The difficulty of routines

I love and hate routines. Our love affair bases on safety and ease: it is comfortable to act in the usual way. No thinking needed, familiar processes go on automatically. Our hate relationship rests on frustration – why it is so difficult to change inefficient routines? How to get started and done?

At home, good routines make mornings easy: from wake-up to shower, clothes, coffee and morning paper before leaving to work. At work, a settle down by logging in and checking e-mails and… here begins the hate part. I mean, hating questionable and firmly stuck routines.

Besides nice and professional people, the best elements of my work in marketing are variety and creativity. No similar day exists. Good routines make my tasks flow smoothly. Still, I’m prone to fit unnecessary routines in my days.

I used to work in developing but traditional businesses. I struggled against practices that originated long before my time. Sat through routine meetings with very little added value, became accustomed to them. The progress towards streamlined work processes was slow. Who can afford it today?

It is difficult to admit a need to change. In addition to own struggles I needed external help to realize that instead of developing or adapting to randomly born, worn-out routines I could develop better ones.

The above applies also to business life. External support is often essential in being able to think out of the box. A company’s true marketing potential is easier to see and utilize with a close but external partner. To get started, simple realizations are needed: This work process is outdated, I need a better one. I benefit from a coach with expertise in this field.