Episode 10 – Full Transcript
Michelle: Hey, everyone. My name is Michelle.
Lindsay: And I’m Lindsay. And you’re listening to nurse verse. Hi, guys. Today we’re going to be talking about routines, but before we get started, we just want to say in order for us to keep this routine going, please, like, subscribe, share with your friends, do whatever you can to help us get across more platforms. So today we’re going to be talking about routines. And if you tuned into our earlier episodes, you might have heard me say that I had a Starbucks customer that told me, Lindsay, when you get to your forties, you start living for the routine.
Michelle: But that applies to our thirties.
Lindsay: Yeah. And maybe even late twenties, but, yeah.
Michelle: Seriously? Yeah. So we just want to talk about, how routines can benefit us, but also how they can hinder us in a way. but overall, we think that routines have tremendously helped us with our wellness and health goals, and so that’s why we want to share them today.
Lindsay: Yes.
Michelle: And it may not be for everyone, but give it a chance. Maybe you might want to try it.
Lindsay: Out, or maybe you have a routine and you have no idea that you have one.
Michelle: Yeah. Yeah. True. Yeah. 100%.
Lindsay: To bring awareness to you.
Michelle: We are creatures of habits. Yes. So, just some reasons why, like, in general, as human beings, why we do like routines or are more likely to like a routine is because our minds and bodies love predictability. It is so much easier to protect us for our minds and our bodies to protect us when they know what is gonna happen. So it’s way more, way less stressful. The body and mind knows, okay, the alarm goes. Is gonna go off, you’re gonna get up, you’re gonna go brush your teeth, you’re gonna go eat your breakfast, or eat your breakfast, then brush your teeth.
Lindsay: Whatever order you should do. We just love knowing what’s ahead. We don’t, like, change the unknowns for the most part.
Michelle: Yeah. Cause when something is not predictable now, it’s like your mind in your body’s on its toes. Like, okay, I have to look out for dangers. This is a new situation. Like, what do I need to look out for to ensure your survival? and also, our minds are always looking for shortcuts. This is something that we naturally do since there’s so much sensory input all the time. Our brains are trying to simplify things. So how can I think less? How can I do less? Thinking and routines, help tremendously with this. If you have a routine, you get up and you don’t really have to think about it. You’re just. I’m gonna go do this, and then I’m gonna go do this and then I’m gonna go do this. that’s why even some individuals or famous people, you’ll hear they, like, have three different colors in their wardrobe or, like, all plain clothing so that they, like, they, or they only wear this color on this day, this color on this day. So they never have to think about it. And it’s one less choice, it’s one less decision that you have to make and lessen mental work that you have to do. So why not? but some people enjoy that. Some people enjoy picking out their outfit. So, please, not me.
Lindsay: I’m glad. I mean, you don’t even have.
Michelle: Yeah, I was just gonna say, you wear scrubs, you don’t have to think about it.
Lindsay: That’s one perk of wearing scrubs. So I don’t have to pick up my outfit every day.
Michelle: True, true. and it’s also easier to gain momentum when you have a routine. And let’s say you have a goal that you’re trying to get to, and now you incorporate, achieving or getting to that goal within your routine. So let’s say you want to run a half marathon in, six months. And so now you incorporate into your routine running, and you’re going to start off slow and you’ll gradually build up. But the fact that you’ve incorporated it into your routine, you’re not thinking about it, you’re just doing it. And you’re slowly, incrementally now getting to your goal. It doesn’t happen. You’re not just gonna, like, go outside and run however many miles you gotta work your way to it. And so routines can help us do that. And it’s crazy. You can start off so small, but before you know it, you get so much further, so much closer to your goal, even faster than you think you can if you stay consistent.
Lindsay: Yeah.
