This was originally written during the early days of COVID-19, when daily life shifted almost overnight.
Routines disappeared.
Work, school, and home all collapsed into the same space.
Uncertainty became constant.
That kind of disruption isn’t unique to that moment.
We experience it anytime the external world becomes unstable—whether through global events, personal transitions, or ongoing stress.
When that happens, many people try to hold onto their old routines.
They push to stay “normal.”
And often, they burn out.
Why Old Routines Stop Working
In stable conditions, much of our life runs on automatic patterns.
We:
- follow habits
- rely on familiar structures
- move through the day without much conscious effort
But when the environment changes quickly, those patterns stop fitting.
At the same time, the part of the mind that helps us think carefully and adapt becomes harder to access.
This is where understanding two modes of thinking can help.
Fast Thinking and Slow Thinking
In Thinking, Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman describes two general ways the mind operates:
Fast Thinking
- automatic
- intuitive
- effortless
- based on habit and pattern
It helps us:
- read simple text
- recognize faces and emotions
- make quick judgments
Slow Thinking
- deliberate
- effortful
- requires attention
It helps us:
- solve problems
- learn new skills
- make thoughtful decisions
For example:
If you look at a face, you immediately recognize an emotion.
That’s fast thinking.
If you try to calculate 91 × 62, you have to stop and concentrate.
That’s slow thinking.
What Happens Under Stress
When the world around us is unstable:
- fast thinking can become misleading (we rely on outdated assumptions)
- slow thinking becomes harder to access (we’re fatigued, distracted, overwhelmed)
So we feel:
- scattered
- less effective
- unable to keep up with what used to feel manageable
A Simple Way to Stabilize
In times like this, structure becomes essential.
Two simple tools can help:
A calendar
- gives shape to your day
- reduces decision fatigue
- creates external structure when internal structure is strained
A journal
- helps you track thoughts and reactions
- builds awareness of your internal state
- creates a bridge between automatic reactions and more deliberate thinking
Together, they support a shift from:
- reactive → intentional
- scattered → organized
- overwhelmed → more contained
Reflection
- What parts of your old routine are you still trying to hold onto?
- Where are things no longer working the way they used to?
- When do you notice yourself on “autopilot”?
- When do you need to slow down and think more deliberately?
- What kind of structure would actually support you right now?
Closing Thought
When the world changes, it’s not just our circumstances that need to adjust.
Our way of thinking—and the structures that support it—need to adjust as well.
The goal isn’t to recreate what was.
It’s to build something that works for where you are now.
Update (April 2026):
This piece was originally written during the early months of COVID-19.
While the context has changed, the underlying challenge has not.
Periods of uncertainty—whether global or personal—continue to disrupt how we think, function, and organize our lives.
The need for simple, stabilizing structures remains just as relevant.