View Full Version : Daily Routines
Part of the reason I started the daily list thread is that I've had a hard time establishing a regular daily routine. After many, many years of working and having a strict schedule, I suddenly found myself with the intoxicating freedom of getting to do anything I want, whenever I want. And it was good. Oh, the joy of sleeping in and lounging around all day!
But now it's been a while and I'm wanting to build structure into my life. Too much of a good thing. Instead of having to decide what to do every day, I'd like to have a daily routine that is automatic and doesn't require me to figure things out over and over. It gets tiring and is inefficient. And more often than I'd like, inertia takes over and I end up feeling like I wasted the whole day. On those days I miss the feelings of accomplishment that come from achieving goals and time well spent.
I've also been reading quite a bit about how soothing and nurturing a daily routine can be. How it can bring order and peace when life becomes stormy. I'd like that.
Do you have a daily routine? Or do you let the day unfold on it's own?
Do you have a daily routine? Or do you let the day unfold on it's own?
Yes. ;)
Actually, the mornings are fairly routine-driven. Wake up, let out the dog, get coffee, feed the dog, let out the dog again, wake DW, read email/catch up on Web sites, make breakfast, take my morning meds, clean up after breakfast (coffeemaker, run dishwasher if needed, etc.). Nighttime offers a somewhat similar routine -- set up coffee, get the dog outside one last time, put what can go in the dishwasher in the dishwasher, take my evening meds, and make sure doors are locked and lights are off before I go to bed.
No other housekeeping chore is on a regular schedule; they get done when they need to be done. Sometimes I prep and cook dinner and sometimes we eat leftovers. The dog has her own schedule, so that varies. I also am "on call" for a number of other people: the grandkids in case one of them gets sick at day care; my mom and brother in case they need an errand run or something in their place fixed; DW in case she needs something mailed out or something else done around the house; my neighbors to watch for packages or clear snow while they're away on vacation; etc. And some tasks need to be fit in where they can: I can clean the bathroom when it's dark or raining out but I can't mow the lawn at those times. It's not sensible here to establish "every Monday morning" as lawn cutting time.
It's one reason I maintain a long to-do list, only a few items which merit dates (the ones which have real hard deadlines).
I've also been reading quite a bit about how soothing and nurturing a daily routine can be. How it can bring order and peace when life becomes stormy. I'd like that. Do you have a daily routine? Or do you let the day unfold on it's own?
Mom always told me to have each category a day of the week. She has done that since she married Dad in 1948 and she kept it up until she died in 2007.
IE: Laundry day, baking day, shopping day, houseclean day, sewing/mending/knitting whatever day, gardening/yard day. 1 day is free.
She never spent ALL day on any of it but once the task was done the day was hers aside from meals. (she raised 6 kids and we didn't have a W/D in the house until 1968 (we had a ringer outside by the clothesline, nor a dishwasher until 1971 when Dad moved us.)
Mom always thought all our machines and gizmos made the lives of her girls much more complicated and more work than her life ever was. These were interesting conversations. And here we thought it was easier because we had jobs outside home.
I like the idea and I am practicing right now while I'm my surgical FMLA. Yesterday was laundry day. Today was grocery store (the only shopping I do!) Tomorrow I will dust and clean the bathroom-spread over the day. Saturday I will spend a bit of time in the gardens. When I can, I will be adding a daily cool morning walk.
We live near a river that runs through town and under normal circumstances, I can get to river's edge in 5 minutes. 1 thing I will truly relish when I retire is a daily walk by the river! I've got a 3.5 mile loop and a 5 mile loop I love. But I can't do that after an 11-13 hour work day.
My sister retired 4y ago. She says she needs to have a daily to-do list to keep herself oriented. She does walk nearly every day 2-5 miles and she goes to a gym 2x/week (required by her Medigap insurance:) she gets a periodic phone call to ask if she's going. i think that's great!
Can't wait to hear what others say and what you decide to do.
