Routines, Patterns, or Habits?
As usual the answer is "it's all in your brain"!
Welcome to All the Tasks Fit to Print, my newsletter on all issues productivity-related for authors (and other solopreneurs)!
This is the first of a three-part series on the topics of habits, routines, and patterns, and how you can figure out the best system for your brain!
As we crack open a new year, a lot of people are asking me about setting habits and creating productive schedules to help them achieve their goals.
No one enjoys answering my first question, though: “What hasn’t worked for you in the past?”
Because the answer is usually “all of that.”
Sometimes, what a person needs is just some simple fine tuning to their schedule, or carving out space in their routine for a new habit. If that works for you, great!
Unfortunately, for most of us, the actual solution requires a bit more excavation. Just having an optimized schedule is not the end goal, because it needs to be based on priorities and projects which are clearly defined. If your schedule is full of meetings but you aren’t sure which meeting is important and which isn’t, then the problem is not that your schedule is full of meetings.
The problem is that you are cramming your schedule full of meetings out of a misplaced sense of urgency, because you don’t know what is critical for your goals versus what is just busy work. The way to solve this is to put the calendar down (let go! Let goooooo!!!!) and review your plans in light of your priorities, both personal and professional. Once you have those nailed down, you can create a schedule that works for you instead of against you.
Habits are a bit trickier, though. We all want better habits, but we’ve tried so many times to start new, healthy habits that we are hard-pressed to believe that we can succeed this time. Hoping and wishing won’t cut it.
There are a lot of hacks for creating habits, and some of them work, some of the time.
The most popular is probably the “atomic habits” method, where you break the process down into small steps (atoms) and slowly introduce them over time until you’ve built up a whole new habit. This takes the form of putting out your running shoes every night for a week; then getting up in the morning and putting on the running shoes for a week; then walking out the front door for five minutes for a week; then actually starting to go for runs. Specific steps and time spans are variable, but you get the point: you are lowering resistance to the habit by giving yourself small, actionable, achievable goals that you build up over time.
Another popular one is “make it easy,” whereby you lower the resistance by constructing a situation that is simple to enter into. Keep the guitar you want to learn out to play on the couch in the living room, or buy a set of weights to keep in your bedroom instead of signing up for a gym membership, or download a language app you can play throughout the day instead of saving up to pay for expensive classes.
One aspect I point to a lot is that nothing exists in a vacuum, including your habits. You might think that stopping by the gym on your way home is introducing something new into “unused” space in your life, but according to your brain, that space is already filled with the “commuting, getting home, and crashing on the couch until dinnertime” habit. You might not consider that a habit, but your brain definitely does! That is a habit and you are not just modifying it a bit (“crashing on the back porch instead of the couch”) but obliterating it.
New habits have a hell of a time writing over old habits. In that light, you can see why it makes sense that by the second or third week of your shiny new habit, it crashes and burns.
What to do? More of the same?
My advice is to start at the beginning: your brain.
Ask yourself if you are you a “routine” person or a “pattern” person?
You might think they are the same thing or that any difference between them doesn’t matter—after all, your goal is to just start a new habit, right? However, I believe that when you are considering habits you want to incorporate into your life, you need to understand how each approach contributes to behavior formation and maintenance, and (more importantly) which approach works best for your brain.
I know you think I’m talking in synonyms, but they are actually fundamentally different:
Routines are structured sequences of actions performed at specific times or within set intervals. They are often associated with discipline and regularity, providing a framework that dictates when certain activities should occur. This time-based nature of routines can be both a strength and a limitation; while routines offer predictability and a sense of order, they can also become rigid, potentially stifling spontaneity or creativity if the routine becomes too prescriptive or demanding.
Patterns are about engaging in a series of tasks in a particular sequence or order instead of being anchored to a specific time schedule. This allows for variability and adaptability, focusing on the flow of activities rather than on the time on a clock. Patterns encourage a mindset where the emphasis is on the relationship and connection between tasks, fostering a fluidity that can accommodate changes and interruptions more easily than fixed routines. On the other hand, they can become too flexible and fall apart if the underlying sequence is disrupted too often.
By understanding the distinction between the two, and their strengths and weaknesses, you can better tailor your approach to habit-building, recognizing when a routine is necessary for discipline and when a pattern can provide the freedom to explore and adapt.
Follow up posts:
Watch for my new book!
As “The Task Mistress,” I am a holistic productivity coach for creatives. Using my background as a project manager and all-round productivity nerd, I help creative entrepreneurs find holistic productivity so they can achieve all their goals, both personal and professional.
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Thinking in terms of routines and patterns really spoke to me. I would have said that I need routines to function, but apparently I'm more of a pattern person. I get overwhelmed when the order of things is disrupted, than if I have to start later. Definitely something to think about :)