Effective Transition Routines

One of the biggest potential spots in your day that can trip you up in terms of wasting time is transition... times when you are just leaving or just arriving somewhere, or changing activities.

Photo by Jiun Kang Too

Change is tough, and every change is an interruption of your focus and your thought processes. Making it easy to get started can also help tremendously if you have a tendency to procrastinate on a certain kind of task, because the ritual of your smooth transition sets you up for your work to feel easy instead of difficult, and minimizes resistance that you might feel to starting.

Creating smooth, seamless habits for common transitions can save you a lot of time. It can also save you a lot of mental and emotional energy as well; making transitions effortless instead of arduous cuts down not only on time spent but on stress you might feel.

Effective transitions work like this:

• Needs are anticipated and things are set up ahead of time to meet them.
• Transitions are routines, and work very similarly, if not the same way, each time.
• Little to no thought is required to carry them out.
• Actions carried out are quick, streamlined and effortless.
• Enough flex time is worked into the routine to allow for unexpected issues to be dealt with in ways that don't disrupt the routine too much, and to allow for the routine to feel relaxed rather than rushed.

An example of a great transition structure that many people have is a workday morning routine for leaving the house. This routine transitions you in a couple of different ways; you are transitioning from asleep to awake, from in to out of bed, and from inside to out the door. I don't know about you, but I am pretty brain-dead in the morning. My morning routine is exactly the same each day; my light-based alarm clock wakes me up gently, and my CD player alarm plays music to cue me that it's time to actually get up. I get out of bed, make coffee, then spend some time at the computer to catch up on my email and do small easy tasks related to my coaching business and my personal to-do list. I get dressed, add my book and food for the day to my bag, perhaps read a little more online if I am early, then say goodbye to my husband and leave. (Your list would probably have showering on there; for me, a bath is part of my going-to-bed routine instead.)

If for some reason something unexpected comes up in the morning that needs to be taken care of, the time I like to spend in front of the computer can easily be cut out, and I can handle whatever it is effectively while still getting out the door on time for my bus. This routine happens the same way each morning, with very little deviation. No real thinking is involved to get me up and out the door.

I set myself up for this routine to be easy with another routine, done on the weekend. Over the weekend, among other things that I do, I have a list of things I go through to set myself up for easy mornings. All my work clothes get laundered and hung in one section of the closet, I make up ziploc bags of homemade instant oatmeal for my breakfasts, and I make sure that the organic frozen meals I usually eat for lunch are sufficiently stocked up in my freezer.

Routines like this are enormously helpful anytime you are consistently changing locales or activities, and they are a key part of successful time management. I am trying to create a more effective "coming home" weekday ritual right now because getting in the door doesn't seem to happen nearly as smoothly as getting out in the morning. I'm developing this routine for myself by adding one or two elements at a time and seeing if I like them. I keep what works and discard what doesn't.  I'm also developing a "sit down and work on coaching business development projects" routine.   Eventually new routines will crystallize and become as consistent as my morning routine I hope... though any routine I use, of course, is subject to change as my needs change.  Routines are great at work too, to switch gears between projects, roles and tasks... though I chose a simple and specific routine that we can all relate to as an example.

What transition routines do you have that work well in your life and help you manage your time effectively? Where do you think that developing or improving a routine might increase your efficiency and decrease your stress?

Note: I'm taking the week off! Please enjoy this reprint of a blog entry I posted in August 2009.

Comments

[Srikanth]

Thekla,

You write so well. It is really nice to reacquaint myself with you/your writing since our last gig together. Write on!!!!

Srikanth

[Thekla]

Thanks Srikanth! Glad you like my blog and I hope you are doing well too :)