Wednesday, September 9, 2009

You Don't Need To Break Out Of Your Comfort Zone

I recently had to break up with a routine that I loved. The Sunday New York Times. Every single Sunday for the last 6 or 7 years, I get the Times and spread it out and take several hours to read it. It's relaxing and it's something I look forward to on Sundays. Then the New York Times decided to thin itself out. A lot. Really thin, like Tuesday thin. At the same time, they decided to raise their prices to $6 a paper which is ridiculous because they weren't giving us more or making anything better. So I stopped my Sunday paper reading a few weeks ago.
We talk a LOT about changing things up, breaking out of ruts, trying new things, meeting new people, etc. Our ruts should be broken out of like chains and going to the same places every day is to be avoided. There are countless excellent blog posts and articles to help us do these things and I'm not saying that you shouldn't read them. However, lately my comfort zone has been, well, absent. I have been a model of the "try new things constantly" method and to be honest, I don't really like it. This post is in praise of everything comfortable.
First, a little research.
Kids and Dogs: I have a dog in the house with me and not kids but my mother has been giving me a lot of kid raising tips. Additionally, everyone has dog obedience ideas for me and it all involves "creating a routine". There are hundreds of dog training sites out there that agree with this. Creating a routine allows dogs (and kids?) to know what's coming next so they act more predictably such as set walk times, meal times, etc.
So what about adults? What level of routine do we need to feel comfortable?
I think routine is a little bit unpopular right now because of all of the cool new great stuff out there but don't forget to show your routines a little love this week.
My favorites:
New York Times Reading
Coffee every morning
Movies at Sundance once a week
Taking a walk Saturday mornings
Watering my plants once a week
New shoes every fall

4 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I can totally relate. I used to get the Sunday edition, too, and my husband actually proposed via the Sunday Styles section. Ahh..I miss lazy, comfy Sunday mornings w/ the NYT.

September 9, 2009 at 12:39 PM  
Blogger Royce said...

Caitlin, found you via Brazen Careerist and just wanted to say I loved this post. Completely agree with you about the comfort habits.

I tried for a while to mix up my coffee-drinking routine and skip it some days, go extended periods without it, drink some in the afternoon instead, etc. All I got was annoyed... I love me a good mug of coffee in the morning. It is freaking delicious.

Also about the plant watering - I'm in LA and I'd love to be able to water my plants just once a week in the summer... if I go more than two days they wilt in such a pathetic manner that it casts shame upon myself and my family.

I typically have a solid routine during the week and the weekends end up much more open. I like having a combination of structure around work and weekday activities, then flexibility to be as chill or as active I want with some unstructured free time.

Have you had any habits that you dropped because you deemed them detrimental to you overall? I can think specifically of some time-sink habits like certain online videogames which shall not be named, for instance, which I've needed to break out of.

Final random aside - is your self photo there taken BY your off arm, of you holding a cup of coffee and seemingly looking away from the camera that you are holding? Haha be honest - that slayed me.

September 10, 2009 at 11:14 AM  
Blogger Carmen said...

awww, sorry they totally ruined your NYT reading experience. But $6 a paper? I don't blame you.

September 10, 2009 at 12:33 PM  
Blogger Caitlin said...

christine - that's an amazing way to propose and also my favorite section!

Royce - thanks for the comment! Remember, once a week watering also means less lovely weather than LA :) The pic was taken from Photo Booth on my MAC, but I got a good laugh out of the "off arm" picture taking.

La Petite - I am so mad at them every Sunday... :( It's not even the $6 either it's just the raised price PLUS less content. It makes me feel totally swindled.

September 10, 2009 at 5:23 PM  

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