“Be here now. Be someplace else later. Is that so complicated?” — Josh Pais

 
For about two weeks, I haven’t been myself. A combination of things — work, some weird breaks, some late nights — caught up to me. Friends started saying that I didn’t seem like myself.

And they were right.

For two weeks, I lost my routine. And without it, I didn’t quite feel like me. My work suffered, too.

Everyone has ways that they reset to normal. For me, it’s two things:

A trip to the gym in the morning, and some time in the kitchen cooking dinner after work.

If I have those two things to bookend my day, everything else falls into place. I find myself in a comfortable place, and when I’m there, I do really great work.

You probably have your own things that help you reset. My Dad does laundry when he needs to shut down at the end of the day. I know people who need a TV show, a drink with friends, or a book to finish the day.

But whatever you need, keep at it, and don’t miss a day. When you do, you lose a little bit of that routine, and your work gets slightly off track.