Routine, the Defogger – See. Perceive. Act.

Has your physical vision, former procrastinators, ever been seriously affected?  When we can’t see, it’s difficult to make decisions because we depend on our eyes to introduce us to knowledge we need for processing.  Then we act according to what we understand.

A friend’s husband asked her to clean the hair out of the bathroom sink in the mornings.  “But I don’t leave hair in the sink.”  Days later she put on her glasses before leaving the bathroom.  “Whoa!  That’s my hair! That’s what he’s talking about.”  With her glasses on, she had eyes to see.  She understood.  From then on, she wiped the sink out.  See. Perceive. Act.

A while back, I had cataract surgery.  After a few years, my reading vision became blurry. I spent a lot of time and energy slowly trying to read things I would’ve zipped through before.  I was dismayed. It turns out that sometimes the new lenses surgically put in during cataract surgery get cloudy.  They need a quick laser swipe.  Apparently, only one laser swipe is ever needed. Problem solved. 

Cataracts cloud vision.  Removing them should improve sight, just as stopping to look carefully at a situation in light of truth improves our sight.  Sometimes we need another lens wipe to clear physical vision. Likewise, we get tangled up in the busyness of life and our ability to see gets cloudy. We forget our priority, our intention, the hearts of the people we engage with.  We need to restore clear vision so we can perceive properly what is needed and act wisely. In life, we need numerous “clarification swipes.”

Working up a routine and following it is like having our vision corrected.  We learn what needs doing, figure out the best approach, and carry it out.  Test run your plan.  If necessary, revise, then move into automation. Routine is a great time saver, energizer, and load lifter. It fosters harmony at home.

Not having a regular way of doing things effectively is like operating with cloudy vision.  It creates constant drag.  It exhausts us to daily rethink how to make lunches or when to do homework.  It requires extra energy and effort because there’s no automatic behavior.  We start from scratch every morning, every night.  Bickering, confusion, fatigue. 

Does your way of doing things create stress or relief?  Do you see the situation clearly?  Can others see problems you might be missing?  Tiny tweak or major overhaul, routine can bring relief.

If you’re not familiar with the joys of routine, give it a try.  I don’t advocate tightly structuring every moment of the day.  I tried that and it was smothering to me.  However, routine helps us accomplish the most important things – and I do want that.   

Routine can give us confidence that we’ve tended to priorities.  It frees our minds. It minimizes workloads.  It develops life skills and teamwork.  It develops self-control in us and our children. It provides more free time. I’m in.

In what area can you establish routine for relief?