This morning I debated whether to take the bike or the subway to work. I noticed a small fear... I'd call it discomfort, at the idea of biking, which is strange because I usually bike back but not to work, and I thought: I will do this just to step out of my comfort zone. The purpose is not to get comfortable biking to work, it's to get comfortable choosing things which make me uncomfortable.
This brings me to something I've been thinking about lately: job related routine tends to make everything routine. It doesn't matter how good a routine is for me, it will eventually wear me out and bore me. In order to have a good sustainable routine, I need variety as a routine. My routines often include to-do tasks such as "try something new", "speak to a stranger", "use unfamiliar equipment at the gym", "take a different route back home".
Sometimes I also question this "need". I put it between quotes because, in the pyramid of needs this isn't really at the base, before seeking novelty I'll probably seek to cover more fundamental needs, but I call it "need" because everything underneath novelty is given for granted. It feels as if I need it because I'm not hungry, unsafe, or shitting my pants.
As of late, I'm feeling more and more willing to put myself in the discomfort zone in exchange for increased social interaction. This morning, when I biked towards work, a car in front of me stopped in order to gauge if they could pass between a car and the sidewalk. The car stopped right on top of the pedestrian marks, and a woman stopped for the car to pass through, but it was not moving. It was obvious to both of us that the car had ample space to go through, so the lady looked at me and shrugged. I smiled back. The car finally had the courage to pass, the lady walked on the zebra stripes, turned to me and said "some people just don't know how to estimate space!" to which I assented and laughed.
This I provide not as an example of putting myself in my discomfort zone, but as something that would be within my discomfort zone if I tried to do it. I simply thought: that was a natural interaction, yet it wouldn't come naturally to me. It would require a bit of discomfort before it becomes my comfort zone. So I put myself this task: remark something about our shared reality with a stranger. Simple actionable task for breaking routine.