The Power of Routine: A Side of Myself I Never Knew Existed

September 24, 2023

I’m curious if you can relate to this:

Lately I’ve been feeling the freedom that comes with having a bit more unstructured time, but I’ve also seen how — believe it or not — my productivity plateaued in direct correlation with how much more free time I had. Why? When there isn’t pressure on my time, I start acting like I have all the time in the WORLD!! And I don’t. No one does.

Don’t get me wrong, I value unstructured time, but nothing feels as good as finding a rhythm I can lean into and lose myself in, like when I’m employed. But for the first time in a long time, I’ve been home for a stretch without traveling or working because of the strike/AMPTP work stoppage.

When I don’t have concrete goals I’m working towards, I feel lost. And when that happens, I easily fall into some pretty random routines, some of which are self-sabotaging.

Then one day I had an aha.

Every morning, my 10-year-old dog Story goes for a walk. When she returns to the house, naturally, she’s panting and thirsty. But no matter how appealing we make the giant, always flowing water fountain for her downstairs, she will — without fail — go upstairs to my bathroom and drink out of a tiny bowl of water I leave for my cats, making a giant mess.

If my door is closed, she’ll paw at it until someone notices.

This is her routine. And I can’t seem to convince her of anything different.

When I was traveling over the summer, Story’s routine would confound the pet sitters. “Why does she go out of her way to get her water? It doesn’t make sense.”

But her behavior got me thinking, “Do I have any ‘Story-like’ habits that I’ve accepted even though they don't necessarily make sense?”

Bryce Dallas Howard, sitting on a pink couch wearing a tan shirt and blue jeans, smiles and leans over to hug her 10-year-old golden retriever Story. Story sits on the floor and wears a blue bandana around her collar with a big smile too.

It hit me. When it comes to checking social media and email on my phone, I have completely become like Story — I mindlessly check and scroll and refresh over and over and over throughout the day. It’s illogical, nonsensical, silly animal-brain behavior.

I started to consider what it would look like if I did something about it, which led me to deleting all social media and email apps off my phone 😳

Using my laptop is more of an “event” rather than a compulsion, so I limit myself to checking these apps only when I’m on my computer. Do I have a routine around when I check? Not yet. But four weeks into this experiment and my screen time is already a fraction of what it used to be. (And I’m not suggesting that everyone can or should do this — I’ve only been able to do this because of the stage and circumstances of my life at the present.)

By creating boundaries for my unconscious habits, suddenly I had a lot more time and brain space which has allowed me to create new, more intentional routines.

For example: I paint. At night. And it’s become a whole thing.

When I get home, the first couple of hours are about tying up loose ends from the work day, eating dinner, and taking care of family and pets. Then once the family settles down for bed, that’s when I come alive. I’ve been this way since I was a child and I’ve tried to find workarounds in the past… but not at the moment!

As a result of this new routine, I’m creating my first series of 18x24 watercolor mix-media paintings called the “Color Portal Series.” I marvel at how automatic the painting process has become and the results that transpire from giving myself over to that routine.

A GIF of Bryce sitting on the floor painting on a large canvas. As Bryce brushes her utensil, the orange and yellow watercolor flows and bleeds from right to left like a river of water.

While I’ve already been painting every day with watercolor for over a year, less screen time has meant I’ve had a lot more space to commit myself to a routine connected to a specific goal. So for two straight weeks, instead of whimsically painting whatever whenever, I’ve painted the Color Portal Series.

Trust me, no one is bending my arm to do this, but it takes some inner discipline to focus on a singular style every night for weeks, and this experience has been fascinating and invaluable for my growth and skills as an artist.

Below are some sneak peeks from the Color Portal Series. Sharing them feels both exhilarating and nerve wracking, but here they are!

In the process of creating and executing this project, I realized that setting routines to achieve ongoing creative goals is only part of the journey. Perhaps even more important is what comes before: the act of letting go of self-sabotaging habits which will allow for a greater capacity to create, focus, and accomplish goals.

This goes beyond painting or any specific task; it’s about understanding that often our biggest barriers are self-imposed. When we address and release those internal constraints, we free ourselves not only to achieve our immediate goals, but also to experience life more fully.

Ultimately, routine, as I’ve come to grasp, is not solely about discipline or structure; it’s about creating pockets of predictable joy and allowing ourselves the space to truly live.

So I’d love to know:

Have you had a goal in the past that you achieved through a consistent routine?
Is there something on your horizon, something you want to create or learn, that you think could benefit from a routine? Or maybe a habit you could dial down to make space for more meaningful pursuits?

Eager to hear your stories and insights!

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