The Power of Routine
By: Brian Howell, MDT Project Manager
By now, many of you have probably read or, at the very least, heard about the New York Times bestseller, Make Your Bed, by Admiral William H. McRaven (U.S. Navy Retired). If not, maybe you have heard the original commencement speech he gave to University of Texas students in 2014. In any case, Admiral McRaven talks about how starting the day with a task as simple as making your bed can set you up for success not just for the day, but for life in general.
The Admiral’s message is simple. For those of you who have not read or heard it, the principal idea is that if you start the day by making your bed, you immediately have a success to build upon. You have accomplished the first part of your routine (no matter how simple it may seem) and now have momentum to carry you into the next task. No matter what else happens that day, you are going to come home to a neatly made bed and a more serene place to lie down and relax. It gives you hope and encouragement. It also reinforces the fact that the little things in life make a difference. As he states, “If you can’t do the little things right, you’ll never do the big things right.”
The Power of Routine
Making the decision to take this advice is a personal one. Everyone has his or her own way of managing their day. The power of having a routine should not be discounted, however, and since most of us sleep in a bed and share the common chore of making it, I cannot think of an easier starting point for developing a routine.
If you have read any of my past articles, you know that I am a big fan of finding ways to become more efficient and prepared. You also know that I am a proponent of managing stress by empowering yourself to control your own success. Creating a routine (which may or may not start with making your bed) is a great way to support all of those things. Once you have a routine, you soon realize that the stress born of decision-making starts to ease up. You no longer have to think about what to do since your actions become habit. You can save your mind power for more important decisions that will inevitably be a part of your day. A routine also helps you become more prepared for unexpected events. Have you ever scrambled to clean your house because unexpected company was on their way over? Have you ever fallen ill or become injured unexpectedly, only to wish that you had taken care of some basic tasks beforehand in order not to have the worry after? If you had only made those things part of your normal routine, you would not have to figure them out or handle them on the fly. Oftentimes, difficult tasks are made easier by handling them in smaller increments more frequently rather than as large chores all at once. Routine is powerful — don’t avoid it.
Applying Routine to the Office
As a Project Manager it is critical to track details such as time spent and outstanding issues. On a longer-term project such as a core system conversion, it can be easy to procrastinate on tasks such as those (especially early on) because you know that you will have an opportunity to make up that work later. Unfortunately, there can often be consequences to that procrastination. What if the unforeseen happens and you need to provide those notes to someone else? What if you are tasked with another set of responsibilities and the extra time you thought you had just evaporated? You do not want to find yourself feverishly typing up notes to pass along to a coworker, or missing what could have been a relaxing weekend because you have to play catch up. How do you prevent that, you ask? I have found routine to be the answer and you will, too.
Taking tasks (even the mundane tasks you might hate) and finding a way to make them part of your daily, weekly, or even monthly routine is a surefire way to help you more efficiently (and maybe even more sanely) accomplish them. For instance, consider everyone’s favorite task…time tracking. I used to despise tracking my time. To me, although I understand the long-term benefit for the big picture, it is boring and calls for no real creativity. I had to find a way to get myself to stop putting off this dull task.
After testing several methods, I found that making time tracking a part of my weekly routine was what worked for me. I use MS Outlook to track time spent by project, then at the end of the week, I tally it up and add it to my overall running totals. Of course, I added a recurring calendar reminder to help me remember to do it at first, but after a few weeks of doing it that way it became a habit. Now something that I used to hate doing and thus put off has become second nature to me.
Any task can be broken down and accomplished this way, with a little effort. Maybe for you it isn’t time tracking but instead making time to get in your steps for exercise. Maybe it is making an effort to set out your clothes for the next day the night before instead of rushing to get through the morning. Getting into a routine with those types of small things can quickly pay dividends in other areas of your life.
Final Thoughts
Developing a solid routine requires patience. As I mentioned, it took trial and error and several different time tracking methods before I found one that worked for me. Do not be afraid to adjust and fine-tune your routine along the way until you find your “sweet spot.” Rather than getting discouraged when your initial attempts do not work out exactly as planned, try to think of it as an expected opportunity for improvement. Lastly, do not forget to reward yourself as you start to recognize the benefits of your new routine. It takes a strong person to see the need for positive change and act on it. You should be proud of yourself for it!
Reading Material
Make Your Bed by Admiral William H. McRaven