There are two kinds of routines. Both are almost subconscious.
The first is the kind that you do everyday because it’s necessary to keep yourself going. It’s hygiene, so to speak.
Having a coffee in the morning. A cigarette after lunch. Reading a book before bed.
The second is routine in the sense that you perform it because it’s been drilled into you that this is how things are done.
The bureaucracy of your office environment. Following templates dictated by others. Acting and speaking a certain way, well, because you have to.
One of the two kinds of routines is necessary. One is for you to live in an efficient and sane way. The other is just something you perform, and it can stop new and innovative things from happening.
Which is which? Are both really needed for you and your goals?