Welcome to post four of the Introvert Life Series! This post is going to focus on introvert routines. It’s the second in the series that focuses on your home life!
You can find previous posts in this series here.
Today, we’re going to talk about how to set up some routines, systems, and plans to help you recharge better when you’re at home!
We’ll also talk about why routines are important and how they can improve your introvert life.
Why introvert routines are important
I don’t know about you, but when I’ve had a busy day, or a bigger stretch of time where I had to live a more extroverted life, all I want to do is relax and recharge on the couch.
In these situations, I typically don’t have too much energy for anything else. But oftentimes, the fact that I’ve been overextended means that there are some household tasks I’ve neglected.
I’ve often found that it’s a lot harder for me to relax and recharge when I have these household tasks staring at me. (Plus, it’s just easier for me to relax if my house is cozy and in some kind of order.)
If this is a feeling you’re familiar with, this post can help you develop a strategy to tackle those projects in a way that will allow you more free time to recharge.
And if you haven’t felt this way, my hope it might still help you streamline your day-to-day tasks so you can maximize your time to suit a more introverted lifestyle.
Creating systems for regular tasks can help you stay on top of what has to get done, without spreading yourself too thin and giving up too much of your precious energy.
Here’s how you can create introvert routines and some areas of your life that might benefit from having one.
How to Create Introvert Routines or systems
Make a list of the tasks you regularly need to complete
Are you sensing a theme here? Yes, like some of our previous posts, the first step is to take inventory of where you’re at.
What tasks do you have to complete on a regular (daily, weekly, or monthly) basis? What tasks do you find yourself haunted by when you just want to relax and recharge.
Include all of them on this list.
Decide if you should tackle in bulk or small chunks
Now go through your list and decide if it’s better to tackle the entire task at once, or break it up into smaller chunks.
This will ultimately depend on you, your feelings about a task, and your energy levels.
For instance, if you know you won’t be able to relax if you have to clean your house, you might want to plan to set aside a few hours at once and tackle all of your cleaning.
But if the thought of doing all that cleaning makes it impossible to get off the couch and start in the first place, you may want to try breaking it down to a series of 15-minute tasks spread throughout your week.
Plan when the task will happen and modify as needed
Now that you know how you want to approach your tasks, actually plan when you will do them.
If you’re cleaning your whole house at once, block out from 12-3 PM every Saturday and get it done. If you’re cleaning a little every day, block out fifteen minutes every day right after dinner (or whenever) to knock our daily chore out.
As far as I’m concerned, planning is probably the most important step.
This is the step that helps me relax and recharge.
Because I’ve found that even if I still have to do a task, the fact that it’s scheduled means I don’t have to worry about it while I’m recharging.
I have the time set aside. I’ll get to it then. And recharge time can just be recharge time.
I’ve also found that once I have these systems in place and they’re truly habits, it’s a lot easier to modify if I’m really drained without going totally off the rails.
If you have a really long day at work and can’t get to that 15-minute cleaning task, odds are, you’ll be able to find 15 minutes at some other point that week.
This is because your system will have taught you how much time you really need to do these tasks and how you best approach them.
Areas to consider introvert routines
Cleaning
I used this as my main example for a reason. This is easily one of the biggest areas of home maintenance.
Food Shopping and Cooking
You need to eat. For some people, it might save you time to do some serious shopping, cooking, and meal prep on the weekends, then just reheating during the week. For others, a few shorter, targeted trips to the grocery store and more regular cooking (or some combination of both of these options) might make more sense.
Exterior maintenance
Cutting the grass and tending to the garden are also tasks that might be done best in bulk or in small chunks.
Bonus: Bigger home projects
For bigger projects (like redoing a room, or upgrading your outdoor space), make a plan and system similar to your more regular smaller projects.
If you find this task to be a good recharge activity, you can knock it out at once. If you don’t, break it up into bite-sized chunks and make a plan just as you would for any other home maintenance task.
Final thought
It’s also worth noting that there’s no shame in highering someone to do some of these tasks for you if it’s within your budget.
This is time and energy you get back for the things that matter most to you.
Looking for more tips on how to manage your introverted life?
If you’re liking this series and are looking for more, check out the Introvert Life Guide! which gives you an even more in-depth look at each of the areas we cover in these emails.
This guide was designed to help you build the introvert life of your dreams. And it’s full of plenty of tips, tricks, and ideas to help you create an introvert life that’s uniquely yours!
It will also help you embrace your introverted nature and build a life to help you thrive!
For more introvert life tips, check out the other introvert posts!
Sound off: Do you have introvert routines in place that help your introvert life? Tell us about it in the comments!