critical thinking: routine review

Make Your Routine Work For You! 

I can be rebellious about taking stock, doing the expected things. I prefer to explore new territory, dream up things to make and do that are too fresh for expectations. It is harder to let people down if you only do things that aren’t expected. Have I mentioned that I am attempting to transcend my people pleasing obsession?
 
Even I take stock at the turn of the year. We are bombarded with questions about resolutions and habits. I just finished taking inventory of our practice packs. I also got to chat with Kerri Lyons Neimeyer about her ideas for community art projects that can be made by our Second Saturday Open Studios visitors. More on these fun ideas further into this newsletter. 
 
These two focuses today, taking stock and looking forward, gave me balance and helped me see that this month we’re developing a theme, PATTERNS.
How can we release ourselves from patterns that don’t serve us?
How can we intentionally develop better patterns that do serve us?
 
Last year, as part of our holiday card tradition, we circulated my favorite practice for analyzing the family routine, the Routine Review. I am offering up this card as our
 
Life Skills Highlight: Critical Thinking, Analyze your Routine!
 
I came up with this little prompt while trying to pry into the lives of our sons during rides home from school. I wanted more information than they were offering. “How was your day?” “Fine.” We would get home and they would go straight to their rooms, their electronics. I would jump back to my computer and whatever I was working on before I frantically ran out to NOT be the last car in the carpool line. 

 

Needs Wheel

*(Back then the needs wheel didn't look this pretty because Chase wasn't my business partner and We Practice Life's graphic designer / brand manager / tech guru / artistic director yet )

One day while wondering why they jump right on electronics, I put a needs wheel* in front of Chase and asked, “Using this word list what do you get out of playing video games?” I couldn’t believe the long list that he immediately rattled off. “Inspiration, Space, Celebration, Relaxing, Play, Connection, Belonging, Teamwork, Inclusion, Respect, Consideration, To Matter, Choice, To Be Seen, To Be Heard, Learning, To Be Myself.” It was almost the same combination I got while spending time hanging out at girl’s night. It made me realize why I could never get enough of that. I started getting clearer about why it was so hard to get our kids off their electronic devices. It made sense that game nights with the family were the only activity that appealed to them enough to have them logoff almost immediately and come to the table. This activity met the same needs.
Rather than fill up their schedule with mandatory sports, classes, and activities to widen their life experience, I decided to take inventory of what needs were being met by our regular routine. I asked them to fill out the list below. 
 

Then I asked them to help me come up with once a month or every other month activities we could add as a family that would meet more of these needs. We started going bowling, going to Dave and Busters, and expanding our family game routine. 
Over the years, with less structure, the conversation comes up again when we get in a rut. The kids always tend to have more creative and more fun options to offer up. Link once came up with a plan to get he and his friends off their computers and out to various parks, meeting up to take photos and learning some photography basics, leveling up their skills and their connection to each other. Their senior photos definitely captured that they knew each other way better than the photographers in the fancy studio where their formal shots were taken.
It is our hope that you will use the Needs Wheel and the Routine Review practice to take stock in which activities are meeting your needs efficiently and to add new ideas that will bring you even more fulfillment in this, a new year!

Routine Review

Make note of needs and values that are and are not being met by your regular routine. Get creative about adding new activities to allow more fulfillment and joy!