If you are like most people, you have a certain way you like things to be done. Take cleaning your house of instance, you probably start in the living room, then move to the kitchen, then the bedrooms, all while doing the laundry in between. By changing the order in which you do things, you are stimulating the brain, helping to break the routine.



Making a change in how you do something can be beneficial. This also keeps you from having to rely on the repetitiveness of tasks. If you clean your house the same way everyday, you are relying on those areas to be dirty or need cleaning. Take a moment to think about waking up and the living room has already been cleaned, the dishes are already done, and the laundry is folded and put away. Now what? Sure this will give you a day off from cleaning, but it will also throw your whole day out of whack.

During your busy day you find time go for a walk, a swim, or you take a trip to the gym. If you also change the way you do these activities you are continuing to stimulate your brain, and help yourself realize that you can change the way things are done.

If you usually go to the gym or go for a walk alone, invite a friend to go with you this time. This will change things just enough at first to make you happy. If you have a certain number of strokes you do while swimming, or a certain way you do them, change it. Do more breast strokes, than back strokes, or take a little extra time to do more laps around the pool.

Try not to time yourself on things you do during the day. Don't get up every morning and think about what you have to get done in an hour, think about what you can get in an hour. This is a helpful tip when doing whatever you may have to do during the day. If you go to work in the morning, exercise when you get off, and go home to cook dinner, try something different. Get up early enough to go to the gym or for a run around the neighborhood, take out the stuff for dinner, and then go to work. Exercising in the morning will make you feel more energized, as opposed to exercising at night which makes you feel more alert and unable to sleep.

Try to change your routine for one week, if you don't like it, or it makes things more complicated, go back to your old routine. Chances are, you will like the change in pace and want to keep it. I know I did.