Michelle: incremental progress is necessary for so many things and so many goals. You know, you have to celebrate the small wins and by doing things slowly or in smaller chunks, but consistently over time is where you can see tremendous growth. And it also makes it easier to organize your time when you have a routine. So if you have a lot on your schedule and you’re booking now, like, within the minutes, having that routine can help you make sure you get everything done. So, you know, when you wake up, you have this amount of time to do this, this amount of time to do this, and this amount of time to do this. And then when you have everything organized and scheduled, so to speak. in your day, it’s easier to know when you can say yes to things and when you can say no to things. You know, you just, I don’t have time. I’m sorry, I can’t fit it in my schedule today or not. versus if we don’t have that routine, it’s way easier to say yes and then not do things because we ran out of time, because we didn’t include it in the schedule for today. It’s like anytime that we say, I’m sure other people are guilty of this, of where you’re like, you don’t want to work out in the morning, so you’re going to do it in the afternoon or in the evening, and I’ll get to it later, but then your friend calls you and they’re like, oh, let’s go to happy hour. Okay. And it’s like, so much easier when it’s not like a set routine. It’s so much easier to just say yes. And then you get to the happy hour and you’re like, oh, crap, I didn’t do my work hour. I didn’t do my run or whatever it is. versus when something is more, ah, strict or discipline, you’re, you’re not going to let it slide. And I think that routines provide a lot of comfort as well for our minds, body, souls, having some predictability, but also, it’s like, like coffee in the morning is so, is more of a comfort thing than anything than providing me with energy sometimes. Yes, but more of a comfort thing.
Lindsay: Yeah. Whether you go to a Starbucks or dunkin or wherever you get your coffee, like, that could be your morning. Like your personal five minutes or ten minutes or whatever.
What is your morning routine and what do you enjoy most
Michelle: Yeah.
Lindsay: Like, away from your kids, away from everybody before you go to work, maybe that’s like your, you, time.
Michelle: Yeah, it’s your thing.
Lindsay: And that’s like, what you’ve incorporated into your routine.
Michelle: Yeah.
Lindsay: To do a little something for you.
Michelle: and something to look forward to. It’s like, at least for me, I like, I love my little iced, homemade cold brew with a little mocha in it. Oh, that’s like, it’s, I love the taste of it so much that it’s like, I look forward to it and I delay the coffee a little bit. So it’s like further encouragement for me to get things done in my morning so that I can reward myself with this thing.
Lindsay: So what my routine looks like in the morning during the week when I have to go to work and be there by 645 07:00 a.m. I wake up at, like, 530. I used to do 05:00 a.m. but that’s way too early for me. so my alarm goes off. I get up and out of bed. I don’t hit the snooze.
Michelle: Yeah, she’s really good with it.
Lindsay: And I go into. I obviously go into the bathroom, and I try to remember to look into the mirror and talk to myself, saying good things, happy things. And then I go downstairs and make tea, which looks like putting water, like putting the hot water on. And then getting my travel mug because I don’t have enough time to sit and enjoy it on the couch. So while that is going, I am making lemon water with salt and lemon. And then I’m getting the shiloh g ready on a spoon. And then about that time is when the water is done, I take the spoonful of shiloh, try to drink the lemon water first, and then I pour my tea. And then at that point, I have, like, five minutes. I sit on the couch, get out my journal and write in my gratitude journal. And then I read what I wrote and say thank you three times. After everything that I wrote. And then put the journal away, pack my lunch that’s already been made and not, everything, just putting it in the lunchbox. And then I go upstairs and say goodbye to my wife.
Michelle: Then my morning starts and I get, up. What time is that? About like 630?
Lindsay: Yeah. Like 625.
Michelle: 630, yeah. This is as of late. As of late. and so I get up, go downstairs. I have. She’s already put the sheila g, which is a supplement. it is high in minerals and antioxidants. I’ll put it in the show notes, what we use.
Lindsay: But it literally tastes like granite rocks. If you’re going to lick one on a hot day, that’s what tastes like.
Michelle: Yeah, it’s like licking rocks, for sure.
Lindsay: It’s an acquired taste.
Michelle: Yeah, it is definitely an acquired take. But, it helps supplement a lot of minerals that we might not be getting in our diet. And it also helps support your body’s own ability to create vitamin D and vitamin K and then supporting the immune system and helping the body detox toxins out. so many things. So we really enjoy that supplement. and I’ll share that in the show notes. But then I also have my lemon water, and it’s got the. Is it celtic or celtic? I never know. I think either way is whatever, but celtic. Sea salt and lemon. And, that’s what I’ll start with. And then I will have tea as well. The gunpowder greens. I love that green tea.
Lindsay: Yeah, I think it’s numi.
Michelle: What?
Lindsay: The brand of.
