As I sit here in Panera, attempting to write this blog for the fifth time, I’m reminded of the significance of changing one’s environment.

In today’s fast-paced world, life seems to flow best when we stick to routines. Normal routes, tasks, and expectations keep us functioning, on time, and reaching our goals. Sometimes routines look as simple as:

• Make coffee
  
• Grab a shower
  
• Drive to work
  
• Drive home
  
• Have dinner
  
• Repeat
  

Other times, routines are a little looser—or in my case, far too loose—leaving extra room for decision-making and thought. I’ve always loved that kind of freedom and have spent most of my adult life marching to the beat of my own drum.

Hospital nursing, especially travel nursing, doesn’t allow for much day-to-day routine. The three 12.5-hour shifts scatter themselves differently each week. Monday, Wednesday, Friday this week. Sunday, Monday, Saturday the next. Then maybe Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday the week after that.

It’s a blessing and a curse. The flexibility meant weekdays off for errands or adventures. But the inconsistency could be draining—and sometimes felt like a whole job in itself. Especially when switching between day and night shifts.

Working bedside, I both longed for and loathed the idea of a structured Monday–Friday workweek. I couldn’t imagine showing up five days in a row without decompression time, yet I also saw the benefits: predictable schedules, gym routines, meal prepping, and weekends for life admin.

The truth? My need for chaos and constant change always kept me in shift work—until it didn’t anymore.

When Change Wasn’t a Choice

This post isn’t about COVID, but it’s worth mentioning. The demands of working the frontlines during that time shattered whatever balance our strange schedules once had. We were mandated to show up day after day. No time to rest, no chance to process, no space to breathe.

Across the nation, nurses were denied PTO or vacation. While the rest of the world was forced into stillness, we were pushed far beyond capacity. That constant exposure to trauma left me hollow, deeply depressed, with complex PTSD and a fractured spine.

I went from a free-spirited traveler—choosing when to move, where to work, and when to head south for sunshine—to someone unable to return to the environment that once gave me freedom.

Wrestling with Routine

I tried outpatient clinics, surgery centers, home health, and even a nurse recruiter role from home. The steady Monday–Friday positions felt suffocating. The sporadic ones left me drained, listless, and craving nothing but nothing on my days off.

I began to learn what weekly check-ins and standing appointments felt like. The predictability bored me. The rigidity left me restless. And yet, I also couldn’t go back to the trauma of the hospital.

That tug-of-war between freedom and stability led me, slowly but surely, into entrepreneurship. Not overnight—rather through thousands of small decisions to build a life that allowed both routine and freedom.

Learning the Dance

In the nine months I’ve been working for myself full-time, I’ve wrestled with routine. Some weeks I stick tightly to a schedule of tasks. Other weeks I follow my intuition—spending more time outside, socializing, or (let’s be real) scrolling TikTok.

Both approaches serve me in different ways. Routine keeps me grounded. Freedom gives me fresh air, fresh energy, and a fresh perspective. Together, they create balance.

Like today: stepping out of my office and into Panera to write reminds me that creativity doesn’t only exist between 10am and 6pm at my desk. Changing my scenery breathes life back into my work.

Freedom + Routine

Here’s what I know:

• Routine grounds us.
  
• Freedom grows us.
  
• Both are necessary, and both make the other sweeter.
  

I’ll always crave the surprises of spontaneity. But I’m learning to appreciate routine too—especially when I get to break it with a walk, a trip, or a blog post written outside my home.

Your Turn

Are you feeling stagnant in your job, your routine, or even just in life in general?

Might I suggest a change of scenery? It doesn’t have to mean quitting your job or moving across the country. Maybe this week it looks like:

• Stopping at a local coffee shop instead of your go-to Starbies
  
• Trying lunch in instead of packing the same meal
  
• Rearranging your workspace
  
• Taking a walk in a new neighborhood
  

Stepping out of routine teaches you about yourself, helps you appreciate what you already have, and gives a little spark to your week.

 **So here’s your invitation: where will you change your scenery this week?

Ashley M. Chancellor, RN Self-Empowerment Coach | Author of Just a Nurse