I’ve been thinking about re-entry routines this week, largely because I was out of town last weekend, and therefore have been going through several phases of re-entry into regular life.
In engineering and aeronautics, a space vehicle’s re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere is a matter of critical timing and design to prevent it from burning up (hence those suspenseful long seconds in Apollo 13 and other such movies). Luckily, most of us aren’t at actual risk for combustion upon arriving home from the airport, even though it can sometimes feel that way.
My own re-entry routine after a trip involves:
- playing with our dogs
- unpacking my suitcase (I’ve learned the hard way that if I don’t do this within 30 minutes of getting home, it will take me several days of randomly harvesting items from the suitcase before I finish the task.)
- a shower (psychologically I need this, whether or not I’m actually grimy from travel)
- eating takeout Vietnamese food on the couch with my partner.
Email, laundry, mopping the floor, and just about everything else I think I need to do to catch up can wait until the next morning.
When do you go through re-entry?
So Sunday night was the obvious point of re-entry. But Monday morning offered another level, when I began integrating the studying I’d been doing over the weekend with my plans for the week ahead. Tuesday morning was yet another re-entry, as I went back into the classroom for the week.
The shifts in your schedule over the course of every week and possibly every day offer the opportunity to think about how you’re managing your re-entry into your workspace, into your family time, or into other places or modes of your life.
Define your re-entry routine
Astronauts, pilots, and their control centers use checklists to make sure that all the steps of a re-entry routine are followed. Defining a routine makes it easier to just follow it, instead of trying to invent it each time on the fly.
Consider:
- What are the typical conditions of this re-entry transition? are you hurried, tired, energized, or relaxed? are you alone or with others?
- What typically goes smoothly? What doesn’t?
- What one thing could you change to make this re-entry better the next time you go through it?
For instance, I’ve learned that after an intense yoga class, I don’t like to just get in the car and drive home. Even after showering and changing clothes, I still find it too jarring to my nervous system to get out in the traffic right away. So I take a few minutes to sit in my car and gradually bring my mind back into the outer world by reading or listening to music.
Try writing down the steps of your re-entry on an index card or post-it note and put it where it will be visible. By taking the time to slow down and pay attention to the significant transitions in your day, you can streamline and improve what can otherwise feel like abrupt or dislocating shifts.