Getting stuck in familiar ways, difficulties to switch

[AuroraBorealis]

Do some of you keep doing things "the old way" even though there's an objectively better alternative?

I noticed about myself that I keep getting stuck doing things a certain way, even though I know perfectly well that it's not smart, and that the other way would be easier. Eventually, I switch to the new way, but it takes me much longer than it would others.

An example: Earlier this year, I was somewhere with a lot of snow, and I went for a walk through the snow every day. The snow was hard enough to walk on, but as it got warmer, the snow got softer, and I started sinking in knee-deep during my walk. The owners of the place suggested I used their snow-shoes (large, flat things to put under your shoes so you don't sink in). Rationally, I knew that it made sense to start using the snow shoes. But it took me at least a week of sinking in and getting wet and cold feet, until I finally got over myself and started using the snow shoes. Switching to something new and unfamiliar (I had never used snow shoes before) just took a lot of effort. I even felt stupid about myself every day, because I didn't know why I didn't just switch, but I only managed after a few days of struggling. It made no real sense why I acted this way.

That's just an example, but it could be extended to many things. Continuing to walk a certain way to get some place, even though you suspect that there might be a shortcut. When starting uni at a new city, I took the same train to the same station for the first few months, even though I strongly suspected there being a shorter way with another train and a different station, simply because this way was the only one I knew and which felt somewhat familiar.

Not big things, just habits and things you get stuck in, even though you cognitively know that there's a better alternative.

Do some of you have that as well?

 

[FilterFreq]

I'm hardwired to do things the hard way, if that's similar. I often get caught up in continually doing things the hard way, when there's clearly an easier way, but it's complicated.

It's not because I'm just that stubborn (even though that's what it appears like on the outside), it's really that I'm just so dense that I need to understand every little detail in order to see how something works. I need to take the long way around in order to orient myself and find a sense of direction, and I also need to take the shortcut (or at least know about the shortcuts) in order to reorient myself and better understand my surroundings.

"No stone unturned" is how my brain works. If there's a nook or crevice somewhere that I haven't discovered, that lack of information will only hurt me later on. I need to fully grasp where I am, what I'm doing, etc.

 

[FayetheAspie]

I have certain routines that are difficult to deviate from.

 

[WhitewaterWoman]

I know exactly what you mean. If I have managed to figure out one way that works I am loathe to make any changes, especially if suggested by someone else.

When I am calm and I am given time, I may learn to integrate changes, but it is stressful.

 

[Misty Avich]

Sometimes, but not always. Like whenever I have to walk to the same place several times a week I try and take different routes depending on what mood I'm in or what the weather is or what time of the day it is, etc.

Sometimes when it comes to clothes I like to stay the same and it takes a lot of encouragement to try a new style, but that might be true for a lot of people. I remember one time I bought a couple of dresses to wear in the summer, as I hadn't worn a dress for years. But when I put one on and walked out in it, I didn't feel right. I wasn't used to it and kept feeling a draught up my dress and it made me feel paranoid that it had somehow tucked itself into my underwear or that the draught was going to suddenly become a gust of wind and blow my dress up, exposing my underwear. Then I walked past a good-looking guy and thought he might look at me as I was wearing a dress and I was always told that men automatically look at young, blonde, slim women in a dress on a summer's day, but he just looked the other way, so that made me feel self-conscious. I would have felt better if more men at least looked my way and smiled or something.

So I never wore the dresses again and donated them to a charity shop. Ever since, it's always been shorts in the summer, just like it was before. I feel much better in shorts or trousers.

 

[FayetheAspie]

Sometimes, but not always. Like whenever I have to walk to the same place several times a week I try and take different routes depending on what mood I'm in or what the weather is or what time of the day it is, etc.

Sometimes when it comes to clothes I like to stay the same and it takes a lot of encouragement to try a new style, but that might be true for a lot of people. I remember one time I bought a couple of dresses to wear in the summer, as I hadn't worn a dress for years. But when I put one on and walked out in it, I didn't feel right. I wasn't used to it and kept feeling a draught up my dress and it made me feel paranoid that it had somehow tucked itself into my underwear or that the draught was going to suddenly become a gust of wind and blow my dress up, exposing my underwear. Then I walked past a good-looking guy and thought he might look at me as I was wearing a dress and I was always told that men automatically look at young, blonde, slim women in a dress on a summer's day, but he just looked the other way, so that made me feel self-conscious. I would have felt better if more men at least looked my way and smiled or something.

So I never wore the dresses again and donated them to a charity shop. Ever since, it's always been shorts in the summer, just like it was before. I feel much better in shorts or trousers.

I always wear blue jeans with some kind of shirt.