It’s Tuesday, so that means it is lasagne for dinner tonight. Well, low-fat, low-carb, low-salt lasagne, because your blood pressure has been a little high lately, and the doctor told you to take care of yourself — even though you’re only in your early 30s. After a standard eight hour work day, you got into your sensible car and drove home. You spent more time in traffic driving home than the journey would have taken you had you cycled, or walked, or even crawled. You arrive home, and park in the same spot. 

You finish the aforementioned, expectedly bland meal for dinner. And, after watching a rerun of a sitcom that you didn’t actually care about, the news comes on. The same places are going through the same unrest, the oil prices are still soaring, while the economy is plunging. Again. You turn the TV off, and head to bed at an appropriate 9:15pm. You don’t need to set an alarm to wake up the next day, because it’s already been set. 

Falling into a rut can happen quicker than you realise. One moment you feel fun and carefree, and the next you are bored out of your mind and looking for quotes on limestone retaining wall in Perth because yours has been ‘looking a little tatty lately’.

Keeping boredom at bay can sometimes feel impossible if you are currently in that rut. Feeling obligated to everyone and everything else in your life, except yourself, can leave you feeling uninspired, tired, and aged far beyond your time. Remember that being a little selfish sometimes can be a good thing. Turning over the classifieds section, putting that quote down for driveway paving prices, and letting yourself be free of the daily grind is essential for avoiding burnout and fatigue.

Take the to exercise. And that phrasing is totally deliberate — taking the time to do what is important for you and your health is the only way you’ll get it. Too often the excuse for not giving to yourself first is that one cannot ‘find the time’. So don’t. Instead, actively take it from things that are disrupting productivity, and making you feel tired and, frankly, bored. An easy fix could be looking at your daily commute: cycle, run, walk, pogo stick to work. Anything but sitting in your car in traffic.

This is just one way to change your life to give it more spice and variety. Encourage yourself to look for even more ways to get out of that rut. And go on, have the regular lasagne!