Michelle: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And, I like to put layered performance mushrooms in it. I’ll also put that in the show notes. Huge game changer for mental clarity and focus because I don’t know about you guys, but I love, love, love, love my coffee, and it definitely helps give me that jolt for my morning. but depending on the day, you know, sometimes it doesn’t necessarily help with the focus and clarity, whereas I feel like this performance and before miss mushrooms does help with that focus. And then I will feed monster, feed her dog, and take her for a walk. And then when I come back inside, I usually will write in my gratitude journal as well, and I will do my meditation. The meditation is an important part of my morning to help me recenter focus, clear my mind and start the day off on a really good foot, as well as the gratitude. And then from there, I’ll usually make my breakfast. And this is when I get to reward myself with my coffee and some orange juice or whatever. and then I’ll get started with my work now, afternoon routine.
Giving your brain a break from constant distractions can enhance productivity and mood
I feel like we both kind of accidentally have afternoon routines now, but, yeah.
Lindsay: So my afternoon routine, I’m at work, looks like eating my lunch and then taking a walk, a stroll, a nature walk down to see any turtle that I can in the pond that’s next to the hospital that I work by. And the last time I went there, there was this really crazy lizard iguana looking thing, and it swam so fast. I had no idea those things swam.
Michelle: Yeah, it looked like, Luca, the kids movie, you know, like, how they swim under the water that, like, very fish like, but, like, long with its legs. Yeah, that was. I had no idea that those things swim.
Lindsay: That’s wild.
Michelle: That’s wild.
Lindsay: And then it’s usually so hot at that time of day. So walk back and just take. Taking a little time for myself. And walking outside is really great, as you guys know, in our, nature.
Michelle: Give your break. Give your brain a break from the constant distractions every 5 seconds and context switching.
Lindsay: It’s like coming up for air, which is really nice. Again, I’m in the outside world. This is great.
Michelle: And mood as well. Stepping outside in the middle of the afternoon and getting some sunlight in your eyes and on your skin can be very beneficial for mood, enhancing. And so my afternoon routine as of late has been, I like to break up my day in half. So I’ll do work in the morning and then the afternoon, I actually like to take my, my workout break, go to Juno beach, I will run along the sidewalk, up and down the beach. And then after I do my run, I will go for a swim in the ocean, enjoy a little bit of sunshine, and do a, quick rinse, and then get back in the car and go home, make my lunch, and then get back to work. but boy, is that afternoon break liberating because it’s so much easier, at least for me personally, it’s so much easier for me to focus in shorter chunks. So, like, let’s say if I’m doing work for 4 hours in the morning, I am so much more focused and, productive and effective when it, I know it’s a shorter period of time and I’m going to get a break. Like, my brain isn’t seeking out anything extra. It’s like I can just stay with what I am doing in this moment. And then before I know it, I look up. It’s time for me to take my running break. And it gives me a second to give my brain a break as well as move my body. Because sitting at a desk is just not ideal. And looking at a computer screen all day is not ideal either. So getting to move your body around, getting some sunlight, and then, back to work. And then now I’ve taken a break and I fed myself and I’m ready to get back to work again.
What does your nighttime routine look like?
Lindsay: So our nighttime, my nighttime routine. What does my nighttime routine look like?
Michelle: Yeah, we haven’t been, we haven’t had that much of a routine at night lately.
Lindsay: Yeah.
Michelle: Just like make dinner.
Lindsay: Yeah, we make dinner together.
Michelle: Yes.
Lindsay: We feed the dog. Oh, I know what our nighttime is.
Michelle: Oh, yes. As of late, we’ve had a really good one.
Lindsay: Yeah. So we will walk the dog, and at about 08:00 on, the dot.
Michelle: On the freaking dot, we’ll look into.
Lindsay: The trees and guess what we see? Flying squirrels.
Michelle: The cutest little flying squirrels. I will. Like, if you’re watching this podcast right now, I’m going to put a picture of exactly what we are seeing in our neighborhood. Flying from oak tree to palm tree, like all throughout our neighborhood. Incredible. And none of our neighbors believe us.
Lindsay: No, they look like little flying magic carpets. So cute.
Michelle: They’re so little and so cute.
Lindsay: They’re so cute. And they make this noise, it’s almost.
Michelle: Like a clicking, but it’s like a little mousey noise. It’s like, yeah, I can’t even. I can’t do it.
