How rigid do you like routine?

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I am not the type of Aspie to need a rigid routine, but I was wondering what other people with autism or AS feel about your routine.

On Christmas Eve night our boss let us leave an hour early, and it wasn't expected. I was so happy and it made all the difference to be home an hour earlier. I do love surprise changes like this.

If your boss let you finish earlier than your usual contracted finishing time, would it throw you off? Would it make you anxious, or would you be delighted?

When I am let off work early, I am happy. My anxiety immediately spikes as I wonder what to do. If I come up with something "acceptable", all is good. If not, I remain anxious and can get depressed.

I self report that I have no routines, but I do use one spoon, one cup, one towel --- to keep things simple - less washing etc. I also check my accounts in a particular way each week - again, to keep things simple. When I don't do things in a particular way - I am directionless and get upset relative to degree of underlying anxiety and time pressure.

I hope you enjoyed your extra hour!

I'm at my most comfortable and happiest on routines I make for myself. They change up a bit weekly.

If I earned paid time off, yes

If someone promised me a car ride , and work ends early, it's inconvenient

Depends on how much I like the job

Depends on what else I have to do

If I am sick or busy

Very lax. Somehow to a point of not being guilty over it.
It depends what triggers the unpredictability really.

Shorten deadline's not my take.
Extended deadlines causes me more relief.

I don't like overdone preparedness. The more prepared I'm, the more effort given and the more rigid I have to go.
So the more effort I've put into something and came into an abrupt, the more pissed I'd be. I don't like wasting effort over nothing.

Sudden vacations are good. Even better when I have to drop everything all the sudden.
Sudden work days are alright even informed by the last minute.

Losing certain routine activity in favor of nothing either means boredom or less work.
Gaining certain routine activity or exchange of one requires clear instructions, reminders, and degrees of discipline on my part.

I'd want where my things are; same used stuff and mine alone.
Yet I'm long overdue with this, no thanks to the entire household I just don't care anymore.

Several activities are either done in a whim or settled conditionally. Even necessities like eating.
Former would be outright random to obsessive and disregarding everything, the latter would be mainly relatively measured (how messy/how urgent/how quiet/etc.)


While I want to return to order so I can have a directioin to go to, I don't want rigidity.

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When I had a job, being let off an hour early would have thrown me off because I was a janitor and had a specific order and amount of time for each task (half an hour cleaning the bathrooms, then half an hour emptying the trash cans, then one hour sweeping the floors, etc.). Leaving an hour early would have meant I had an hour less in which to get everything done, and I would've felt rushed.

However, I don't consider myself to need that rigid of structure. If someone interrupts a routine like that, it throws me off, but I don't need every single minute of the day planned or anything. I just need to have some idea of what's going on. If I was told at the beginning of the day that I could leave an hour early and I was performing a less routine-based job, I would probably be happy. If I was told an hour before my shift ended that I could go home, it would throw me off because I would've already had another hour of work planned out.

I loved getting off work early when I worked in retail. Now that I am a teacher, that never happens and I am okay with that.

I am not super rigid. For example, yesterday I was on my way to lunch at my favorite Mexican restaurant where I was going to eat by myself. Halfway there, I got a phone call from one of my favorite friends asking if I wanted to meet them at a different place instead. I said yes, turned my car around and went to meet her.

I definitely have routines that I like to follow though and each routine serves a specific purpose for me. For example, I shower in a certain order because if I don't I forget what has already been done/not done and I will then restart from the beginning.

I'm quite lax, I suppose - I'm willing to do different things day to day. However, I do not like surprises. I like to have a sort-of schedule, knowing the day's activities and their timings with a good amount of time prior

I'm very rigid. Any slight deviation throws me off.

I have seldom had any routine, unless it was imposed by working with others who had one. My AS mother was very rigid about bedtime, and I stayed in adolescent rebellion most of my life. I have a bit of bi-polar, and my work involves creative bursts whenever I can manage one. Recently, I started trying to establish a circadian rhythm by anchoring my meal times, but I still lie awake too often if my day has had any kind of excitement, and then have to make it up somehow at a non-scheduled time.
I only recently realized that a morning routine is a good way to get things done before the brain is fully awake.
My flexibility and reactions when others change our expected schedule depends very much on how well rested I am.

I have a routine, how I structure my freetime. I can be pretty flexible though, and like switching things up. If it's a major unplanned change to my routine, it takes a bit of adjustment.

I pretty much do the same things every day, but I don't think in any particular order.

Some days I'll spend mostly gaming. Others mostly reading. Others mostly watching movies. Surfing youtube vids. Usually it's a random combination of those things.

Basically the more I'm free to do my own thing, the happier I am.