When was the last time you gave yourself a time out? I don’t mean a scheduled fun time or activity, but when you were in the middle of something and just forced yourself to put it down and walk away for a few minutes. Or hours, depending on how late at night it was.

I’ve been doing this more lately. If I’m writing, or working on something and I’m not getting anywhere because I’m tired or distracted or whatever, I’ll force myself to stop and walk away for at least a few minutes. Odds are that when I come back to the project even after a five to ten minute break, I’ll see it with fresh eyes and be able to move forward.

Honestly, sometimes I think it’s just getting up and moving around that helps the most. I sit a lot for both of my jobs, and getting the blood moving faster again is good for the brain, methinks.

The trick, of course, is getting back to work after the time out is up. If I take a break in the middle of a project, that does not mean I check twitter or play a game of solitaire. It means I get up, move away from the computer, and go get a drink, look out the window or whatever. I don’t try to do some other task that could end up distracting me...that would be counter-productive.

I’ve also realized that some of the routines I’ve used in the past aren’t working for me anymore, because my own natural rhythms have changed. This isn’t a bad thing – it’s bound to happen since we’re constantly changing throughout our lives (or I hope we are!). But it does need to be addressed, because if I keep trying to use routines that don’t work, it just makes me less efficient and more frustrated. So I’m in the process of revamping the way I do some things to be a better fit for my own life.

To that end, and because people keep asking how I manage to do so much stuff, I’ve created a new blog where I’ll be sharing my process for creating routines and organizing life around our natural inclinations. If you’re interested, feel free to join me at Routinely Yours, for a new post every Saturday.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go water my succulents...