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Going back into uni for semester two, I am looking forward to reestablishing some solid routines. Even things as simple as brushing my teeth don’t seem to have any structure anymore. I need to retrain myself to get up at 8 am and ride to university on my bike and have my butt in class ready to start the day. However, I do worry that it won’t be that simple, and that I’ll bring my terrible habits with me into the start of a fresh semester.

How did I fall out with my routines?

It’s something that seemed to have gradually happened as the pandemic unfolded, and I became more and more slack. It started off with just one night going to bed that one hour later and then that turned into a whole week of reinforcing that poor sleeping pattern. It then went on by just missing one tutorial and forgetting the lecture for that week and playing catch up. Before I knew it, I was going to bed at ridiculous hours and waking up later having missed half of the day. It was the little things, the little changes that slowly changed my routine and allowed it to spiral out of control.

Where to from here?

I’m hoping that face-to-face classes will drive me to be more organised and that living independently will help me with my cooking, eating and shopping patterns. From here, I intend to change my poor routines the same way I developed them, gradually and continuously. I’ve heard it’s about starting out simply and slowly adjusting. I need to set times for routinely brushing my teeth, having a shower, eating dinner and going to bed. I need to make sure that I’m getting at least 30 minutes of exercise a day and keep at it! Certainly, being back on campus will make it easier to socialise and keep healthy regular contact with friends which is something I’m hoping I’ll ease back into. So, I’ll see how I go and just keep it simple and start out slow.