Lindsay: Yeah, you can’t. I try and we try to record.
Michelle: It, but it’s too dark.
Lindsay: It’s really hard.
Michelle: But they’re tiny.
Lindsay: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Michelle: Maybe I can put that little excerpt of what you got. because they have this white underbelly. So usually you’ll see them because all of a sudden you either see.
Lindsay: Swoop.
Michelle: Yeah. You see something like swoop down out of one tree into another tree. But also underneath is white fur. So you see they’re like white little underbellies. And then they get to the tree and they like scurry up the tree.
Lindsay: It’s the cutest thing, you guys.
Michelle: Yeah, there. It’s really cute.
Lindsay: Yeah. Some of our neighbors didn’t believe us.
Michelle: Well, now we got one. One neighbor to like kind of see one. They just, you have to have really good eyesight to catch them. and a good neck.
Lindsay: You have to be looking fully, fully back.
Michelle: Right up straight back. Yeah. A lot of our neighbors think that like we’re high or crazy or something.
Lindsay: Because they, we’re always looking up in the trees or at the sky. We’ve even had like some neighbors drive up and like, what are you guys doing?
Michelle: Yeah. Yeah, the other ones, the other night, they were like, what are you guys looking at? Like flying squirrels. I swear, even when you say it kind of sounds crazy. But yeah, we’re not lying.
Lindsay: We’re not lying.
Michelle: It’s real. Why do. We may exist in Florida. It is a thing.
Lindsay: I’ve looked it up.
Michelle: yeah, yeah.
Lindsay: So, so that is pretty much what our nighttime routine looks like.
Michelle: Oh, and depending on monsters energy level too, sometimes we’ll go for another walk because monster, our dog, is twelve and so her walk is kind of like,
Lindsay: She’S a geriatric dog.
Michelle: It’s really slow. So a lot of times we’ll just do like a small walk with her, you know, as far as she wants to go. And then we’ll drop her back off at the house and then we’ll go back out again and do our nighttime.
Lindsay: We’ll do like a crock walk.
Michelle: Crack walk we call it, because we’re wearing crocs.
Lindsay: Or we’ll put on our sneakers.
Michelle: But anyway, yeah, sneakers is like, ah, all right, we’re going for exercises. Yeah, we’re walking faster. But that post meal walk is so I feel has made a big difference in like my. Just sounds hilarious because I’m only 33, but like, it does help me like digest after I’m eating dinner and leveling out blood sugar. You know, sometimes if you have a dinner that might be higher in carbohydrates, I feel like going for a walk immediately afterwards. I can feel that I don’t get the itis anymore, really? At least not to the same extent. yeah.
Lindsay: And also, if you’re feeling full, it helps you feel less full.
Michelle: Yes. And less tired, because usually, sometimes when we go out for a walk, I’m tired and I don’t want to go. But then once we start walking, I feel so much better. I’m like, okay. I’m not, like, now just gonna eat a ton and sit on the couch and not do anything and turn it to a sumo wrestler. So hopefully not.
As you get older, your routines can help improve your physical fitness
Yeah.
Lindsay: sometimes if I’ve had caffeine a little bit late in the day, I might do, like, a sleepy time tea before. Yeah, before bed.
Michelle: Yeah. And you sometimes will do, your evening garage workouts as well.
Lindsay: Oh, true, yeah.
Michelle: Your five minute workouts.
Lindsay: My five minute workouts with my five pound weights?
Michelle: Yeah. Yeah. Depending on the day, too. Sometimes I’ll join you, but, yeah, we have a little garage gym. It’s nice. It’s super convenient. so there’s no excuse. You have everything you need right there. Just even five minutes is better than nothing. You moved your body for five minutes. You lifted something.
Lindsay: Yeah. And you could see results. Well, at least once I’m able to see results, which is great.
