Two Years Is A Long Time

Two years is a long time. It might not seem like that long, but it’s long enough. It’s long enough to get trained in certain automatic behaviors at least.

I’ve had the same office at where I work for a bit over two years. Recently, I moved floors. You would not believe how many times I’ve gone to the wrong floor now. Seriously, multiple times per day.

I hadn’t realized how much of this had become an automatic behavior. I get in the elevator, I push my floor. Thinking comes a moment later when I realize I pushed the wrong one (sometimes, other times I realize this when the elevator doors open on the wrong floor). Then I have to push the right one.

It isn’t a big deal, or even really a deal at all. I just hadn’t realized how much I was doing without any thought at all. My body trained for the old way, it’s taking a bit to adjust to the new. Even a minor change can be disorienting after two years of constant repetition.