value of routines?

[redsage]

I'll be starting work on December 3. (Eee!) It's been five years since I had any sort of regular schedule; I've been in school (and doing other stuff) in that time, and generally haven't had to be anywhere at the same time 5 days a week. I don't have any sort of routine, and haven't in years and years. Even when I did, it was mostly haphazard as I was just trying to make sure I looked ok, didn't smell bad, and wasn't sick with hunger as I left the house.

I've been thinking about setting up a morning routine. On the one hand, there are things I'd like to do every day (hygiene, fitness, food, etc.) and setting up a standard order of doing things is more likely to help me remember them, but on the other I've never been overly fond of routine and I tend to forget some stuff and then get upset about it, and then stop entirely because it's upsetting.

What about you? Do you have daily or weekly routines? What do you like about them? Have you found some things are more likely to be forgotten than others, and any pointers?

Comments

[witchchild]

During the week I am a total creature of habit, since I am awake way before I want to be. Without the routine I would be a vicious beast by the time I got to work.
Wake up
shower
make breakfast
food and coffee while doing first internet check
get partly dressed (all but shirt, because toothpaste and makeup have a bad habit of winding up on my shirts)
take pills
dry hair
brush teeth
spirit/devotional work
make bed
makeup
finish dressing
make sure everything is in bag
out the door

[tyrsalvia.livejournal.com]

How long does all that take you?

[witchchild]

I deliberately move slowly in the morning, wake up at 6 and out the door at 7.50. I can do it in about an hour or so if I cut out the computer, likely. But what it comes down to is I don't like to rush in the morning at all, so I give myself a lot of time to do everything.

[hel]

I have a general sort of routine, but it's almost more of just a checklist of stuff that I run down mentally and do or decide I don't need to do or haven't got time for or already did the night before. I generally try and do everything I can do the night before, in fact, cos I wanna sleep in. So I lay out clean clothes, and shower, and make something for lunch all packed up, and put together breakfast, and pack my bag. That way,I just roll out of bed, put clothes on, eat/grab breakfast, pick up my bag and throw lunch in it, and head out the door.
The one thing I DO try and make routine is bedtime and wakeup time. I've found it's MUCH easier to get up if I get up about the same time every (week) day. If I've gotten myself habituated well, I find I wake up without even needing the alarm to go off, I wake up a minute or five before the alarm, which I much prefer to waking up to a beeping alarm.

[geminigirl]

I do have some routines. In the evening, while we clean up from supper (which has it's own routine) Cayne's lunch gets made and put into the fridge. I make a to-do list for the following day at night, though I can add to it the next day, it helps to organize it the night before-when I was working a full time job, I'd make my work to-do list before I left my office in the evening, and my home to-do list before I went to bed. I also, when I had to dress more formally for work, would make sure to set out clothes the night before.

For me, housework gets done more promptly and more efficiently if it has a routine-for example, Friday is laundry day, and Tuesday is for dusting and straightening, and so on.

In order to build our routines, we did two things-one was to make one change at a time, whether it was things like ensuring that all the dishes were in the dishwasher or washed before we went to bed or the kitchen floor swept and so on, and the other was to make a visual checklist of what needed to be done on a daily, weekly, monthly basis. The list went on the side of the fridge and each chore that was done was added to the list until we'd built our complete list. Then we turned it into a chart with check boxes, and as we complete something, it gets checked off. The goal for us was to make sure that we had a guide for what needed to get done when, and it helped us to build the routine around the list-in other words, it provided us with the visual reminder of what needed to be done-the "when" was determined later on.

[quietlywatch343.livejournal.com]

I do have to agree, getting yourself used to waking up at roughly the same time every morning helps a lot. Although I work for starbucks so my schedule is still subject to early morning-ness from time to time, most days of the week and weekend I get up by 9am, regardless of when I have to actually be at work or what else I have to get done. I usually wake up before the alarm, just because I hate being jolted out of any particularly good dreams. Once I'm up the routine doesn't change-- stumble to the kitchen, push the button to start the coffee I'd prepared the night before to brewing, stumble back across the house to the bathroom, smoke a cigarette, by which point the coffee is ready or nearly ready, take coffee cup to my room, sit in front of the computer, drink coffee, smoke another cigarette, write for an hour, get dressed for work about an hour and a half before I need to be in, write until it's about 20 min. till the time I need to be at work, drive the 5 1/2 minute drive to work, get my morning double-espresso and possibly smoke another cigarette, clock in, start work... And the first thing I do every night when I get home is take off my work boots and change into my around-the-house clothes, then smoke, then eat, then check my gmail. Most days of the week I go to bed at about the same time, too, which helps with the waking-up-earlier-than-I'd-prefer. I find the little spots in my routine where i've scheduled some me-time keep the daily grind from eating away at too much of my soul-- days when I don't wake up until an hour before I go in, I'm off-kilter for the first few hours of my shift, esp. if I don't get to write that morning. I also grant myself one indulgence per paycheck-- I get paid, and I let myself go pick up one thing or have one activity that is solely designed to make me happy, because otherwise I start to go a little nutty...

p.

