Having a routine does not make you a boring person. It does not remove you from the free spirited, non conformist creative that you are.
In the book, “How to Get Things Done without trying too hard” by the late Richard Templar, he shared about his experience in having a routine. The fact is that, he hated routines. He worked from home and could choose to work at whatever time he wanted so long as he delivered his work on time.
When his eldest son was born, wow….his world turned upside down. He had problem to even organize a meal as he had to deal with his work and a baby who never seemed to sleep. His wife also went through the same thing.
To maintain some form of sanity, they decided to inject some routine into their lives- where they established time to take turns to look after the baby. It worked! Things got more managable and they continue to add more routine.
He said that having a routine is absolutely necessary for the busy person. The more routine, the less effort would it take to keep things in track. And don’t think it is not cool or plain boring to stick to a routine. He gave some scenarios that stubborn ones would face if they just don’t want to try to keep themselves more organized.
I have certain segments in my life whereby I am running on a fixed routine. Examples:
- Morning: I have a fixed routine when I would get up, say my prayers, have my breakfast and feed my dogs.
- In the evening, I also have a fixed routine to feed my dogs.
- I would mop my floors two to three times a week in the evenings, wash my floor rags on Thursdays and my bathroom on Fridays.
- For at least 5 days a week, I work on my sites from 8pm onwards till about 11pm or sometimes longer. Sometimes if I am not up to it, I would read books. Sometimes I watch YouTube videos for inspiration and ideas if I have some writers block or could not stay focused…. a little reward I give myself. But regardless, I would be in my room from 8pm onwards every night to work. I may work when there is time in between and where the inspiration hits. But since I got used to writing at 8pm, I felt my brain gets conditioned and it become easier to write.
My dogs get fed, my floors are clean and basic work done accordingly. I program myself to repeat the same thing each time till it become natural and I would not forget important tasks… like getting my beloved pets fed.
If I have a huge amount of work coming up, I will list down everything in my diary and check it off after I finish each task. Writing down, planning and having a routine does not take away the creativity. In fact, it helps with creativity because we free up the worry and anxiety (of constantly being afraid of forgetting something important) as we have already brain dumped everything into our diary, planner or journal.