Don't let a transition go to waste

Be intentional whenever life changes

Life seldom stays the same for long. People move. They start new jobs. Kids go to new schools that have different starting times.

All of these will change up a daily schedule. While that can be frustrating if you’ve built a good routine, it can also be an opportunity. Any transition is a chance to shift things in a good way — so it’s wise not to let a transition go to waste.

Look at day-to-day life

For instance, if you won’t need to wake up as early during the summer to get kids out the door to school, maybe the end of the school year can be an occasion to rethink your morning routine. Would you like to expand the routine given that you’ll have some extra time? Or maybe you’d prefer to sleep a little longer. Maybe you’d like to move your bedtime later to accommodate some extra reading. There’s no right answer, but it’s good to recognize that, in this moment, you get to choose. Best to make this choice mindfully.

Or perhaps you work for an organization that has recently decided that everyone needs to be in the office five days a week. This will no doubt change your daily schedule — so best to think about what works and what doesn’t. Maybe you’d like to go to an industry happy hour once a week now that you’ll actually be downtown on the day it’s happening. Maybe you’d like to switch gyms to go to one near work, and do that on your lunch break since you’ll be gone from home longer with the commute. Maybe you decide to get serious about your audiobook curation, and start a book bucket list of works you’d like to listen to.

A chance to reflect

Transitions create fresh starts, and fresh starts make it easier to start new habits. Transitions also create natural opportunities for ending routines or breaking habits that aren’t serving you any more. They create an opportunity for reflection. What do you want your life or your relationships to be like? What are your hopes and goals?

Honestly, transitions don’t even need to be huge to nudge some changes. If you buy a new kitchen table, that can be a reason to rethink your family dinner routine.

The point is to recognize when a transition is happening. Sometimes, changing habits is hard. But if everything else is changing, changing the habit might be easier than you imagine. That’s why you don’t want to let a transition go to waste.