Everyone is writing about it, talking about it on podcasts, and it’s the only thing on TV. We are at a point where people say, “I don’t want to talk about COVID-19 here, so…” and then they proceed to talk about normal everyday things in the context of COVID-19.
Well, I am kind of doing exactly that right now.
What Breaks Normalcy?
Two Weeks
Apparently, it is about two weeks or less that throws a wrench into all of our normalcy.
Forming habits an extremely difficult task. Depending on who you ask, it takes anywhere from 30 to 90 days or even years to form new habits. I’d imagine that the actual length of time depends on many variables, between the individual and the task at hand. Either way, it is tough. It takes conscious effort, reminders or “triggers”, and practice.
Now after two weeks of chaos, it feels that we will never go back to the way things were.
Chaos: The New Normal
Today, I had to pull over on my way to Walmart to pick up some groceries. The reason, my license plates on my Mazda did not match the state I was driving in.
On another day, I will likely elaborate on my reasons for why New England should all be one big state, or at least operate as one. Another day.
With the spread of COVID-19 being so rapid, and our area being a hotspot for summer travel, there are likely ensuring that out-of-towners are self-quarentining for 14 days so they don’t come here from another state and spread the virus. I passed right through, but how many days or weeks will I have to pull through and tell them that I haven’t had a chance to get new plates, but I live here. Okay, it is also my fault for delaying the DMV. I get that.
The point is, it takes longer to make habits than to break them.
Habits are Non-Choices
My theory as to why habits break easier than they form it probably obvious to most, but it is new to me and I like thinking about it.
Posibilities
If the desired outcome is specific, there are many more possible outcomes that are not the one desired. Pure probability says that the more specific your goal, the less likely it will happen.
Example, I want to wake up at 5 AM sharp. Well, there are 1,439 other minutes of the day that I could wake up at. So I have a 1 in 1,439 chance of waking up at 5 AM.
Not really though because other limiting factors are at play. If I set when I go to bed to be even a range of 9 PM to 10 PM, there is a bell curve of length of sleep I have ever experience with mere minutes on the low end, but about 12 hours at the maximum. So That takes out about half of the possibilities. So on and so forth… it is still too specific of a target to hit naturally, so I set triggers to help me out.
Maybe an alarm at 5 AM. However, statistics will tell you that maybe 1 out of every 30 days I can actually get out of bed right at the minute of my alarm, so maybe an alarm at 4:55. That’s better. Then my chances of stepping out of bed right at 5 AM are like 1 in 20 depending if I can reach the snooze button.
Lastly, 4:59 or 5 AM with the alarm across the room. That will put us in a good spot.
Other Fun Examples
Okay, that was a long and dragged out thought to express the idea, but for funsies, one more.
I want to have a Jenga tower.
It takes thought and effort to make a tower. Think of how many other configurations the blocks could be in!
Or a piece by Chopin. There are so many other orders of notes with different times and rhythms!
This gets into Infinite Monkey Theorem.
Routines – Opening Your Brain
So by having good habits, your brain is allowed to think about all of the new things and to learn while your body’s muscle memory, or your habits, do the rest.
This is why people get so fatigued when traveling to new places.
When you drive, walk, or ride your daily commute, you may not even think twice except about what you want to listen to or think about while your body takes every turn effortlessly.
While traveling, this all changes.
Suddenly, when I am not in my familiar environment everything is new. My brain is in overload correcting my body for its lack of knowledge.
Even when staying somewhere familiar like my parents’ house. I grew up there, but I haven’t lived there for almost a decade. The dresser doesn’t have my clothes ordered (or not ordered) the way they used to be. My toothbrush isn’t in the same place, and I cannot just come and go like I used to. New habits have formed and old ones have gone away.
What Is Normalcy?
In short, I think normalcy is the habits. It is what our body expects to experience each day with the least amount of effort. Normalcy is the trodden path, the groove that we slip into that guides us. It takes some effort to pop out of this, like a pandemic.
When Normalcy Breaks
As I just mentioned, it takes a lot of effort to break a habit. This is a good thing when the habit is eating well and exercising, but I haven’t done either of those things in a while anyways.
On the flip side, the strength of our habits can be bad when they are addictions, vices, or just plain old bad habits.
Everything Up in the Air
Now, in April of 2020, we find ourselves with every single routine that we once had up in the air!
This can throw a wrench in the way we operate each day, but it can maybe do some good.
With so many of our habits and routines tossed up, they are going to eventually come back down. We are in a unique situation to guide them back down, to reorganize our lives the way we want them.
What is Your Dream Normalcy
Reflect on this. What sort of habits and routines would you like to have next year?
Can these habits be started now? Will they last if you started them now? or are they dependent on this chaos?
It would be unproductive to start a habit of working out 8 hours a day if you will have to go back to the office when all of this is over, but the little things can be tweaked now. For me, writing and reading are things I wish I did more of. Now that we don’t go out as much, and there is only so much TV you can watch, evening reading has become more routine.
Prayer as a family has become more frequent, especially on Sunday when we watch the mass and reflect on it afterwards. This has been nice.
What Else?
That is to be determined. Hopefully some more, but I will think on it and get back!