Going around in circles

Everyday for years now, I have taken the same path to work.  It's timed to be about a fourteen to sixteen minute drive depending on the lights.  I don't know why I settled on this path because there are 3 different ways to get to my office from home.  Everything was all smooth until last week when they decided to close, for 3 months, the main path that I used.  Like I said, there are 2 other paths to my office.  I picked a different path, which ended up being a eleven to a thirteen minute drive except, it's not always that way.  Let me explain.
When you drive the same path everyday, you don't pay attention.  Muscle memory kicks in and your car just drives itself.  When that path is blocked, changing a habit becomes tricky.  I have to repeat to myself over and over, take a left, not a right.  This is a left here and yet, I forget and lose myself.  I think I have taken a couple of right turns and then had to take a U-turn around and added time to my commute by 1 - 2 minutes.  Interesting enough, that's happened only couple of times to get to work.  Getting back is a different story.  I think there may have been only one day so far that I made it the right way.  One day, I turned the wrong way and then I cut across the parking lot and turned around and was about to turn back the wrong way but I remembered.  Today, I turned the wrong way all the way until I hit the sign that said "road closed ahead".  How did this happen?  When will I be able to drive and pay attention to where I'm going.  After all, I just realized this new path would save me 3 minutes.  It would make sense to just do it, but my mind just wants to go to autopilot when I'm driving, especially when I'm driving back.  Today I kept repeating to myself that I had to go the other way, after I made one turn around.  Well, repeating and focusing helped, but I never thought driving to and from work would be so much effort.  I wonder if one day I'll just drive around and around and around and how many circles I'd have to make before my mind can focus and actually go home.  I wonder.
That's it for this post.  Nothing deep but it is what it is.
TTR