Habits To Help Your Lockdown Routine
Have you ever read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People? Us neither. It’s been on our list for ages, but we never set aside time to read it in our normal lives. We were too busy dancing in really crowded spaces and riding tubes (oh the thrill of it all). The point is, establishing habits is hard. And really working them into your routine takes time and a lot of repetition – of which we have a lot right now.
We’re not here to tell you how to live your life. You’ve got enough on your plate (and it’s probably pasta). But if you’re feeling untethered, a bit out of control and like you live in a world where it’s socially acceptable for Justin & Hailey Bieber to post 10 TikTok dance videos in one week (you do btw) we wanted to share with you some habits that might help your daily routine. From CBD to scheduling time to check in with your mental wellness – these are habits inspired by the situation we’re in right now, but will serve you long after this is all over.
Why is a routine important? (Not just now, but always)
- Our moods are created by habitualness according to psychologist Robert Thayer. Think about when you’re a kid and you beg your mum to stay up late, miss your routine bedtime and then behaved like a mini Gordon Ramsey all day. Yes that.
- Then there’s the fact that every time you make a decision you’re adding stress to your life. What exercise shall I do today? What time should I get up? “Preparedness is a key way to prevent stress” says Indumathi Bendi, M.D., a primary care physician at Piedmont.
- If that doesn’t light your fire then what about this? Routine means that you can easily get into a flow. What’s a flow? When you become totally engaged with what you’re doing, and become extremely focused. The more you train your body to understand certain cues – I have my coffee at 9 then I start writing at 10 – the more easily you fall into flow. A bit more sexy right?
Why does Good Hemp care about routine?
Don’t worry, we’re not just jumping on the bandwagon – we’re not going to tell you how to ‘stay connected’ during these ‘troubling times’ either. We’ve always been obsessed with helping people get healthy products into their daily routine. A dairy-free milk that’s packed with omegas that won’t disrupt other habits (coffee, tea, cereal), a hemp seed oil that can replace your daily drizzle of olive oil (with 40% less saturated fat), a CBD oil to be taken habitually as a preventative cure (more on that later). Oh and if we all get in the habit of using hemp, we’ll save a shit tonne of carbon emissions too.
Five New Habits To Put Into Your Routine
Start taking CBD daily
Of course we’d say that. We’re mad about all things hemp, but hear us out. While many people report feeling the effects of CBD straight away – on anxiety, insomnia, muscle pain – using CBD habitually is where the real power lies. CBD works on your endocannabinoid system, the part of the body responsible for things like mood, temperature, energy and nutrient storage. It does so, by keeping the endocannabinoid system in balance (remember homeostasis). By putting CBD in your daily routine, you’re using it as a preventative measure – keeping the body in check constantly – rather than reaching for it every time you feel tired, wired or otherwise. Right now, anxiety is at an all time high, so it’s a great time to start. Forming the habit means finding a way you can take your CBD every morning or every night. Impending doom keeping you awake? Start taking two drops under your tongue each night. Find it hard to concentrate in the morning? Start using CBD milk in your coffee or tea. The important part is to keep taking it regularly.
Check in with yourself once a day about how you’re feeling mentally
Do you have a recurring dream that you get when you’re anxious? Ours is always a test we haven’t studied for. Anyone else experiencing extremely intense dreams at night right now? Professor Mark Blagrove from Swansea University says that we’re experiencing ”a metaphorical replication of life in dreams which focuses on the emotional side.” In short, we’re not addressing what is making us anxious. Everyone knows that an exercise routine is important but what about a mental health routine? Make it a habit of checking in with yourself once a day about what you’re worrying about. Schedule in thinking time or write it all down in a notebook at the beginning of the day – but the important part is to give yourself time to process what you are thinking.
Give yourself an hour a day to pursue a passion
Look, we know you might be tired of hearing people tell you to ‘pick up a paintbrush!’ ‘Write a novel!’ But your passion doesn’t need to be as grand as learning a new language. Use this time to figure out what brings you joy outside of the things that you know you should do. Set aside an hour a day to pursue that passion – be it reading, chess, or origami – and make it into a habit. Right now, it will split up the days. Later, it will mean that you make time for your passions even in busy workdays (and busier social lives).
Create a shutdown ritual
We have office hours for a reason, and while we know we rarely stick to them in regular life, it’s even harder now when our routine is totally out of whack. In Daniel Pink’s book “Drive: The Surprising Truth about what Motivates Us”, he shares a piece of advice on creating a habit of shutting down (which is a lot less intense than his book title). It’s simple: define a few things that help you shutdown after a workday. Write in a journal, create a to do list for tomorrow and shut the notebook, do the same stretch every day. It signals to your body and mind that work is over and helps you relax.
Write down three things you’re grateful for each evening
Ok, so your yogi friend might have tried to make you do a gratitude journal for the past 5 years and if you’re reading this, you probably resisted. Everything feels pretty bleak right now but when you look around there’s actually a lot to be thankful for. Killing Eve’s new season. Zoom. The fact that all parents understand the value of memes now. Write down three things that you are grateful for each evening to release some much needed happy thoughts into your brain. Don’t stop doing this once this is all over either. People with gratitude make for much more optimistic positive people – and we always need those.