I do have a morning routine. Up- generally when I wake up around 7:30 or 8. Dress, wash face, take med., set up coffee, do stretches, turn on coffee for last set of stretches (it's my reward!) 1 page in a journal, some readings, work on some writing most days, make my breakfast, check on the email etc. It can take several hours or I can hurry it up. I find it settling and pleasurable. Spring, summer and fall I do my writing and coffee drinking on the porch where I watch the birds and breathe.
rosarugosa
7-12-18, 6:56pm
I think we have a good morning routine since my retirement (DH still works part-time). We get up at 5 and have coffee, and that is when I check SLF, FB, e-mail, etc. We then go for a 2.5 - 3 mile walk, weather permitting. We come home and have breakfast and DH gets ready for work, departing by 9:30. I was walking my little dog buddy 11:30 - 12:30, but I've been trying out pushing that up to 10 - 11, or 10:30 - 11:30, so I can have a larger chunk of uninterrupted time at home. The dog walking definitely impedes my flow, but it confers so many benefits, I need to make it work. I'm just not getting as much done at home as I would have expected.
I think we have a good morning routine since my retirement (DH still works part-time). We get up at 5 and have coffee, and that is when I check SLF, FB, e-mail, etc. We then go for a 2.5 - 3 mile walk, weather permitting. We come home and have breakfast and DH gets ready for work, departing by 9:30. I was walking my little dog buddy 11:30 - 12:30, but I've been trying out pushing that up to 10 - 11, or 10:30 - 11:30, so I can have a larger chunk of uninterrupted time at home. The dog walking definitely impedes my flow, but it confers so many benefits, I need to make it work. I'm just not getting as much done at home as I would have expected.
Wow. You are doing a LOT of walking, between walking the dog and walking DH. :). Do you have a Fitbit? You'd be burning it up! One of the reasons I'm not rushing to get another dog is for the reason you state. A dog inserts its routine into yours. When I had my dog, my daily routine started with getting dressed and walking her. Now it starts with my hanging around in my robe for a couple of hours working or doing other assorted tasks.
I've also found that not having a dog gives me more time for gardening. It's almost like I can only care for one living thing at a time. If I had a dog and a garden, the garden might suffer because I have so much work I HAVE to do, I'd run out of time.
I'm more of a "let the day unfold" kind of person, but I do like routines. At my aunt's summer cottage the whole day was a routine: from getting up in the morning, dressing, making a huge breakfast served on Victorian china, cleaning the kitchen, going "up town" for groceries, coming home, making "dinner"--we had our main meal at noon, cleaning up the kitchen, then I would go to the beach and hang out with friends while my aunt watched soap operas, and I'd spend other afternoon time reading or sewing. Then we would have a light supper in front of the TV and watch 60s shows until 10. Then go to bed. Next day, rinse and repeat.
I like the idea of household chores being split up like Gardnr's mom did it. I tried Flylady for a while, but I just fell out of it.
My routine is wakeup at approx 5, have prayer and meditation, breakfast for both dog and myself, shower alternate mornings, make bed, walk dog for an hour. If laundry or dishwasher needs to run, I include that before 7am on weekdays due to time-of-use electricity rate. I try to plan my meals the evening before so defrost, precook beans, rice or pasta etc.
Gardening is usually done in the evenings. Watering is done really early morning or early evening.
Dog walk in evening.
I have a to-do list that gets everything put on it and updated on Mondays.
Days of week:
I have commitments on Wednesday afternoons and Thursdays are my usual shopping days.
Garbage gets organized for pickup on Fridays.
Vacuuming and cleaning house are done on Saturdays.
Church on Sundays and relaxation in the afternoon.
Gella, I found that I need structure to my week or I drift as you mentioned. Walking the dog really helps gives me that. A friend finds that simply planning a daily walk by herself for about 3 miles gives her structure and health. It doesn't have to be that long a walk but an hour commitment to oneself would help.
Since retiring, I am slowly developing a kind of routine. It takes a while to get used to the freedom. The big time waster for me is staying away from the internet so I allow myself thirty minutes in the morning to do that while I drink my first cup of coffee. I never have breakfast before 9a. Wednesday is always grocery day. I just like to get certain things done every day - house, something creative, garden, admin, walk - but not to a strict schedule. I never schedule an appt before 10a anymore.
