Creatures of habit

Are you a creature of habit?

Do you always go the same route from home to work; or maybe you always sit at on the same seat when you attend church; maybe you always sit on the same seat when you meet your boss in their office?

A few years ago the I was on a training course with work where they asked us if we always did things the same. e.g. Always sat in the same seat in meetings, always had coffee at a specific time etc, and as I was attending the course with a few of my work colleagues, they all turned at looked at me when these questions were asked.

Now those of you who have known me for a while will know that I have never been one to be predictable, so imagine my shock when I realised that I had become quite predictable in some things as far as my work colleagues were concerned! That day I decided that I was not going to be so predictable from then on.

When I went to meetings in my boss’ office with her, both of us used to always sit in the same seats around the table in her office. So the first time I went to my boss’ office for a meeting with her, when I got back to the office I reminded myself, “Don’t sit in the same seat you always sit in”….so I didn’t I sat in a seat round the other side of the table from normal. My boss who had been sitting at her desk when I went into her office, got up to come and sit at the table with me, stopped abruptly when she saw where I was sitting, looked slightly confused, and then sat in a different seat from her normal.

I had obviously thrown her by sitting in a different seat, she was obviously a creature habit too!

Ever since then, I have been very conscious when I go to meetings etc not to always sit in the same seat or do things at the same time every day, because if there’s one thing I don’t want to be is predictable!