Slowdown Friday: The Stickiness Factor and Daily Habits

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It's been a very hectic six weeks as I have sold my house, found a new one in a different state and all the while life has kept rolling along.  The kids still need to get to school, meals still have to be prepared and the house still needs to be kept up. Oh and by the way I still have to work!  It's easy for things to fall by the wayside and my morning routines have taken the brunt of it.



It's amazing how a set of routines, though in place for years, can become unhinged in a matter of days or weeks.  It got me thinking about The Stickiness Factor as put forth by Malcolm Gladwell in his book, The Tipping Point.  Simply put, certain things 'stick' and others don't, often for both simple and complex reasons.  Apparently, my morning routines of getting up at 4:45am followed by coffee and prayer weren't as sticky as I thought and now I'm ready to return to this important routine.



Brian Buffini, the real estate guru whose seminars have trained thousands of realtors nationwide, promotes a concept called "keeping one oar in the water".  What he means is this: you might not be able to move forward as quickly as you'd like, but can you keep a piece of your routine in place?  Can you still be true to your rituals and habits even if they're not as easy as they once were?  I think that Buffini is on to something profound.



For today's Slowdown Friday activity, I'm going to try and stick to my habits, especially in the morning.  I'm already up early so that's a good place to start...



Resources for the Road
Tipping Point Marketing: a Primer
The Morning Routine: Tips For Making Morning Run Smoother
Yahoo! On Tapping the Power of Your Morning Routine
Career Intelligence on Streamlining Your Morning Routine
Zen Habits on the Benefits of Rising Early