Routines

[daniegirl6224]

Something funny. As of a few days ago I didn’t think I used to follow any routines at all… I asked my partner about this, and his response: “You follow routines more than anybody I know.” So crazy that I didn’t realize this before. My biggest routine is following my to-do list every day. The items on the list change, but it’s like there’s no option but to complete it, and I get extremely stressed if I don’t. If it weren’t for my partner, I would eat the same 5 foods every day. When I’m driving, it’s super stressful if my partner asks me to stop and pick something up, as it breaks my routine. What are your routines?

 

[Xinyta]

I don't follow a overy scrutinized routine. But it all is conditioned habits, all the same.

My old routine is mostly eat, use the bathroom, videogames, sleep. I cared about little else. But it has changed alot from that in recent times.

I still hold a eatting routine mostly. Though I am open to being changed up. I'll walk in the morning, and I am working on walking whenever. I do the laundry at the same or similar times. Other than that. It's just whatever comes up that needs to be done.

 

[Judge]

The beginning of every day seems very routine. I mean it's like I execute the same functions in sequential order without even thinking about it.

Get dressed (Semi-dressed. Robe, socks and sweats).
Turn on the modem/router. Turn on the external fan that keeps them cool year round.
Open the the bedroom blinds.
Go into the living room and open the blinds slightly, no more than about 30 degrees.
Turn on the display to my external/internal thermometer.
Open the living room window blinds slightly.
Go the kitchen and get a cup and spoon for coffee, tea, cider or hot cocoa.
Take a brief shower.
Go into the kitchen and turn on the computer.
Later make the bed, then go watch YouTube on my living room television.

After which life gets more varied depending on the day. But the things I posted are generally done each and every day up to a point of time before lunch. Does it matter when I break my own routines? Yes.

 

[Outdated]

When I was younger I had a very ordered and structured life, that was necessary because I was an incredibly busy and productive man and that's the only way I could do everything that I wanted to.

Then I burnt out, big time. I haven't worked since 2008. These days I seem to have no routines at all, I sleep all sorts of odd hours, I eat when I'm hungry and sleep when I'm tired. Hours of day or night and even what day of the week it is no longer matter to me. Sometimes I'm not even sure what year it is.

My only routine that I still really have is when I wake up. Open the blinds if it's daylight outside, make a litre of decent coffee, turn my computer on and start looking at what's going on in the world. What happens from there depends largely on my mood and on the weather. I might just spend the whole day playing video games or I might decide to go out somewhere.

 

[Jumpinbare]

When I first considered how routine-bound I was, I figured I wasn't tied to routines at all because I did so many different things at different times. But then it hit me. I have morning routines at home, different morning routines when I visit with family, different morning routines when camping, driving routines, bed time routines at the same places mentioned above, etc.

Far from not being routine-bound, I am very dependent on routines. It's just that the routines vary depending on the setting I am in.

 

[Misty Avich]

I find routines difficult to follow. Most people I know have a morning routine, where they get up and hour early for work and during that hour they shower or wash their hair and have breakfast and coffee and feed the pets, then go to work (if they don't have children to get up for school). Me, I leave myself less than 5 minutes to get up and get ready for work and then I'm straight out the door. Yes, I have baths and clean my teeth and all that before I go to bed.

I have a bath every 2 nights, sometimes 3, but always make sure I'm clean on the days I don't have a bath, obviously. I don't have a bath at a specific time, nor do I plan it. If I don't feel like having a bath but didn't have one the night before either then it's a strip wash for me. But I do enjoy having baths, so although it's usually a spontaneous decision, it still gets done enough to keep my body clean.

It's strange, because I don't follow a routine and I do most things spontaneously, yet I am feeling so uncomfortable about the changes that are happening at work after Christmas, with our rotas and everything.
But last night I had just finished my dinner at 6pm, when my husband said "shall we go to the supermarket?" It was totally out of the blue, and we don't normally even go shopping in the evening, but I agreed straight away, and quite liked the spontaneity of it. It felt like an adventure for some reason.

So, hmm, not really good at sticking to routine at all, yet I dislike certain change if I'm happy with how things already are.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

I thought for most of the time that I don't have routines either. But, similarly to @Judge, my days start very similarly and I find it very uncomfortable and stressful if that's disturbed (e.g. because we have guests). It creates more stress for the entire day. I have different routines for different scenarios (work day, weekend, visit to my parents'). I can mostly deal with other people being there, but my body has a stress response. I am most relaxed when it's just me. I don't have these routines consciously, but I notice that I need them because it makes me feel bad if they're disturbed.
I believe most people have these morning routines, though? Maybe just the amount of peace it gives us varies.
I hate it for example when, just after waking up, my partner already wants to make plans for the day or discuss something. That's very stressful for me. I need my time in the morning, going through my ways. We can make plans after breakfast.
It's also stressful for me if we have an overnight guest, and I come across them before breakfast. I don't really want to talk yet then, but I do because it's polite. I need my morning non-socializing time to sort of boot. I am able to socialize, but it's uncomfortable and stressful.

