Routine busting

[Tuumble]

There is a common fear amongst people in this world of falling into a rut. It's the getting into a job that is the same day in, day out where very little changes. However, it extends far beyond the job because it takes in your what you have for lunch, where you go for lunch, the method of transport you use, the time you get up in the morning, the people you meet, what you watch on TV, the newspaper you read etc.

Some people like routine and there is a lot to be said with having an organised lifestyle but how long does that last? Can you imagine having essentially the same day right up until retirement. Personally it sends a shiver down my spine.

That's not to say that I haven't fallen into that pattern because many of my days so merge into each other and when you see the age 40 appearing over the horizon it does rather set the mind thinking. Am I in for more of the same till I collect my retirement gift? Well, obviously only I know that and only I can change it.

So here's the deal...

On Monday I am going to obliterate my current lifestyle just to see what happens. This will be interesting just by witnessing others reactions and at the very least will cause some personal amusement.

I normally I wear jeans and a T-shirt to work so I will maybe turn up in shirt and tie. How about shaving the old beard off? There are different desks to sit at, different places to have lunch or even a different time to take lunch. Heck, I may even go swimming instead.

Shall I use the bus or walk the 3 miles into town? I can do both and walk to where there's a different bus service instead or better still, I can cycle. I would need a bike for that mind you so perhaps I'll hitch-hike...

Do you get my point? I've written about a fraction of the day and it's already clear how easy it is to shake yourself out the normal, everyday grind.

What about you? Can I persuade you to step-out of your normal life, just for a day, to really mix things up? Get up half an hour later or go to bed an hour earlier. Don't watch TV but read a book or vice versa depending on your lifestyle. Just be different.

Who's with me?

[Calvan]

I'm already doing that! I am seeing 40 just over the horizon also. and repetition and the thought of it annoys me greatly. I will very often come return on a different path than the one that got me there. I didn't set out to, but your post made me realize I have been upsetting my lifestyle in great and small ways. Now with your post helping make that realization I will probably make a conscience effort to shake it up.

Here's my horror story on the matter. My job is service oriented and one day I was in a metal working shop performing service work up near the ceiling. I look down under me and there's this guy grinding small metal cylinders. He moves a cylinder from the inspection table into a box, turns to the right grabs one out of the grinding machine and moves it to the inspection table, turns to the left takes one out of a box and puts into the machine, inspects the one on the table and and then continues from the start. The box hes taking pieces out of has about 50 parts in it I counted. The box came out of a case on the floor that had 10 boxes in it. There's about 5 cases left on the floor. I'm aghast at the prospect of him grinding all those parts the same exact way. THEN I notice the pallet the cases came off of and the pallet has 15 more cases on it! THEN I'm horrified to see line of no less than 9 More pallets! It killed me to think of that poor dude grinding down all those parts in his little robotic dance. He seemed very happy though. It takes all types to run the world I guess.


Anyway, I AM WITH YOU!

[JustinPopovic]

Tuumble,

Your post really caught my attention. I was very much the same as you in terms of routine for most of my life. I came to similar conclusions but took it quite a bit further. I eventually left my established career to pursue entrepreneurship and eventually my wife did the same.

I won't go into the details of our story but I wanted to comment on the idea of routine. Now that we live this home-business lifestyle, routine is the furthest thing from our existence. Our bed time changes every night. Our to-do list is completely different every day. There are *some* consistencies in terms of family time with our son but not all that many to be honest.

Now that we don't have a routine, I can honestly say I see the value in having one. Yes we have more excitement and variety in our day-to-day experiences, but certain things like house chores, visiting family, spending time as a couple, etc... occur sporadically and have now become tasks we have to plan and manage. And to be honest, they can get ignored or forgotten quite easily if we are busy with our businesses.

Having said all that, I think there are benefits to both styles of living. The challenge is, can you set up routines to handle your daily essentials (like meal time, family time, house chores, exercise) while still leaving your calendar open and flexible enough to have variety and excitement.

The answer is YES, I think you just have to make having BOTH a priority.

So Kudos to you, I think its a great idea and I look forward to an update on your routine busters!

cheers
justin