Freshening Up A Dull Routine
One of the most frustrating feelings is when you realise your life has become dull, predictable and staid. Perhaps work has stopped being challenging and rewarding. Maybe you never do anything new with your friends any more. You could have fallen into a routine that works like clockwork but you can’t escape from. When you feel like you’re being stifled by the life you’ve built for yourself, it can be overwhelming. Sometimes the answer is to make big changes – move countries, change careers, seek out or end relationships. Often, however, you can make smaller changes – alter your priorities, focus on what’s really important to you and rediscover your zest for life.
Hobbies
One of the many ways in which life can become constrictive and dull is if you allow work to dominate every moment of it. It can lead to career success, but it can also limit your social circle to work colleagues, and cut you off from rewards that aren’t associated with the office.
Proactively developing a hobby can help to give you a broader circle of friends and introduce you to the satisfaction of developing a skill for its own pleasure. Ordering something to help you develop an interest in a craft hobby, like an art subscription box UK companies are beginning to offer could be the shake up you need, helping you to set aside personal time for projects that you value for themselves rather than for their ability to help you get ahead in your career.
Volunteering
Many people feel their life has become a little stale when it lacks meaning: they work to make money for someone else in a way that doesn’t make the world a better place. Sometimes it’s hard to see how your work has any effect on the world at all, and this can be very dispiriting.
Some people use this as an impetus to overhaul their whole career, starting their own company or taking a significant pay cut to do work that feels more meaningful. If you don’t have that option, then another solution can be to donate your time and expertise. Think about a cause that’s meaningful to you: if you’re trying to make your time feel more valuable and impactful it’s important to spend it with a cause that’s close to your heart.
Volunteering can cover a lot of different skills and activities: don’t assume you don’t have what your chosen charity is looking for. You might find yourself helping to maintain the riverbank with a local wildlife trust, mentoring young people as they write their first CVs or even double checking the tax return of a community theatre! Using your hard won skills for a good cause, meeting new people and contributing to the lives of others could be the perfect way to freshen up a dull routine.