Teacher Terry
7-13-18, 12:03am
I take care of dogs in morning and night and coffee and newspaper in the morning. No appointments before 11. I will definitely drop any household tasks to go have fun with someone. The joy of retirement is to be spontaneous. I find time to do all my chores on a weekly basis and also to teach my class. For many years my life was scheduled but not anymore. I used to have so many physical objects to dust etc but think that decluttering has given me so much time back. It is a big change for me because I used to be such a collector of stuff.
I guess I do have some daily routines. Mornings I wake up early and open up the whole house to let in the fresh cool air and let the dogs out. Then we all curl up on the couch with a blanket and go back to sleep. About 8, I get up and make fresh coffee and breakfast, I feed the pets and spend a bit of time online. Then I unload the dishwasher and make a mental note of what needs doing and plan accordingly. In the late afternoon/early evening I feed the pets again, prepare dinner. After dinner I clean up, prep coffeemaker for dh, pack dh's lunch, wipe down all the kitchen counters and tidy up, wash out the sink, take out the trash and run the dishwasher. I always like to end the day with a clean kitchen.
What is highly unproductive and unscheduled is the big chunk of the day in between. Ideally, I would like to have the morning time be used for household work and the afternoon be for fun. Evenings would be nice to be spent in other ways besides watching tv.
razz - your daily routine sounds just like what I would like to have for myself!
rosarugosa
7-15-18, 9:38am
Wow. You are doing a LOT of walking, between walking the dog and walking DH. :). Do you have a Fitbit? You'd be burning it up! One of the reasons I'm not rushing to get another dog is for the reason you state. A dog inserts its routine into yours. When I had my dog, my daily routine started with getting dressed and walking her. Now it starts with my hanging around in my robe for a couple of hours working or doing other assorted tasks.
I've also found that not having a dog gives me more time for gardening. It's almost like I can only care for one living thing at a time. If I had a dog and a garden, the garden might suffer because I have so much work I HAVE to do, I'd run out of time.
I'm more of a "let the day unfold" kind of person, but I do like routines. At my aunt's summer cottage the whole day was a routine: from getting up in the morning, dressing, making a huge breakfast served on Victorian china, cleaning the kitchen, going "up town" for groceries, coming home, making "dinner"--we had our main meal at noon, cleaning up the kitchen, then I would go to the beach and hang out with friends while my aunt watched soap operas, and I'd spend other afternoon time reading or sewing. Then we would have a light supper in front of the TV and watch 60s shows until 10. Then go to bed. Next day, rinse and repeat.
I like the idea of household chores being split up like Gardnr's mom did it. I tried Flylady for a while, but I just fell out of it.
Catherine,
I do have a Fitbit and little Doc Holliday is definitely helping with my step count. I've been averaging about 13,000 steps per day. He also lives on the other side of town, so I spend about 30 minutes getting to & from him.
Gardenarian
7-21-18, 2:10am
Does any ever feel a little annoyed at the amount of time you have to give to your dog?
I have a lovely, well mannered Border Collie, but sometimes I feel my schedule is dictated by her needs more than my own.
I am naturally inclined to develop routines - so much so that I have be careful not to fall into ruts.
Teacher Terry
7-21-18, 2:13am
Only when I had 5 dogs and 3 on 4 medications 3 time a day. Now 3 dogs is a breeze.
My entire family is gone this week to various places and I’m home alone for a week. I’m loving it. Even though all the kids are out of the house, and husband doesn’t expect me to cook or anything, it still feels like I’m totally free this week.
I can’t imagine choosing to have a pet. After raising kids and moving on to not having those responsibilities any more, I want nothing to do with several times a day tasks that determine my schedule. My job takes enough of my autonomy away. I want all the rest of the time for myself.
And yes I love my family. 😄
Does any ever feel a little annoyed at the amount of time you have to give to your dog?
Well just a little, but very little. I am glad that I have to walk him for my exercise. I love the commitment and trigger of visiting all kinds of people in my walks. I like being greeted when I return home at the end of a social outing. It is a struggle sometimes to have to plan my dog walker or kennel time a few days ahead when a spontaneous activity would be fun to do.
