Philosophy of Routines 101
March 16, 2007
For those of you freaked out by the title, rest easy. We are not going back to school.
Last Friday, I said I’d share my routines with you, and I will, but first it’s probably best to get behind the reasoning or philosophy of why routines are good and not evil, boring chores.
Let me ask you this. What did you do when you got up this morning?
I bet it went something like this:
- You showered
- Dressed
- Did your do
- Put on makeup (unless you’re a guy)
- Ate breakfast
- Brushed your teeth.
What is all of that? It’s a routine, a simple list of things you go through every day without thinking, without standing in front of the mirror gripping your hair in both hands and wailing, “What do I do next?”
Now picture the day you don’t do that routine. You don’t shower (shudder), you don’t get out of your PJs, you don’t fix your hair or your face, but you do brush your teeth since your morning breath was getting to you.
There may be some people who function well in their PJs and sporting a bed-head hairstyle, but I know I don’t. It’s hard to get motivated. Until I’m cleaned up and dressed, I’m still in that I’ve-got-nowhere-to-go-no-one- to-see-and-nothing-to-do mood. And nothing gets done.
So Philosophy of Routines 101 states that we all need a morning routine to do when we get up in order to get ourselves moving and productive. If gives us a routine that, after enough days of doing it, we do without thinking — and we get to the point where we do it fast. It doesn’t consume our time like it does when we reinvent the wheel of starting our day.
Here’s mine.
- Get up and weigh. (Sigh. I know they say not to check the scale every day, but for me if I don’t check it, I start gaining weight.)
- Laundry check
- Take meds
- Devotions
- Get beautiful (Shower, hair, makeup. Got to credit my mother here who always says, “Well, it’s time I got beautiful.”)
- Wake kids
- Finish lunches
- Get dressed
- Make bed
- Check calendar
- Finish the day’s to do list
If I do those things when I get up in the morning, I’ll be ready for whatever comes. If the mailman needs to drop off a package, I won’t race to brush my teeth before I answer the door and hope he doesn’t notice I’m in PJs. And with the last thing I do being finalizing my to-do list, I’ll be more likely to get started on that list than to end up on the couch playing my son’s Star Wars Battlefront video game.
And the day progresses with me getting most of my list if not all of my list done — which leaves me with no stress because it’s tax day eve and I have yet to gather tax stuff or because I’ve got friends coming over and I haven’t cleaned my house in three weeks. And when my list is dwindling or I need a break, there’s no guilt sitting on that couch for a few Star Wars Battlefront games!
And it’s flexible. That routine is my Monday through Friday. Obviously I don’t make sack lunches on Saturday or Sundays, and I definitely let my kids (and me) sleep in on Saturdays. Do still brush the teeth, though.
Why is a routine important? It gets you ready for the day — you’re dressed, you feel presentable to the world, and you’re prepared to do the things you need to do — and usually it won’t be anywhere near noon.
Now it’s your turn. What is your routine?
Word of advice here — again, don’t try to build Chicago in a day. This wasn’t my routine the first day I decided to tackle this project. Remember, we’re fighting lifelong habits here and so it’s okay to take it slow. Maybe you just need to start with getting beautiful (or handsome), checking your calendar, and making your to do list. Don’t get trapped into scheduling your whole morning (all of you SAHMs). Give yourself some room for life to happen and mess things up.
Take the next week and work on your morning routine. Maybe print it out on a piece of paper so you can cross off each item as you finish it. And let me know how it goes! Feel free to post it here and tell us all about it. I love hearing from you all.
In the meantime, it’s time for me to go. Got my evening routine to get started . . .
- On Monday, the most wonderful time of the year?
- Don’t forget to leave a comment during the month of March for a chance to win a free book!
Comments
9 Responses to “Philosophy of Routines 101”
I wish I had a daily schedule I could stick to. I find it difficult to follow any schedule, but I’m working on that.
Don’t try to schedule your whole day at once! I’ve done that so many times, sat down and planned out this beautiful schedule that accounted for almost every minute of the day. It’s that perfectionist in us!
Start with key schedules/routines that will get you going throughout the day. That’s what I’ll be talking about the next few Fridays, if it’s any help.
Does this mean I shouldn’t put my pj’s on after my morning shower? But they’re so comfy…….
LOL. I guess as long as they’re clean and not ratty! And you don’t mind being seen in public in them?
Sally,
Love your blog!
My schedule: Get up at 4:30 to make my husband a smoothie before work so he won’t pass out and die from hunger on the freeway.
Feed the cat who has been pawing at me for more than 2 hours trying to get me to feed her.
Weigh myself so that I can officially ruin my day before it starts.
Dress, straighten up the place for a few minutes (we live very simply so thankfully not much to do!)
Update my blog, do my bible reading, drink my cofee. Answer emails.
Write all day, taking breaks to check out the ACFW loop and online news things that interest me.
Yoga. Dinner. Spend the evening with my honey reading. Go to bed. Wake up. Begin again. It’s a nice life. Kids are grown.
Lately, my routine has included rising at 4:45 in the morning! I do NOT intend to keep that up any longer than necessary. I heard once about a young man who ran away to join the circus not to escape the rigid rules at home but to find the comfort of routine. The circus operated on a carefully constructed routine of work, practice, meals, play time. He craved the routine. Interesting concept.
I can’t believe you ladies getting up before 5:00! I think I would roll over and die! In fact, that’s what I do! Roll back over and die until later in the morning (we won’t say how much later!). That’s one of our problems with homeschooling. For the first half of the year, we were very dedicated to our schedule and started exactly on time every day, but now that the end of the year is within reach, I think we’re getting senioritis! This is a good time to hit the reset button on the routines!
Bethany, I’m with you! If I open my eyes before five, I end up sick.
Cynthia, I’m very much like that man who joined the circus (although I can’t juggle or wrap my legs around my neck). I love a routine. I crave it. That’s when I’m most productive.
I don’t really have a set schedule each morning. I have a 5 month old baby girl and a 3 1/2 old boy so the routine varies every morning. I figure if I brush my teeth, get dressed and eat my breakfast before 10 AM I am doing great that day.