A Meditation on Routine

I have often noted that it feels like I get so much more done when it feels like I have no time then when I'm off school and have plenty of time. This observation came again this past summer. While I was in school with very limited discretionary time, I had very little trouble writing a daily blog. The minute summer hit every post became a struggle.

This summer was unusually busy. We hosted both my parents at various points, we went on a family trip to South Carolina, and various other unusual situations kept us hopping to support friends and family during their own trials. Busy. However, it would be a stretch to say we were as busy as the school year. So, what happens to my writing then?

My routine radically changes. During the school year, my weekdays and much of my weekends is rigidly planned out. Rigid in the sense that certain things must happen so everything else get squished into the gaps like mortar in a brick wall. Last year I got into a very comfortable evening routine of home, food, read to/play with Thomas, (optional evening movie for super worn out days), Thomas goes to sleep, I write a post or two. Each activity is pretty variable in how much time it takes, but the order is consistent. There is a similar progression to the weekends. During the summer there is no dictated order to the days....which I like, but it means that writing kept getting squeezed out somehow.

All this underscores how important routine is to meeting goals. It's easier to build a routine when time is short because it's a process of prioritization. To build a routine outside of a time crunch seems to require enormous discipline. The siren call of "let's do it later" is all the more seductive when it feels like there is tons of later out there to use. Before I know it, later is all used up and I'm back to my time crunch.

So long term goal for the post academic year is to build a writing routine that I maintain through school holidays and breaks. There, I said it. Feel free to heckle me if I fall behind.