Plodding along

Sep 10, 2008

posted by Shelley

Have you ever really thought about all the things you do throughout your day on autopilot? Just like this guy — doing the same things, the same way…

How are you going to feed your brain and release the best of yourself to the rest of the world, if all you do is go throughout your days mindlessly doing the same things? It would be great if we could introduce new experiences and endeavors into our daily life — things that we actually can’t do on autopilot — but for some of us, there’s simply not time to put another thing into our already packed schedules. We can; however, become more fully engaged with even the routine tasks that we do every day.

Try making a list of five things you do everyday without even thinking about them. Things like where you put your car keys when you get home at night, or the process of making morning coffee. Maybe you watch the same TV news show every evening, or read the sections of the newspaper in exactly the same order. What I’m suggesting now is not that you should change those things. Only that you do the items on your list with more conscious awareness. Why? If your day is filled with a series of routines that can happen on autopilot, you’re going to sail along on autopilot unless you make a conscious decision to do something else.