Michelle: but I was actually talking about this recently with somebody. But how, as you get older, you don’t have to do as much to see gains or improvements in your physical fitness. When you’re younger, it’s like, in order to, like, hit the wall, you have to be working out for, like, 2 hours at the gym because you’re just so much more fit and you have so much more endurance. but as you get older, you hit that wall a little bit faster. It’s like, silver lining. You don’t need a workout for 2 hours. Like, I can work out for 20 minutes, and I can see a difference. So there’s no right or wrong amount. If you do something, it is something like. Like, be happy that you did something. Yeah. Celebrate the small wins here. So, yeah, I feel like we really enjoy our routines, because it’s almost like a. It’s easier to relax in your routine and take a break and put everything on pause. You know, when you have a lot, you have a lot of things going on. Just kind of like, relying on your routine is nice. Giving your brain a break from having to think and make decisions and worry about what you’re doing next. and also, like, implementing new things that we want to do. I feel like it’s so much easier when we implement it as a routine. So we’ll look at our routines and be like, okay, we want to add this to our routine so that we can obtain this goal. As long as it’s part of the routine, then it’s like, cool. I don’t even have to think about it. I’m just going to do it. I’m just gonna get up and do it.
Lindsay: Yeah, you could do that with food as well as meal planning and, stuff like that.
Michelle: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Like, if you want to change, your eating habits, then definitely planning out or having your routine around eating, you’re gonna eat at this time. This is what you’re gonna eat. Or you’re gonna make this for dinner, but you’re gonna make a larger quantity. So now you have your lunch prepared for the next couple of days, and that’s one less thing you have to worry about, one less thing you gotta deal with. you already have it ready and that can be super helpful. so, yeah, I think for us, ah, our routines provide us a lot of comfort, but it also helps us slowly make incremental progress towards our goals. But also our routines can hinder us sometimes. I think if we become too rigid around your routine, it can cause you to potentially miss out on a lot of things that life has to offer.
Lindsay: Yeah. I mean, you can alter your routine. It’s not cement in stone.
Michelle: Yes.
Lindsay: Like, as things come up, you could take things out, put things in.
Michelle: Exactly.
Lindsay: And then that’ll be your new thing.
Michelle: Yeah, that’s why I said as of late, because I feel like we always have a routine, but that routine is always, like, slightly changing depending on. Depending on the time of the year, depending on what our current goals are. Like, we’re always tweaking it a little bit to fit our needs. but when I feel like it’s so rigid, then you’re also just saying no to a lot of other things. If our routine was so rigid, we would have said no to playing pickleball some nights with friends. And that, thinking about it, if we were missed out on all those times that we got to play pickleball, we developed such great friendships at pickleball, and we’ve had so much fun. And also, it’s been tremendous exercise. And now we also have a sport that we can play until we’re like 90 or whatever, so. But that’s just like a silly, small example. But I think it is important to give yourself some flexibility so that you can enjoy your life and have a little fun.
Lindsay: Absolutely.
Michelle: And, and know that, like, it’s okay. It’s not completely black and white all the time. and it’s finding a balance, finding the balance that works best for you. And I think that’s definitely the hardest part. when to say yes and when to say no.
Lindsay: Yeah, but also, like, give yourself some grace because you’re only human.
Michelle: Yeah, yeah, for sure. and I think sometimes, routines can also cause us to plateau. If you keep the same routine for so long, our bodies just for example, with, exercise, if you do the exact same workout every day or every other day for years and years on end, your body is just going to stay at that same level. It’s, you’re not going to see any growth. And so for some people, that might be fine. Like maybe some people are just trying to maintain and they’re not actually trying to push themselves to grow further stronger, get more endurance, etcetera. but if you want to see any growth, you have to ensure that you are gradually increasing that exercise or adding on or changing it up, etcetera. and same thing goes with any, any goal that you’re trying to achieve. there’s going to be a point in time where you’re going to need to make an adjustment because you realize you’re plateauing, you’re not growing anymore, you’re not, you’re not making any further progress. And so just keeping that in the back of your mind as well, that you need to make adjustments as you go along to continuously see growth and be honest with yourself about it, you know, like, are you seeing the progress you want to see? Are you where you need to be? and so one way that I kind of like to monitor this too, is I like to check in on, on my goals, priorities and the adjustments that I need to make. Once a month, like at the beginning of each month, I’ll sit down, I’ll write down my goals for the month, and then I’ll look back at the previous month and be like, okay, what goals did I achieve? What did I do well?
