You may not say you’re a creature of habit, but my guess is that you do follow a similar routine day after day. Doing so may help with the organization of thought and task, but it can also lead to some serious monotony.
Recently, I was stuck in a major kind of rut! It became more visible in one of my side gigs of writing. At first, I thought it was simply “writer’s block” but the hindrance became a gigantic wall each time I approached it. My hope was to jump over and conquer it, but with each day it seemed to grow higher and wider.
While going through this journey over several months, I discovered that when people get in ruts—as I had been in—they tend to feel:
- Discouraged
- Frustrated
- Bored
- Tired
- Hopeless
- Uninspired
- Less creative
- Isolated
The feeling of being deserted in a trench of monotony can also lead us to a depressive state of being, which is not a good place to be stranded!
What are some things that can help when we’re in a cycle that seems to be going nowhere?
Change up the routine
We all establish our habits of when, where, and how we do things each day. So, if you’re feeling stuck in a rut, try venturing out when it comes to things like:
- What/where to eat today
- When to set your alarm to wake up tomorrow
- Which book to read before bedtime
- Who to meet up with for coffee this Saturday
- Who to talk to on the bus ride home
- What time to head to the gym today
You get the picture. Change up your same old way of doing “normal” things for several days and see if it helps brighten your outlook on life in general.
Look outside your normal activities
It’s easy to get self-absorbed when we follow a rigorous routine focused on our own interests all the time. Try enlarging your scope of influence through ways such as:
- Volunteering – Assisting in your church, community, or local school always helps to enlarge your world to see what others are dealing with and ways you can help them.
- Involvement in groups or book clubs — These clubs have become all the rage over the past few years—and they can easily be held online. Reading, journaling, and discussing with other people a common source of content helps broaden our outlook, creativity, and possibly our friendship base.
- Self-care – There are so many aspects of this point! But one simple way is to choose a few ways to improve your health. It may be running, walking on local trails, riding a bike, or participating in a fitness class. Look for activities that you enjoy in order to stay motivated for the long term. Finding a few ways to get healthy will also open your mind to the freshness of perspective.
Get up and go!
Basically, your life has become tedious due to a routine way of doing things. So, regardless of what you decide to change, the key to getting out of the rut-funk is just doing something! Something new. Something done a different way. Something that revives your interests and boosts you toward loving life again.