Three-quarters human.
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My relationship with routines started off pretty badly.
When I was young, I thought people who had a routine were boring. How could life be interesting or exciting if I woke up and did the same exact stuff every single day, day in and day out?
Then something in how I approach life and work shifted in my early 30s. I got serious about my career, and I recognized that good, predictable inputs usually led to good, predictable outcomes. As I grew older, I doubled down, started waking up earlier, and that's led me to where I am today as a writer.
But my routine doesn't always work.
Last week, I overslept three times because my body desperately needed it. Or maybe I was just being lazy. Sometimes, it's hard to tell. The old me would have felt really guilty about it, but the current me just got up the next day and tried again.
My routine is simple. I wake up each morning around 6:00 a.m., drink my favorite coffee (always two cups), and then exercise for ninety minutes. I shower up, sit down with my wife, and try my best to eat a healthy lunch. After that, I head up to my office (or go to a co-working space) and do three to four hours of deep work around Noon. That's basically it. I don't have any fancy spreadsheets tracking my habits or apps that send me motivational quotes to keep going.
About 75% of the time, it works really great. I clear my head during exercise, refresh during the shower, fuel up with food, and then work and write successfully for three hours. Everything normal.
The other 25%? Total chaos.
Sometimes the coffee doesn't help, and I accomplish nothing at all. Sometimes I sit down to write and spend an hour looking at Redfin or Zillow. Sometimes, I make a silly decision and book a meeting right in the middle of work time. When this happens, I get really irritated.
But I keep showing up because I've learned something pretty interesting. Routines give you permission to be good to yourself.
When I follow my routine, I'm saying, "Here's a path that usually works. Try this first."
When I don't follow it, I'm usually trying to prove something. That I'm spontaneous or that I don't need structure. That I'm somehow different or more interesting than I think I am.
Turns out I'm not that different (or interesting). I'm just another person who functions better with some guardrails.
My "failed" routine days teach me a lot. They remind me why I started routine-ing in the first place! They make me appreciate the simple pleasure of a good night's sleep, a quiet morning, coffee, and a great workout.
So I keep my expectations low and my coffee strong.
It works about three-quarters of the time.
For a chronic over-thinker like me, those are pretty good odds.
What’s your take on today’s topic? Do you agree, disagree, or is there something I missed?
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I can relate to those off days, and what’s helped me is having a gentle plan B for the 25% of the time things go sideways. Switch to a brain-calming herbal tea like brahmi or tulsi-ashwagandha. Simply switching my daily tea(I love tea more) to a herbal one, made me more alert & alive while keeping all of my other routine intact.
75% of the time is good enough. And good enough is just that.