Establishing Something New in Your Routine
For two and a half years, I've been writing this blog almost weekly. At the risk of jinxing us, it's fair to say that the production of blog posts has been successfully systematized, and that's the reason we're able to sustain it.
I want to share with you how you can take something that you'd like to accomplish on a regular basis and systematize it so that it's more likely to become established and integrated. This can be with your team or a personal routine.
First, what does it imply for something to be systematized? It means that it doesn't exist in a silo. The accomplishment exists with, connects to, and complements other parts of your operational system.
Let's take another example that's worked for me personally: I have added a workout class on Tuesday mornings at the YMCA. Using this class as an example, I'll show you generally how you can (and must) systematize the new thing you'd like to do.
Set the Vision
Cue the eyes glazing over.....just kidding, stay with me for a moment here! You have to see your new routine working. I decided in early August that beginning in mid-September (when my children were officially back in school) I would be adding this workout class to my weekly routine. And this was after mulling it over for a couple weeks in July. So I had known for 6 weeks that I was going to be changing up my regular routine.
These six weeks gave me time to put the other pieces of the system in place. It also gave me time to block my calendar far enough in advance and to mentally reframe the time I'd be away from my desk.
Connect to your Broader Operational Systems
Find something that's already happening or working in your daily or weekly rhythm, and connect your new activity to it. For me, it was clearing at the beginning of the school year with my husband which days he would be bringing the kids to the bus stop. For you, it might be that your bedtime routine is working and you can easily add to it the step of putting out your workout clothes for the next day. The new thing has to have a hook into your established routines because, frankly, you might otherwise forget.
Also, notice on the back end of your new accomplishment how it plugs back into your system. Are there added benefits to other parts of the system? I notice that after my workout class I have more energy and focus once I'm back at my desk. It brings me the added value of making me better at my work. That is important for me to notice because if anything is going to sabotage my exercise, it’s my work.
Design an Accountability Mechanism
When I was early in establishing my blog writing routine, I paid a friend to help me post the blogs. I decided that I would pay him for three blogs a month whether or not I wrote them! As I’m sure you would agree, it doesn't feel good paying for nothing, so this accountability mechanism worked to get those blogs drafted. My accountability mechanism for my workout class is admittedly weaker, but it actually connects to #2. I am motivated to take advantage of the morning that I am not on bus duty. If I stay home in the mornings when I'm not on bus duty, well, I might as well be on bus duty.
Incremental Upgrades
One upgrade I made to my routine with the workout class was to earmark Thursday as my ‘makeup’ day. That allows for a dose of reality in that I will sometimes have conflicts. With this blog, we have played around with due dates to submit the draft to my editor. Nothing is set in stone, and you get to keep editing so that the systematization keeps working for you. If you have a strong enough vision, minor tweaks to the system will not jeopardize your entire vision.
Enjoy
When the systematization works for you, you'll be in a leveraged position. Notice it, enjoy it, and use it! You may get off track from time to time when large projects or family emergencies take your full attention. Just get back up and try again.
A system, by definition, is a collection of things that relate to each other. The key message here is that if you want to bring something new into your rhythm, you have to make it interrelated with what's already working. You can deliberately design this. (And we’d be happy to help!)
