Most people are afraid of having a routine and I honestly must say that I’ve been raised with the idea that a routine is bad for me. But my parents and friends never told me why a routine is so bad so I had to figure that out by myself.
Actually, a routine is not bad, but its structure can be bad. I think that people who claim having a routine is bad, don’t have a great structure in place. A great routine needs to allow you to be productive, have fun, spend time with your loved ones and be fulfilled at the end of the day. This seems almost impossible because our mind might not be ready to accept “commands”.
Negotiate with yourself
The most important aspect for having a satisfying routine in place is to negotiate with yourself so you make sure you do the things you have in your schedule. We all have things we have to do, but not all of us do those things because deep down we don’t really want to so we’ll do whatever it takes to procrastinate a little. Procrastination feels good even though it comes with some flavor of guilt.
Maybe some yelling from Eric Thomas will be more convincing than my ideas, so hear him out!
How do you plan your upcoming day?
I am clinically OCD when my anxiety flares, structure and routine help me to curb my need to have it all perfect
How often do you revise your routine so you can adapt it to your changing needs?
Honestly? Very rarely. Minute things change, like where I get the kids dressed, but not the tasks. It REALLY throws me off when my husband is home in the am… anxiety overload
There are times when we plan our day and then because we are not in a mood to do specific thing and want to do other, our schedule get messed up. What should we do? Go as planned even if you are not willing to do OR do what you want to do
I think it’s important to realize why you’re not willing to do that anymore and if you’ll end up doing anyway. We can procrastinate, but if we’ll do that anyway, procrastination will only make us lose some time. I suggest go as planned, because that’s where productivity lies and there is a reason why we had that in our schedule in the first place.
For example, studying a specific subject in your syllabus but on a particular day you are curious and interested in some other thing.
Well you mean to say we need to realize how important is the task we are procrastinating.
Yes, exactly! Thank you!
I like to cycle between routine and trying new things. Some people definitely need routine more than others though.
True! What kind of new things do you like to try?
Tweaking my morning routine to allow more time for myself, being more active earlier on to boost energy, etc.
I definitely have a morning routine but it helps me start my day off the right way.
That’s great! How does your morning routine look like?
Drink 20 ounces of lemon water and do ten minutes of yoga.It starts my day off right.
I’ve always liked to be flexible and don’t really like routines. Having said that, I like the idea of seeing it as a structure instead of a routine. I think as long as you can balance your different responsibilities and have time for some procrastination, then its all good.
This is very interesting! How does your structure look like?
I like routine but it can be too restrictive.
Yes, it can be too restrictive, which sometimes is a good thing. It depends of how it makes you feel.
personally I design my whole existance around having no routine, structure, obligations and responsibilities, otherwise I feel trapped.
I do not cook- i eat from cafes and pubs, supermarkets I buy plastic cup plates that are disposible. I keep myself and room clean. I dont go to weddings or any traditional events. I live each day doing what I like. I’m sectioned and the staff have given up trying to get me to have structure and routine in my life.
There’s a song by guns and roses called Mr Brownstone I can really relate to the opening lyrics.
i feel free when im impulsive.
Very interesting! What do you love doing each day?
I write, read books on NLP, dark psychology, psychiatry, I love reading about the Sumerian culture. I’m an atheist but I read religious books, the Quran I read recently, As much nietzche as i can grasp. I’m dosed up on a lot of meds so I’m quite high most of the day. Never watch TV. film editing, music production etc but writing is my thing really.
I socialise, but don’t drink.
Great post! Routine is important in my life. I say that recognizing only some and certain routine is important. Getting up the same time, eating around the same time, sleeping at the same time. These are all important things. Beyond that, and a few others, there is zero routine. What comes that day is what happens. Sometimes I’m productive and on top of everything, some days I live on the couch with potato chips and video games. Balance and following whims seems to be helpful overall. Some routine though, very needed.
Thank you for reading! I totally agree with you regarding the sleeping and the eating. It’s necessary for our physical health… As for the rest, I think it’s all about what we want to accomplish.
CUTE THUMBNAIL DRAWING
“mind might not be ready to accept ‘commands’” – so how do I prime it for that? I’m too lazy to enact positive reinforcenent when I can just get it myself with procrastinating.
2…Negotiating with oneself is such a great idea. If I find out how, that may be able to help my apathy towards doing anything I don’t want to do. GIVE ME THE ANSWERSSSSSS @POINTLESS OVERTHINKING
kuudere1, I think the first step would be to find out the things that excite you the most and use them as rewards. When you need to do something you usually procrastinate, try placing one of the things that excite you the most as a reward. As an example, if you hate reading but you have to for some exam and you love chocolate, reward yourself with a piece of chocolate after two pages read.
Ah. XD But what if I dont have self control and just eat the whole bag of chocolate I buy for the purpose of the whole thing?
Well, that’s a different issue… maybe you need to put someone else in charge of that bag of chocolate 🙂
HA! You’re right :3
PERFECT!