Being busy with 18 credits, a job and other commitments, I’ve realized it’s easy to go through the motions of daily life and lose the little spark that keeps us all going.
My solution to reintroducing that spark back into a busy schedule is simple: break up routines with a fun version of them.
Shortly after I started college this year, I was jokingly challenged to go on a “chocolate milk cleanse,” where the only thing I could consume was chocolate milk – crazy, I know, but I thought it would be funny to go ahead and do it for five whole days.
This experience brought me a lot of joy simply by doing daily tasks in a slightly different way than I usually do, and I think it would bring you joy too.
If chocolate milk isn’t your thing, another way I practice breaking up my routine is by cycling through which shower in the hall bathroom I use each morning. Even though most of them either don’t have hot water or have horrible water pressure, it helps transform what could be just another mindless step of getting ready in the morning.
But the most rewarding change in routine is walking a different route outside each day during breaks between classes. I started this in my first semester when I had an hour-long break between classes, so to pass the time, I would take a walk on a different route every day that I thought would last about an hour – the best route started at Bauccio Commons, took me all the way to Fields and Schoenfeldt Hall then returned to The Bluff by passing Kenna Hall.
Sometimes I was able to make it to class on time. Other times I overestimated my walking speed, and I’d be a few minutes late. At the end of the day, this walk helped me change how I spent my day and added a bit of fun to daily activities.
All of these practices seem a little pointless on paper, but in real life, they gave me variety in my day-to-day life, which helped me avoid burning out as easily.
As college students, everyone here knows what it's like to feel busy, so I suggest we all incorporate some form of a break in our daily routines that’s fun and even random to help us all stay a bit happier.
Owen Lefort is a News Reporter for The Beacon. He can be reached at lefort29@up.edu.
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