Does any ever feel a little annoyed at the amount of time you have to give to your dog?
True confessions time.
Our dog was ten years old when we got her. As with most rescue dogs, you don't get much history. The story we pieced together was that Dog belonged to an old lady who, apparently, had little to do besides spoil Dog. Then something happened that prevented Owner from caring for Dog. Owner's daughter took in Dog but that didn't work out so Dog was surrendered. Dog was fostered 2-3 months before we adopted her.
We suspect that, as a result of moving between so many "owners" in a relatively short time, Dog developed a personalilty disorder. She was indifferent to most people but she keyed on me to the point of obsession. As an example, Dog was so food-motivated that she would start whimpering and shaking 30-40 minutes before mealtime, almost like she was diabetic and needed to eat. We had her checked; no problems. She performed this act only for me, not anyone else. Lots of broken trains of thought and re-read paragraphs because she was impossible to ignore.
Come last Daylight Savings switch, Dog started waking up as soon as it was light -- and then waking me up to go outside and to eat. She never bothered DW. If I shooed her away she was like a snooze alarm, good for about 10 minutes before she was back. I lost about an hour of sleep a night because of this. I tried napping during the day, but 1) my schedule often did not permit it; 2) I can't fall asleep whenever I feel like it; and 3) if I did nap, Dog would start whining early about eating or she'd bark at someone moving outside (even if they were across the street and walking away).
I concluded some time ago that, because of my chronic lack of sleep and her obsession with me, the quality of my life was higher without Dog. But we'd committed to her and I really don't think Dog could have handled being adopted elsewhere.
Then she developed dementia. Poop and pee in the house, even less of a sense of time or place, ... but she still could get around on her own. Until she could not. A little over a week ago, Dog came into the room we were in and (we can only assume) had a heart attack. By the time we got her to the emergency vet (10-15 minutes, tops) her heart had stopped.
It's odd not seeing Dog's face in the window as I drive away or back. It's sad not getting the back-on-hind-legs greeting after I'd been out of the house. But -- call me terrible and think less of me if you want -- I am sleeping enough, finally. My BP and blood glucose levels have gone down in the past week. I can string together consecutive thoughts and plan projects because my time isn't so broken up now at a time of someone else's choosing. Annoyed? I was, mightily. I miss Dog, but DW and I have to admit she was really broken when we got her and I took the brunt of that brokenness. That part I won't miss.
Teacher Terry
7-21-18, 11:24pm
Thank you Steve for giving her a great life. It is okay to feel relief when she is gone. I have been though this.
iris lilies
7-22-18, 1:59am
Steve, the little ones can make you crazy. My 16 year old senior citizen
Frenchie yapped and yapoed and yapped. We were relieved when it was obviously time to euthanize her.
Teacher Terry
7-22-18, 10:10am
2 of our dogs are 13 and 14. The 13 yo is really old as he is 80lbs. We are debating once the 2 old ones pass if we will get a buddy for the 1 yo. Couldn’t live without at least one dog.
Gardenarian
7-24-18, 6:47pm
Thank you for sharing your story, Steve - and for telling it so well. It put things in perspective for me. It was wonderful of you to do as much as you did for Dog, and of course you felt relieved when she died - you got your health and your life back!
My dog has no special needs. I'm the problem - I feel guilty if I don't spend all my time playing with her. I need to get a grip. I do enjoy walking an hour or two and playing catch a few times. That's enough, right?
My dog wants to play all the time - well, so do I, but our ideas of play differ. This has been really helpful to me - I have repeated this same pattern in other relationships and it's time to get off the guilt wagon.
Anyhow!
My routine is to get up 6:30-7, make tea and read the paper and do the crossword. Around 8:30, walk my dog :)
Get back to the house 10-11, make something to eat.
If I'm working, the hours are usually 12-6. I'm not working much these days, so more often I spend some time puttering in the garden or around the house and playing with my dog. It's usually at this time that my day gets focussed, and I'll decide what to do.
I may go swimming or hiking, and generally don't get back till 6ish.