I am a creature of habit in other things, though. I always walk the same ways. When on my own, I always buy the same groceries and cook the same selection of meals, up to the point that my partner worries a bit when he's away about me not getting all nutrients because my meals tend to be limited, rather bland, and repetitive. I always brush my teeth in the same pattern. Just some examples.
But if those routines and habits are disrupted, I can cope. I just don't like it.

 

[Mary Terry]

My mornings are ruled by routines, and I get grumpy if they are interrupted.

I wake up by 5:00 a.m. every morning whether I want to or not and get out of bed. Husband is still sleeping. He usually sleeps for several hours longer than I do.

I turn on the coffee maker and run hot tap water in a coffee cup to heat it up because I like my one little cup of black coffee to be really hot and stay hot while I drink it.

I feed the cats and water my Venus flytrap on the windowsill above the kitchen sink.

I walk to the far end of the house and open the blinds in the sunroom, look outside at the weather and the donkeys to be sure they're out there in the pasture.

I turn on the TV in the sunroom to any channel except a news channel. Lately I've been watching BBC channels with Delia Smith's cooking shows, especially her "winter collection" recipes, and Rick Stein's food/travel shows.

I turn on my laptop, look at my email and a couple of websites including this one.

I make breakfast for myself, usually some kind of toasted bread or a small pot of hot oatmeal, grits or cream of wheat cereal, and eat it in the sunroom with the TV on low volume and my laptop.

At 7:00 a.m., I rub thyroid medicine in my old cat's right ear. She gets a dose in the left ear at 7:00 p.m.

All this time, I have not spoken a word to anyone except the cats.

When hubby gets up, we say good morning and I ask if he wants me to make him some breakfast. He usually says no.

Then I finally wash my face and brush my teeth or take a shower and get dressed for the day.

All heck usually breaks loose after that.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

My mornings are ruled by routines, and I get grumpy if they are interrupted.

I wake up by 5:00 a.m. every morning whether I want to or not and get out of bed. Husband is still sleeping. He usually sleeps for several hours longer than I do.

I turn on the coffee maker and run hot tap water in a coffee cup to heat it up because I like my one little cup of black coffee to be really hot and stay hot while I drink it.

I feed the cats and water my Venus flytrap on the windowsill above the kitchen sink.

I walk to the far end of the house and open the blinds in the sunroom, look outside at the weather and the donkeys to be sure they're out there in the pasture.

I turn on the TV in the sunroom to any channel except a news channel. Lately I've been watching BBC channels with Delia Smith's cooking shows, especially her "winter collection" recipes, and Rick Stein's food/travel shows.

I turn on my laptop, look at my email and a couple of websites including this one.

I make breakfast for myself, usually some kind of toasted bread or a small pot of hot oatmeal, grits or cream of wheat cereal, and eat it in the sunroom with the TV on low volume and my laptop.

At 7:00 a.m., I rub thyroid medicine in my old cat's right ear. She gets a dose in the left ear at 7:00 p.m.

All this time, I have not spoken a word to anyone except the cats.

When hubby gets up, we say good morning and I ask if he wants me to make him some breakfast. He usually says no.

Then I finally wash my face and brush my teeth or take a shower and get dressed for the day.

All heck usually breaks loose after that.

That sounds so peaceful. I would love to be able to wake up that early to get the time for myself. Unfortunately, I have a very high need for sleep - at least 8-8.5 hours on weekdays, and then about 10-11 hours on the weekends to make up for my weekly sleep deficit (I actually need around 9.5 hours per night). When I wake up around 9-10 AM, everyone's up already.

 

[Mary Terry]

That sounds so peaceful. I would love to be able to wake up that early to get the time for myself. Unfortunately, I have a very high need for sleep - at least 8-8.5 hours on weekdays, and then about 10-11 hours on the weekends to make up for my weekly sleep deficit (I actually need around 9.5 hours per night). When I wake up around 9-10 AM, everyone's up already.

The downside is that I fall asleep about 9:00 every night! I'll be dead to the world, sound asleep by 10:00. I start turning into a zombie right after I eat dinner at 6:30 or 7:00 and then I need to go to sleep.

 

[WhitewaterWoman]

When I had a husband, my routine was similar to Mary Terry. I had to have that time to myself and I was willing to get up whenever in order to get it.

Now that I'm alone, I'm headed in Outdated's direction. I rarely know what day it is. I get up when I wake up, or I lie in bed and my brain goes wandering. I eat whenever and whatever. I fall asleep when I'm tired which can be middle of the day or 11 o'clock at night. It's a bit disorienting, but trying to force any particular routine has resulted in high levels of anxiety.

So I'm just floating for now.

Edit: There are some things I do everyday, but not at a regular time or place. I do have pills, etc., that have to be taken twice a day. Sometimes I forget. I have three goals: walking, music and writing, at least 10 minutes a day. I get the walking and music done in spades, but have not yet begun the writing.