You can make adjustments while still staying committed to your long term goals
What did I not do well and what changes do I need to make? And it’s a really great way. It’s pretty humbling, too, when you look back and you’re like, oh, boy, I did none of the things that I said I wanted to do. but then you can kind of look at it and say, why didn’t I? What kept me from doing those things? What was I truly prioritizing? And it gives you an opportunity to be honest with yourself and be like, okay, what is important? What do I need to change? And now this going forward, this is what I’m gonna do now, this month, etcetera. It’s important to look at it and be honest with yourself. But obviously, like, don’t beat yourself up if you’re not making your goals. It’s just feedback. It’s all it is, is just feedback. You’re like, oh, okay, well, this didn’t really work out that well. And give yourself the grace and the flexibility to be like, oh, okay, this is the change I’m gonna make this time. And I feel like that’s true growth is you realize what’s working and not working and you’re constantly, making those honest adjustments with yourself. And you can do this, you can do all of this. You can make these adjustments while still staying committed to your long term goals. I think that’s how you get to your long term goals is you might have an idea of how you’re gonna get somewhere and then it does not work out the way you planned it. And so you gotta adapt, you gotta adjust, you gotta make some changes, and that’s part of it. and I do think also that routines sometimes can make us get a little bit too comfortable. Like, if you live for the routine, because it’s very comforting for you, then if you stay in that routine for too long, you might not, want to push yourself anymore, you might not want change, or you might resist change in a lot of different ways. And so, depending on the person, some people are not looking to change and that’s fine as well. But if you are looking to make growth, continual growth and progress, it’s important to be honest with ourselves about I’m becoming a little bit too content here. Like, I’m not really pushing myself. And then I. You start to, like, shy away from stressful things or things that make you feel like you’re stepping out of your comfort zone.
Lindsay: Yeah. Or, or if you just hate change, you might obviously resist a change in your routine.
Michelle: Yeah.
Lindsay: But maybe getting, maybe having that awareness on why you’re resistant to change.
Michelle: Yeah.
Lindsay: Would be a good idea to explore before making like, micro adjustments to your routine.
Michelle: Yeah, true, true. Yeah. I think understanding why is big, big part of it and makes it easier then, if you understand why, then, you know, yeah.
Lindsay: Then you can unpack that.
Michelle: It’S a little bigger than what we want to talk about today, but. Yeah, exactly.
Getting too comfortable in routines can halt our growth or progress
So there is a great metaphor that I like to use about growth, and I. About, you know, getting too comfortable and plateauing is lobsters. In order for lobsters to grow, they have to shed their hard shell on the outside. So they go through these ebbs and flows, these phases of growth, where they shed the hard shell. And at that point, they are completely vulnerable. They have nothing protecting them and can be very easily eaten. And so they have to risk being vulnerable and not being protected for a period of time so that they can grow bigger and then grow a new hard shell on the outside. And I think that’s a great metaphor for us as human beings and life in general, is that, like, you’re gonna have periods of comfort, and that’s really nice. Enjoy those periods of comfort when you have that nice heart shell protecting you on the outside. But if you want to keep growing, if you want to get bigger, you do need to go through that discomfort of being vulnerable and not being protected. but that’s when you grow.
Lindsay: Just to summarize our routine episode, that.
Michelle: Routines can provide us with comfort. They can help us minimize the amount of thinking and the planning that we have to do for our days. They can provide us with increased efficiency and sustainable progress. But with that being said, routines can also cause us to halt our growth or progress. If we get too comfortable in our routines, we start to plateau and not make appropriate adjustments, or if we become too rigid around our routines. So, with that being said, we hope you guys took something away, something you can benefit from this. And, we love to hear more from our audience as well. Any feedback you have, please leave them in the comments. Anything about this episode or other episodes, other things that you guys want to hear as well. And we will definitely delve into the smaller details of our routines in later episodes. Like, I know we’re going to do one on meditation, another one on gratitude and things like that. but if there’s also anything in particular that you guys are interested in, please do let us know. We’d love to hear it and include it.
Lindsay: Yes. And also let us know if you’ve ever seen a flying squirrel in your neighborhood.
Michelle: Seriously, are we, like, the only people that have ever witnessed this? If not, please, please do tell us.
Lindsay: Because let us know.
Michelle: Yes.
Lindsay: And, on that note, thanks for listening.
Michelle: Thanks for listening.
Lindsay: Thanks. Okay, bye.
Michelle: Okay, thanks. Bye.