A Routine Isn't Only For Dancers!
by CEO (Cynthia Ewer, Organized)
Editor, Organized Home
 In our go-go, late-night, glamour-obsessed culture, you'll seldom hear anyone preach
the virtues of a routine. So dull. So boring. Right up there with prunes, housedresses,
Geritol and sensible shoes.
Well, don't you believe it! Far from being frumpy and dated, a properly crafted routine
can free you from the tyranny of constant decision-ducking, addiction to time-wasters, and
what Pam and Peggy describe as the "IGAD" syndrome: "Get ready to cook
dinner? I've Got All Day. [time passes] IGAD! There's nothing for dinner!"
Chances are, you already have a routine. Are there times in the day when you always
read the paper? Log onto the Internet? Catch a favorite TV show? That's the skeletal
evidence of a routine. By building on those "bones", we can find ready-made
motivation. I know I can get through my hated evening chores in order to get to that
scheduled hour of reading before bed! Budget the luxuries first, that's my motto!
How do you move from a haphazard routine to one that more clearly reflects the way
you'd like to live? Pam and Peggy suggest a set of seven yellow cards. Turn them on end,
and using a pen, write the days of the week--one per card--across the top.
Using your bed- and wake-up times, divide your day in half. Write the hours of each day
down the left side of the card, half on the front and half on the back. The CEO gets up at
5:00 a.m. and withers on the vine by 9:30, so she has the hours from 5:00 a.m. to noon on
the front, and 1:00 p.m. to bedtime on the back of the Daily Routine Cards. You've just
made your little beacon through the days (or daze) of your life!
Next step, using pencil, begin filling the "musts" on the cards: work
schedules, kiddy driving chores, meals, exercise classes, church--anything that has a
fixed time in your routine. It may be helpful to do this step day by day, over a week. At
the end of each day, pencil in your card: what did you do today? The goal is to get a
snapshot of your week, in order to see where your time is really going.
When you've filled in all your "must-do" items, you're ready to work. Compare
the Daily Routine Cards to your Basic Week Plan. If you've set aside Tuesday for Heavy
Cleaning day, but that's also the day you have to drive the gymnastics carpool, volunteer
at the thrift shop, and take a class in accounting . . . well, now you know one reason why
you've been skipping all those cards. Some adjusting of the BWP will be in order.
At the end of this process, your free time (nearly-nonexistent as it may be) will be
evident. Give some good, hard thought to what you want to do with this time, and think
hard about what you have been doing with it. Seeing, in graphic pencil, how scarce are
your few free hours is a dramatic motivator to use them wisely.
When you've filled in your Daily Routine Cards, you've just made most of the time-use
decisions you'll ever need to make. Until conditions change, of course--probably next
week!
Put your Daily Routine Card behind each daily divider, and look at it first thing, each
morning. It will be a road map through the chaos of the day. Better, since it's in pencil,
you can make any needed changes.
A well-crafted routine frees decision-making energy, energy you can put to better use
taking up English handbells, sewing that new outfit, or just plain lazing on the sofa with
a book. Get in step with Daily Routine Cards . . . and get organized!
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