Do you feel like you are sleepwalking through your day…maybe your life? Maybe that’s because you have fallen into a routine of the same old-same old.   What’s wrong with routine?  Nothing, absolutely nothing, except that most women fear that routine will turn them into Boring Betty!  We believe it is the opposite.  At the Burnout Queens we are BIG believers in routine.  Why you ask?  That’s easy!

Having a solid foundation of routine in your life lets you shake it up!

You can turn the hourglass upside down, paint your nails neon pink instead of shell pink, and go for the espresso instead of the decaf, soy latte, hold the syrup!  Routine gives you the break-out factor.  If you already have that foundation of routine quietly and unobtrusively laying the groundwork in the background  you’re free to go ahead and do the unexpected and your life will not fall apart, not even fray around the edges.

Did you seriously think that we would advocate living a dull, monotonous, uninspired and routine-heavy life?  How could we!  These Burnout Queens just packed up their entire life once again and moved it to the seaside!  Just the other day in a quiet reflective HSP moment I found myself asking myself (something like this…) “Self, how do we do it?  How can we just pack up our lives, move on and carry on really not missing a beat?  Come on Self, what’s our secret?” (Yes, to answer your question, I do often muse with myself this way).

Well, here’s our secret, we live a cultivated life.  I borrowed the word ‘cultivated’ from Thomas Moore author of ‘A Life At Work’ (which, by the way, if you haven’t read, you must).  I love the word ‘cultivated’ because I think of a garden, a cared for and well tended garden, not perfect, but not overrun; a garden that is healthy and thriving, you can tell it is loved and nourished by the way it shows its beauty.  As a gardener, I know you cannot ask a garden to flourish without routines.  You could see the watering and weeding as ‘boring’ or you could experience them as ‘soul-ful’.

‘Cultivated’, yes that is the perfect word: planned, prepared, instructed, nourished, tended, cultured, created and cherished.  That kind of perfectly describes the life we set out to create post-burnout.  Our life has this bedrock of quiet routine that gives it a rhythm and equilibrium.  Sometimes that rhythm sound pop, sometimes its Latin jazz, sure throw in some rap, and maybe an aria or two.  So, far from making life dull, mundane, predictable or boring we use that quiet rhythm of routine to connect us to our life whether it is watering the patio each evening, Sunday breakfast out, early morning dog walks or doing the daily coffee run.

Sometimes simple routine things give you the freedom to defy ordinary!
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If you feel like you are sleepwalking through your life don’t blame the mundane, no no no, shake it up, take chances, make choices, expect the unexpected and have adventures.  Shake up your attitude and embrace routine.  Cultivated your life and wake-up to what you want, desire, and dream of creating.

Here’s one great tip: 

What things that drive you batty over the week?  Make them routine.

Say…grocery shopping, what a hassle!  Make it routine.  What if you stopped on your way home on Friday evening (yes even as tired as you are)?  That means food for the weekend, no Saturday morning crowds to fight, instead enjoying that extra morning cuppa along with a lovely weekend treat you picked up on your now routine  Friday shop!

Let’s take another, something I always forget to do, scheduling self-maintenance (haircuts, manicures, pedicures, facials, dental or medical appointments) well in advance.  So much easier than scrambling last minute with an already squeezed calendar!

Once you start browsing through your week or month to see where you could start creating that gentle foundation in your life you will be amazed at what you can easily make routine and how it frees you up to enjoy!

One last thing to make an absolute routine…time to dream about all the adventures you will now have time for.

Add your wise words to the mix.  Share your gentle routines with us all on the Facebook space below.

Until Next Time…Grab Life by the Crown!

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