How I Rid My Toxic Routine and Build a Healthy Routine in 2020
2020 surely is a tough year and no need to explain why. This year, we are forced to adapt our lives and take on new habits. Adapting and embracing change is never easy, at least I struggled a lot until quite recently.
I had fairly planned my 2020. It is the year that marks the end of my undergraduate study and following that, it will be a year to get new working experiences. I got two internships offers: three-months each in two different countries. Then, I planned to continue working at the firm I had my internships at. I had planned this since my fifth semester and I was quite happy with the decision I made.
Some of the plans went well and some, you could guess, just fell apart. I was able to finish and graduate early this year. I started my first internship right away after graduating and at that time I thought, everything was on track. But, it didn’t.
COVID-19 pandemic starts in Indonesia. I received many calls from my family (mum, dad, relatives — I was actually surprised and speechless receiving one from my grandpa) that they were worried so much. There were many reasons for this, mainly because I lived quite far from the firm I worked at and before COVID-19, I took public transportation to go to work. The situation became a lot of worse in a couple of weeks and my family kept asking me to go back home. In the end, I really had no choice but to hand in my resignation to the firm and I further received information that my second internship (that is in another country) will also be postponed until nobody knows when.
Thankfully, I arrived home safe and well. About my plans for working, my parents and I came into an agreement that I need to postpone my plans until the situation is considered safe to work, which nobody knows when. Up to this date, the pandemic has shown no recovery and therefore, I am still staying at home.
Temporary being at home (I seriously thought it would be only for a few months but now it is my sixth month being at home) leads me to look for activities to keep myself sane. Sometimes, I played Sims 4 all day and suddenly realized that I had made a three-generation family. I also played Harvest Moon from scratch until I reached the end of the game. I binge-watched Netflix and completed a lot of series that I never watch before this. It was thrilling at first but then, it frustrated me so much to the point that I felt so useless.
For so long, I was trapped inside a box that I unconsciously made. In that box, I couldn’t help but thinking ‘my life this year is so useless because all I have done this year is staying at home with no sort of achievement’. I tried to make myself more productive by trying to learn new courses but it didn’t work. I was still not pleased with my situation until I finally spotted what problem I had.
I realized that I was in a toxic routine with a toxic mentality too. All I did every day was wake up, do something, eat, do something, eat, do something, then go to sleep and repeat all of it the next day. I also did the same activity in one day for days. I kept bingeing everything. I did not bother to schedule and plan my day for the reason ‘I stayed at home all day, why bother yourself to do something like that’. Turns out, I was wrong.
Bingeing affects my mind negatively. It kept me for being happy and absorbed in the meantime but after that, emptiness started to creep inside me. It was the reason why I often felt dissatisfied. Having trapped in the box, I constantly told my mind ‘rest assured, things are going to be alright soon.’ But then, things just never seemed alright to me and my dissatisfaction continued to thrive. The question is how can things be alright if I still keep myself inside the box?
Refusing and blaming the situation led me to behave irrationally. Same as the saying of ‘don’t let an unhappy day ruin your mood’, I shouldn’t have let the situation ruin my every day life.
Furthermore, by assuming that things will soon be okay, the thoughts prevented me to look for new activities. Refusing and blaming the situation led me to behave irrationally. Same as the saying of ‘don’t let bad days get you down’, I shouldn’t have let the situation ruin my everyday life.
Building up a new routine isn’t as easy as I think it will be. I need commitment and more importantly, I need to find activities that I enjoy.
Realizing that I had done it all in the wrong way, I started to step outside that toxic box. By opening up my mind, I realized that there are a lot of options I never think of before. But building up a new routine isn’t as easy as I think it will be. I need commitment and more importantly, I need to find activities that I enjoy. There are a lot of trials and errors too in building my routine and here are my new activities I have added to my current routine.
Cycling as my go-to exercise
So, almost everyone that I talked to suggest me to do some exercises. The most simple option available during the quarantine is doing exercises video on YouTube. Those videos are popular and they also claim you will lose weight after weeks of exercise. After worrying about my unhealthy lifestyle, I tried it and it lasted only for two days. I realized one problem: I just didn’t enjoy it. It then led me to do other exercises and at that perfect moment, my friends asked me to join cycling. Surprisingly I like it — it is a perfect stress relief exercise for my endless quarantine. I can enjoy the greenery and also being healthy at the same time. I persuaded my brother to join me cycling and now, even my mum cycles with us.
Tips: Find the exercises or sports that you enjoy. Have some of your family to join you. If your family enjoys a different type of exercise, then schedule to do it together. This way, you can keep encouraging each other and it is certainly more fun to do so!
Pick up an old hobby or find new ones
I have to thank Covid-19 for dragging me out of my greatest-reading-slump ever. I used to enjoy reading so much but during university, I had a hard time committing myself to finish books I’ve started. Picking it up again needs a lot of courage. I love books but at that time, I need a slight kick to get myself started. So, I did this: I virtually surrounded myself with people who read books. I watched BookTubes, scrolled through Bookstagrams, and follow books-related Twitter accounts. Yes, it all successfully helps me. Now, if you notice that I’ve shared a lot of short book reviews on my Instagram, it is mainly for sharing and creating a friendly environment to discuss those books. I received many opinions from my friends too after sharing them and I am really glad to have short discussions with them.
I also found a new hobby by looking at what I personally need in my everyday life. I found myself lacking activities to do in the morning. So, it led me to gardening. Now, I feel extremely excited about waking up in the morning and looking at the plants I’ve planted.
Tips: Hobby gives you something to look forward to. Find yourself one and make sure you enjoy it too. Find a community that shares the same hobby is also fun. It can get you new information and you can also make new friends.
Mindfulness training
This year is mentally exhausting. All sorts of thoughts can come to you, like thinking about the unsure future or endlessly worrying what-ifs. The overthinking is endless and insane. One of the particular useful mind training I practice now is mindfulness training. I try to practice this every single day by mindfully realizing what happens around me. It helps me not to worry about what had happened in the past or what will happen in the future. Believe it or not but I am a lot of happier now because I start to notice these little things around me and I am grateful for it.
Tips: This one needs a lot of practice. It doesn’t happen overnight. You can find loads of methods in mindfulness training through the internet. Find one that suits you the best!
If you notice, there is one sole big difference between my old routine and new routine: my mindset. If I am still in my old mindset, no matter how amazing my new activities are, I am still going to be dissatisfied. Escaping the toxic box allows me to accept the situation and let go of things that I can’t control. In turn, it helps me to presently realize what’s around me and what can I do about that.
Having this new routine gives me a lot of reasons to be happy. You don’t need a luxurious day or a super amazing day to be happy. You might be surprised at how a simple and perfectly ordinary day can lead you to maximum happiness. I hope you will soon discover yours too!
