Back to the routine

My son flew back to college today. Yesterday, we took the Christmas tree down. As we get back  into the normal routine of a "regular" weekend, I realize that the holidays are officially over.

But sometimes, routine is useful. It's nice to know that some choices are already made. I know exactly when to set my alarm for Monday morning, because my youngest son has to be at school by 7:15. I know how much coffee to make to fill travel mugs for my husband and me, and there's no need to determine if we'll have an extra cup or two.

You see, even little decisions like "how much coffee should I make for today?" take up decision power. There's evidence that making decisions - even little ones - is taxing on a person. It takes energy to make choices. So having a routine, where choices don't have to be made, frees the mind to make more complex decisions later.

It's nice to know that I am conserving brain-power when I automatically make a piece of toast with jam for breakfast.

By the way, working resolutions into your routine help you keep them. Making the workout, or the blog-writing time, part of a daily (or weekly) routine helps those new activities become no-brainers as well.

So, hurrah for the routine!