[tenacious-snail.livejournal.com]

I have routines, but some of them are based around taking thyroid meds, which require a minimum of a half hour to elapse between when I take them and when I eat.

I always follow "get out of bed" with "take meds". Next step depends on whether I am eating something quick to make on the stove top, or slow to make or that requires a preheated oven. Yoga and stretching happen after the shower, because the hot water helps warm up and loosen my muscles a bit. Dressing, cooking and eating are dependent on what I want to wear, what I am eating, and how clumsy I feel. More clumsy or more messy food means I eat more naked/in a t shirt that is lying around.

My alarm is set for 8 (though I prefer it when I wake up naturally, at around 7:40), and I should walk out the door at 8:45 to 8:50.

I come home for lunch or eat lunch out, so don't have to deal with that, I have no kids, and some things like scooping the litterbox can happen in the morning if there is time, but can happen at some other time. Morning internet check is also semi-optional. I like to have 10-15 minutes in which I am cooking, getting dressed, and on YIM with my East Coast friends and sweetie or early-rising local friends, but that doesn't happen every day.

[rhiannonstone.livejournal.com]

Doing the same routine every day actually makes me kind of crazy, to the point where I intentionally vary the route I take when I walk to the bus stop or BART station. That said, I do have a morning routine that I've kept up because it works around some of my absentmindedness and procrastination issues.

Wake up
Shower immediately (otherwise it takes me forever to really wake up, and I get distracted doing other things)
--Shower subroutine: Wash face, [shave underarms/legs], wash body, wash hair
Spend X minutes checking email/LJ/etc (where X varies from 15 mins to an hour according to how much time I have before class)
Take meds (these are next to my keyboard so I don't forget)
Apply face moisturizer, body lotion, and deodorant
Put on clothes
Put on shoes (if I don't do this now I'll end up leaving the apartment in my slippers)
Blow-dry hair
Brush teeth
Apply makeup
Check computer to make sure I've got homework or haven't missed any last-minute class cancellations or changes
Pack backpack (and food, if needed)
Kiss Paul goodbye
Do pat-down routine to make sure I've got wallet, phone, keys, mp3 player
Leave apartment
Get coffee
Walk to bus stop
Bus to class

I allow myself an hour from waking up to walking out the door, which is more than enough time. I can do it in a lot less time if I have to.

Roughly the same things, roughly in the same order

[prettyoctopussy.livejournal.com]

I find that routine develops naturally for me, based on what is necessary for me to accomplish, and on what other people expect of me.

Usually my morning goes like this:
1. Hit the snooze button a number of times
2. Feel more or less alarmed depending on how many times it has been once I convince myself that getting up is a good idea
3. Get coffee (if lucky, my roommate made coffee that morning, if feeling particularly sane that morning/have espresso beans, I might set up the espresso to go while I visit the bathroom, if less lucky there is cold coffee I microwave, if even less lucky I heat up some water and make instant coffee)
4. Pee and brush teeth
5. Drink coffee and eat something (whatever I have set myself up the night before, often yogurt, or a muffin, or toast with vegimite). Of late is also when I take my anti-inflammatory medicine, so I kind of have to eat.
6. While I eat, I assure myself that the internet still works. This can take up to 45 minutes. This is the stupidest part of my routine.
7. Become alarmed at how late it is and shower
8. Run around for a little while feeling crazed to make sure I have keys and things, despite the fact that I have usually taken care of this the night before
9. Depending on what time it is, I take any of four buses.

So I guess I have a routine over time, because more or less the same things happen (coffee, email, a shower, bus) in more or less the same order.

On the bus on the way to work, if I get a seat, I do my magical daily practice "astrally".

Except when I don't.

Any time I set up an artificial routine I become so despondent when I fail at it that I tend to give up on the whole enterprise. Even at work, while I have to-do lists and specific goals, I vary the order I do things in. This turns out to be kind of a plus since I don't go crazy and if something comes up suddenly that is very urgent (which happens all the time) and I have to drop everything, it doesn't bother me.

[perligata.livejournal.com]

The spirit of my morning routine very closely mirrors prettyoctopussy, but the actual rundown goes something like:

- Wake up
- Take shower (while in shower, think about what to wear)
- Put on deodorant and moisturizer
- Get dressed (allow extra time for 30 hole boots)
- Do hair
- Put on makeup
- Put on perfume
- Put laptop in bag & make sure mp3 player is there
- Leave and catch bus

My routine takes approximately 40 minutes, but I think that's mostly because I take too long to shower. I get my morning caffeine and breakfast near my office. Back when I lived in Mountain View, I put my makeup on while on Caltrain.

[tyrsalvia.livejournal.com]

I'll be taking CalTrain to work. Is makeup a pretty common CalTrain activity? I don't want to get stared at.