I might run errands: library, drugstore, gym, hardware store, food co-op.
I might have a class (I belong to OLLI.)
I might work on a painting; I've been doing acrylics and enjoying that.
Whatever, I generally find I do SOMETHING productive between 1ish and 6ish, and
Then I have something else to eat, play with dog a bit.
(I usually eat just twice a day, early lunch and early dinner.)
Once or twice a week I have dance in the evening.
Once or twice a week I meet DH for a drink (half of Guinness please!) and sometimes a show or movie.
I spend many of my evenings reading.
I often walk my dog again in the evening.
If I haven't had much exercise, I'll go to the gym for an hour before reading.
In the spaces between, I practice French on Duolingo, hang out with DD (recently moved out,) write in my journal, check my email, play on the internet.
I'm completely off routine at the moment due to severe wildfire smoke, and am often at a loss - what do I do?
Gardenarian
7-25-18, 7:25pm
Also, we have a dog door which I couldn't live without. We actually have 2 dogs, but one is very low maintenance and prefers DH.
Dog door here too! Our oldest dog had not been properly potty trained. He is highly food driven, so in his little mind he should get a treat each time he peed. Well, no! So he is a dog who - when removed from the dog door environment - needs to pee at least 4 times before you can trust him to be comfortable back inside. If I see his sweet face after one tinkle, I send him away! Not gonna cut it, dude! Try again!
Teacher Terry
7-27-18, 12:43pm
We don’t have a dog door because all but 1of our dogs is between 5-10 lbs and being outside alone is too dangerous. We inherited my son’ big guy 4 years ago and if we are gone longer than 5 hours we just put him outside. We trained the little ones to pee pads. I use the washable ones instead of the disposables.
TT, I swear we had a hawk that thought my 12 lb schnauzer was fair game. My current schnauzer is over 20lbs, so the hawk has moved on!
Teacher Terry
7-28-18, 11:01am
We have hawks too and people have lost their small dogs. People also have been seeing coyotes right in town early in the morning or at night. Since the big guy is bigger than them not a issue but will be once he is gone. He is old.
Simplemind
7-28-18, 11:14am
The components are the same but time of year moves them around a bit. These days with high heat have really impacted our daily walks and I've had to do my gardening first thing in the morning as opposed to the afternoons.
Get up at 7a, have coffee and read the paper while watching Good Morning America.
Take dog for 3.5 mile walk come back and go to water aerobics.
10a is breakfast and a bit of a rest.
10:30 deliver Meals on Wheels until 12:30-1p
Rest a bit and then check the ongoing chore list to see what fits for the day (or energy level), errands or appointments.
Depending on heat level we will take another 3 mile walk with the dog after dinner.
Sunday is somewhat a day off from everything because I'm on call from 7a-7p and can't get dirty or too far from the car.
Wrestle my way out of bed. Make coffee. Check BookBub, read email.
Make brunch. Read.
Negotiable.
Watch news.
HappyHiker
7-29-18, 7:53pm
My morning routine is pretty simple. We're both quasi-retired -- but do in-our-home pet-sitting -- one dog at a time. If no dog in residence, one of us makes coffee and brings it to other person who is still a-bed. Later on, I usually make a simple breakfast -- veggie omelet or my new kick, 3 ingredient (egg, oatmeal, banana) baked "Oaty-cakes."
Then get on the 'net to check for emails, news, discussion boards, FB, etc.
Then weather permitting a walk or bike ride, of if not weather permitting, the gym for 1 hour to 1.5 hours.
If dog in residence then playtime in back yard or dog walk, if dog guest likes to walk. Some of our elder guests don't much want to walk...
Tues. mornings, go to library for volunteer work. Weds. mornings, go to women's breakfast.
That's about it...I'm easy to please and truth told, kind of lazy. Like to hang around the house, putter in the garden, read a lot...put on some tunes and dance around the kitchen.
Wrestle my way out of bed. Make coffee. Check BookBub, read email.
Make brunch. Read.
Negotiable.
Watch news.
Jane,
I love reading your posts because you are to the point and very
funny!
Linda (in SoCal)
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