Don’t Let Routine Turn You Into a Caterpillar

Changing your routine can help you break out of a rut. (oatawa/Shutterstock)

French entomologist Jean-Henri Fabre (1823–1915) once performed extensive studies on processionary caterpillars. When traveling, these insects, with their protective stinging bristles, parade nose to tail, each following the other in a long train.

In one experiment, Fabre acquired a large flower pot, placed water and pine needles—the caterpillar’s favorite food—in the center of the pot, and then arranged the caterpillars one after the other on the rim of the pot. Around they went, around and around and around.

For seven days.

The caterpillars never broke ranks to seek out the food and water. After a week, they began dying, but continued to play follow-the-leader to the bitter end.

When Following Becomes Disastrous

Fabre’s processional caterpillars have at times served as a metaphor for those occasions when human beings follow a leader, a belief, or a trend without pausing to ask questions or ponder outcomes. They place their trust in a flagbearer or expert and join the march, ditching their critical thinking faculties in the process.

These caterpillar inclinations can also govern us without the presence of another. Consider, for example, that normally benevolent dictator we call routine.

For most of us, routines are both essential and helpful. Routine is what gets the kids out of the house for school, provides efficiency on the job, and puts supper on the table. A case in point: A routine, a pattern of schedules and behavior, is a necessary component of success for the self-employed.

But what if our groove becomes a grind? What if we find ourselves stuck in a rut, glassy-eyed and dull from our repeated daily processions?

Whether that rut is shallow or deep as a canyon, there are measures we can take to switch up our routines and add some spice to our days. The good news is that we don’t need to head out the door on a getaway vacation, or spend wads of money entertaining ourselves and buying things we don’t need. Most of the time, painless and inexpensive remedies can cure the ennui brought on by tedium.

In “18 Simple and Creative Ways to Break Free from Your Routine,” Jasmine Irven serves up a smorgasbord of options. Some may seem trite or goofy, such as taking a different route to work, shopping for groceries in a different store, or rearranging your furniture. But if we try some of these recommendations—if we, as Ms. Irven writes, invite some variety into our lives—these small alterations in our routine may provide just the boost our spirits require.

Search online for “breaking up our routines,” and you’ll discover lots of other ideas to help you bust out of your “same old, same old” pattern.

Then, too, there are those times when we need an escape from our schedules altogether. Here, too, some simple, inexpensive options are at hand. In “Hannah’s Children,” for instance, Catherine Pakaluk’s book about large families, the author recounts the story of a mom and dad who occasionally gather up the kids and rent a room for the night in a local Embassy Suites, where they enjoy the swimming pool, order out pizza, and watch TV together. As Ms. Pakaluk points out, both parents and kids enjoy this interruption in their schedule, “a mini staycation for seven people for a hundred bucks and the price of pizzas.”

In general, then, routine is a wonderful tool for getting things done, allowing us to attend to details rather than having to spend our efforts and time on the big picture. But if we find ourselves “growing grim about the mouth,” as did Ishmael in Melville’s “Moby Dick,” some change-ups in our schedule may be just the ticket needed to bring some sunshine to our spirit.