What is your life like witout routine?

Post Reply New Topic

Do you require routine?

If you do and then don't have a routine or can't follow one you used to have for whatever reason how do you feel? what happens?

do you find it difficult transitioning from one routine to another over time?

In my view routines fit into two basic categories. First is the "automation" type, like the journey to work. Personally, I just turn off and do the journey without requiring concious thought which I guess just lets me save the effort for something else.

Second is the "coping" type. For instance, I have a great long term memory but my short term memory is appalling. I can put a mug down on my desk and "lose" it and have to search for it to find it. Putting it down in the same relative place every time means I know where it is every time without having to look and can just pick it strait back up.

I wouldn't worry much about breaking "automation" type routines if I thought there was a more efficient route for instance (it would just become a new routine if I established it was faster) but breaking "coping" routines would greatly impair my ability to function at a level people would consider "normal".

I have to be on a routine to get started in the morning. If something happens to interfere with it, then the whole day is off-kilter, and often I'll call it a failure at the end of the day.

Charles

(Doubled post, sorry: please delete)

I don't know really. I worry about my routines changing, but when they actually do, it's not such a big deal. I think that's true for most people, though.

But I've been unemployed for well over 3 years now, and I've been looking, but can't find any suitable work (the economy is bad in the UK), and so I've been so used to not having a properly structured week that I'm probably not going to know what's hit me when I do finally get a job. I am not coping with the thought of it very well, so I've made a plan. I will start off with part time work, then go onto full time if I must, a bit later on. No, I'm not being lazy - it's just that going from absolutely nothing to sudden full time work will be a big change for me, and I cope with change better when it happens in bits. That is why I'm happy there are four seasons in a year - it'd feel odd going straight from summer to winter in less than a week, temperature falling from 30 to 0 in a couple of days! Well, unless you live somewhere where the weather changes like that, but it's the same with change. If I went from one job to another a lot and was used to it, the change probably wouldn't worry me.

I do not have a day to day routine and doubt I could keep up with it if I did, though sometimes I find myself getting caught in rather routine like behaviors or repetitive behaviors on a smaller scale. like if I decide to do something I get stuck concerning myself with what to do first, what order to do things in ect. But if anything my brains constant search for a routine to stick to is almost detrimental to following any routine at all.

Like I said, it's hard to describe so if that does not make sense that's why.

Yes and no. I need to start and end my day in a certain way and in my familiar environment. The few times I went on a holiday trip or to a work-related training course, I always felt completely lost in an unfamiliar setting. But I don't have much of a schedule. I'm sometimes up during the night and sometimes during the day. Some of my days only have 20 hours, and at other times I'm up and running for 28 hours without sleep.

So I both need routine and an utterly chaotic schedule. I can't just go to sleep because it's 11 pm, and I certainly can't get out of bed just because the alarm rings. Sometimes I need 12-14 hours of sleep or I'll be feeling crappy all day. It's a good thing that I'm retired.

I need to have a routine for certain things because otherwise I'm just too lazy to force myself to do them at all. If I don't decide to always do my laundry on a certain day of the week I'll procrastinate until I run out of clean clothes. Same goes for going to the store to keep myself stocked with food. If it's not part of a routine I'll just forget to go to the store and end up running out of things. If I don't always pay my bills on a certain day of the month I'll forget to do it and end up screwed over by late fees. I also have to set out all my clothes, make and pack my lunch, set up the coffee maker, etc... the night before. Basically anything I can do the night before I do because I'm always a tired depressed zombie in the morning and don't want to have to do s**t then. I'll even stick to that routine on days I don't have to work or get up for anything just because it makes it 100% easier to get out of bed. If the coffee isn't ready to go I'll just stay in bed till noon. Not being in a routine is stressful because it means I have to think about all the annoying trivial crap I have to do which I'm so much happier not having to think about.

Life - routine = chaos...

I definitely need a routine, yep yep yep. Otherwise, life is like intestines spilling all over floor and brains disintegrating into blobs crawling out of ears and up intestines and stucking within.

We've discussed the question once already today. http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt189116.html . My life is total chaos without routines

I'm not totally rigid (anymore, but of course, decades...)but I need a framework of routines in general. Its just stressful not to have that. I don't know what to do..

Sincerely,
Matthew

I definitely prefer routine. If my routine gets changed, then I get stress and anxiety. With my new job (within the same school), my routine often gets changed---and it is an incredible challenge. I often feel like I am in turmoil.

I prefer routine and routines definitely help me function better. Without them, I for example tend to forget meals or keep putting them off for hours at a time, sometimes realizing at bedtime that I haven't eaten anything since the morning. Without routines I tend to need longer time to do the things I need to do, like get dressed and ready to leave the house, and there's an increased risk of me forgetting something, either something I have to do or something I have to take with me.

I generally don't feel bad if I skip routines. I just won't function as well. I find it stressful though if someone else prevents me from being able to follow an important routine. For example, I like to be able to follow my working day morning routine and I hate if someone else decides unexpectedly that we need to leave the house earlier than previously planned, leaving no time for my routine. It makes me feel rushed and stressed and most of the time I end up forgetting something.

A good example of how lack of routine messes things up for me is the last few days. I was sick before the weekend and stayed home and didn't follow any routine for 4 days straight. I forgot to eat 5 meals in those 4 days and ate several other meals much later than I should have.

I feel I need a routine where I equally have as much time to myself as I do spending time out and about with people. 2 to 3 full days working will do me fine because I need time to unwind and relax. I know working full time is more of a structured routine, but I am an individual and working part time is what best suits me. I know people will think I'm being lazy, but it's got nothing to do with laziness. And I don't care for a lot of money anyway. I don't go out spending much, I live with other people, I pay my keep, I save my money, I handle my money well, and I'm doing quite well. So it pays me better to work part time and have more time to do more things I need to do that are also important to me. Working 9 to 5, Monday to Friday, or even Saturdays aswell, is too much for me to manage, emotionally, especially if I was spending all those hours a week interacting with customers....AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!! ! I think I'll end up in the looney bin or something because I am just not cut out for that kind of torture.

I have certain routines that have to be adhered to when cashing up at night and if someone comes along and "helps" then I am lost, and generally have to start again when they end up putting things out of sequence.

For me it is not that bad at all, I do have routines and I can break some of them; but you have to decide what you mean by routine...do you mean self imposed or NT imposed?