ensure that you don’t loose more than you have to, while you work on bouncing back into your strong self.
Did you have situations where routines helped you out? I’d love to hear about it, send me an email or leave a comment below.
Take care!
Yes, I agree–sometimes having a routine is like having a “home base” to rely on while you’re doing everything else you have to do in life! I have found that having batched tasks and regular items on my list is helping me a LOT, especially as I transition to a full-time entrepreneur (a place where you don’t have a boss telling you what to do, so you basically have to do it all yourself!) 🙂
I like your term “home base” Jennifer, and that’s exactly what it is. Thanks for your feedback.