Should You Live on Autopilot? How to Know When to Re-Engage
I brushed my teeth this morning without giving it much thought. I sweep the kitchen floor, and I don’t agonize over it. There are a lot of actions that we take without having to think much about them. Brushing our teeth and tying our shoes, scrambling eggs, maybe driving to the store, don’t ask for our full attention. A study by Duke University researchers showed that anywhere between 40% and 50% of our daily actions happen on “autopilot” — the daily routine tasks, habits, and default behavior.
Autopilot isn’t inherently bad. In fact, it’s efficient, and it’s often necessary. Autopilot allows us to perform those routine tasks at the same time we’re paying attention to something else. However, while autopilot has its place, there are key moments when we ought to break out of it and consciously re-engage.
The Benefits of Autopilot
“Flying” on autopilot is cognitively efficient. It lets our brains conserve energy for more important decisions (Check out this piece on decision fatigue). Autopilot also enables consistency in our routines like commuting, brushing those teeth, and some basic work tasks. Oh, and it can be very reassuring during chaotic times. Also, when you’re under a lot of stress, you have the stability of those things we don’t have to think about, but still need to do.
I find, also, that using my brain’s autopilot function frees up a lot of bandwidth. I use those extra cycles for problem-solving and other creative thinking exercises. If I don’t have to concentrate on how to pedal the bicycle, I can be looking at things ahead and planning my next photography shot. While I’m cooking a simple dish, I can be mentally outlining my next blog post.
The Risks of Staying Too Long on Autopilot
Too much of a good thing turns that corner and becomes a bad thing. When you put too much of your life on autopilot, you can overlook things that deserve your attention. You may miss things like relationships, or possible new relationships, career choices, and personal growth. Remember that growth often requires discomfort, and it almost always calls for conscious effort.
You might also find that life starts to feel flat or disengaging if you’re never fully present in it. It all becomes part of a pattern, a set of things you just do without being a part of it. Furthermore, if the world in which you operate endures a shift, you may not notice it, or you may not respond in the best way. Habitual reactions may not serve new situations very well. You could “wake up” to conditions for which you may not be fully prepared.
When to Take Back the Controls
You may not even realize you’re spending a lot of your days on autopilot, and it can be quite a shock to see that you’ve been going through the motions without remembering why. Sometimes you may feel unfulfilled, even though “everything is fine.” Nothing’s “wrong,” particularly, but it still doesn’t feel quite “right,” either.
If you’re stuck in patterns or find yourself making the same mistakes more than once, your autopilot may have become a tyrant. When was the last time you asked yourself a “why” question? For example, “Why is it I always do my laundry on Saturday afternoon, making it difficult to plan weekend outings?” There may have been a good reason for a lot of our autopilot actions, but do they still serve their original purpose?
How to Shake Yourself Awake
So, what can we do when we find we’re “coasting” too much? Sometimes when I’m on a long road trip and I’m the driver, if I find myself getting drowsy, if I shake my head vigorously, I can shake myself awake. It doesn’t always work. If I find myself sleepwalking through my days, though, I have several methods to start living again.
First, I take a moment to examine my current routines and mindset. My routines are a great part of my productive day, but sometimes I find that something I started doing because it made my day go better isn’t serving me anymore. For example, I work from home, but I didn’t always. Now I have the opportunity to have a breakfast that doesn’t need to be road-friendly, so I was able to change my shopping habits to include more plate-and-fork foods — what a treat!
I also try every so often to change how I do some of the autopilot tasks – taking a different route to somewhere, or brushing my teeth with my other hand. Instead of putting my right shoe on first, I go with the left one. It sounds trivial, but it’s enough to break the autopilot control and force me to think about the action.
Finally, I am a big believer in scheduling the important things, so I schedule time with myself to mentally go over my routine and find out if it’s still working for me. I start in the morning with a reminder that I’m doing that, so that, at least for a little while, I’m doing things consciously. Sometimes I have to schedule a reminder for midday on a different day and evening on a different day still, so that throughout the day I’ve eventually examined all of my habits and routines.
Balancing Autopilot and Awareness
Both autopilot and awareness have a lot of value in their respective spheres. I love taking time out of my routine to just enjoy wherever I happen to be, but the only way I can have the time to do that is by making sure some of my tasks are done on autopilot. There are things that can support deeper living, like gratitude journaling, weekly planning sessions, and scheduling meditation into your day. It can also be helpful to create intentional “off-ramps” from autopilot, moments to check in with yourself to make sure that the things that deserve your attention are getting it.
Your Turn
Our muscle memory and habitual routines can be great time and work savers, and, by golly, let’s make the most of them. But look around your life and see where you might benefit from taking back the controls. Drop a comment down below the Related Posts.
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