[tyrsalvia.livejournal.com]

BTW, I've tried to call you a couple of times lately, and it has not worked. Did you change phone numbers or something?

[perligata.livejournal.com]

Oh, I did! I'll email you with the new number.

And yes, putting makeup on during the caltrain ride is totally normal.

[twopiearr.livejournal.com]

My routine is pretty simple:
- snooze alarm a couple times
- shower
- dry
- brush teeth
- deoderize
- dress
- out the door
- drop annamaryse at her office
- hit Robeks for breakfast
- into the office

took a while to develop and even now it's not perfect, but they say if you do anything every day for 3 weeks it becomes habit and you no longer have to think about it, which I find is pretty much true of the above. given that thinking is never my strongest suit first thing in the morning, not having to is A Good Thing™.

Even today i occasionally miss a step or two. You've really got two choices - you can try again tomorrow, or you can kick yourself, get upset, and then try again tomorrow. No routine is every going to be followed 100% perfectly 100% of the time, because we are not machines; expecting that to happen is only setting yourself up for failure.

[mistressxenobia.livejournal.com]

I have parrots so I have to have a routine. :)

I make my breakfast(s) (protein shake for when I wake up & egg white sammich for mid-morning) the night before.

Wake up.

Get the birds up & feed/water them.

Drink shake.

Shower/dress.

Wake Rick up.

Makeup/Shoes/Hair.

Go to work.

Takes about an hour.


I am thinking about getting up an hour earlier though to squeeze a workout in between get the birds up & drink shake.

How do you manage the fitness in the morning thing? I'm such a night person I usually do it around 10pm and I know it's supposed to be better to exercise in the am.

[tyrsalvia.livejournal.com]

My plan for morning fitness isn't some huge workout. Ideally, I'd wake up an hour early and go to the gym before work, but I know that is so not going to happen. It's more a couple of small things - pushups and squats, things I can do in the bathroom. I'm trying to do 20 pushups (generally with my knees on the ground because I am not that kind of badass yet) and 20 squats every day. It's not much, but it's good to have something every day, and it does really make a difference in my strength when I keep it up.

[mistressxenobia.livejournal.com]

Oooh - you need to try pushups on a stability ball!
And all the other things you can do with them too. It's more like playing than exercising. And they're only like 20 bucks.

I love my ball. :)

[slfisher.livejournal.com]

Depends on the day. Also, it changed once my job with the Feds ended.

Mondays and Tuesdays -- non-Maggie days, where I take the bus to BSU

6-6:30: shower and dress. I try to have my backpack packed and my lunch ready the night before so I just have to grab it.
6:30-6:45: let the chickens and ducks out and feed them, and grab the paper
6:45: drive to BSU West to catch the bus
on the bus, read the paper, and do whatever homework reading I have, and then whatever book I'm in the middle of
If I wake up before 6, I check email til 6

Thursdays and Fridays -- Maggie days
7-7:30: get Maggie dressed
7:30-8: get her fed and make her lunch
8-8:15: get her off to school and let the chickens and ducks out. On Thursdays, I leave at the same time she does, for my 9:15 class
If Maggie wakes up before 7, we snuggle til then

I don't wear makeup or do much with my hair other than brush it so that helps a lot. I try to pick out my clothes the night before.

[andrewjthomas.livejournal.com]

For me the trick to following routine is to ritualize it, to imbibe it with some greater purpose - workout, shower, brushing teeth, all fall under the ritual of appreciating my body. When I think in those terms it doesn't feel as much a chore.

[kineticfactory.livejournal.com]

On working days, I wake up some time between 7 and 8, listening to the radio, and getting out of bed at around 8ish, get dressed and check my mail (and sometimes play a few Scrabulous moves on Facebook, as doing so at work would be conspicuously slacking). I'm usually out the door at 8:30 or so, and in at work an hour or so later (it's officially a 9AM start, though my boss is quite understanding; just as well, as commuting at the height of peak hour would be twice as gruelling). I have some cereal at my desk, before getting into the working/multitasking/checking web pages routine, and usually make myself a cup of coffee sometime after 10.

Shortly after 1pm, I usually go for lunch. Sometimes I go to the shops and pick up some salad to have at the office, and visit various shops as needed, and at other times I go to a nearby café, get my laptop out and work on various personal projects over a cappucino.

I seldom leave work before 7; not because I'm a workaholic, but because the crush on the Tube will have mostly abated by then.

On weekends, I lie in a bit longer; on Saturday and Sunday mornings, the computer plays back various streaming radio shows (this one and this one) which it had recorded in the past week. On weekend afternoons, I often fall back into my old Melbourne routine of going to a café and sitting there for a few hours with my laptop, working on things. (Unfortunately, this is somewhat hampered by the lack of a real café culture in London, cafés being rather uncozy and businesslike, overcrowded and/or full of parents with screaming toddlers more often than not, but I digress.)