Routine Maintenance
I have no idea why I’ve settled on 4:52 as my wake-up time. It was even earlier back in my Air Force days (and my go-to-sleep time was much later.) I did a lot of burning the candle at both ends back then and didn’t carry the respect for a good seven-plus hours of sleep that I do now. So why am I getting up before 5 am?
Because I got things to do! If you read my blog post after COVID Year 1, then you recognize I’m a counter. I like to keep track of things in my little day planner (books read, miles run, hot tub usage, etc.) You know—important things. Add them up at the end of the year, put them in a spreadsheet, and then hide them on my computer so no one calls me out for being weird.
But it’s not just counting. I like a routine, too. Probably sounds funny from a guy who spent 30 years in the military, moving every 1-2 years, and deploying overseas regularly in between assignments. It was hard to keep a consistent routine, but I always gave it my best shot, especially with working out and reading.
It’s not like routines are odd—they’ve been around forever and plenty of the “big names” are fans. The Stoic philosopher, Seneca, said,
“Life without design is erratic.”
A couple of decades later, Epictetus noted,
“Progress is not achieved by luck or accident but by working on yourself daily.”
Leap forward a couple of thousand years and I think author Annie Dillard says it best,
“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. What we do with this hour, and that one, is what we are doing. A schedule defends from chaos and whim. It is a net for catching days…”
These days, I have the time and stability for a routine—and I’ve become slightly obsessed with it.
Breaks in my routine annoy me.
There in lies the crux of the problem. I think those long-dead philosophers were right about the importance of designing a life, developing key habits, and incremental improvements. But they were giving advice on how to be better, not how to live better. It’s easy to look forward on a chessboard and try to figure out your next move, but you have to remember your opponent gets a move as well. In other words, life happens to you (rather than “for” you) and if you constantly shirk from external events in order to check off your “to-do” list, then guess what?
You’re not living life.
This truth surfaced for me when four of our children returned for the holidays from college and work and joined the remaining four of us still hanging around the homestead. As I looked at the list of planned family activities (not me! I didn’t make the schedule…) my first thought was “Oh man, I’m not going to get my run done on this day. And there’s no way I’m getting any of the rest of my ‘stuff’ done on that day.” And just as I felt that twinge of annoyance, another thought struck me. It went something like this: “You are a frikkin’ idiot. Your kids traveled from the corners of the country to celebrate a holiday that is all about life, you won’t see them again for months, and you’re worried about making “X’s” in your day planner?” If I’d been standing in front of a mirror, I wouldn’t have met my own eyes.
I’m sure you all learned this lesson long ago, but thanks for letting me share life’s personal reminder to me. Do not underestimate the power of routines. They are an incredible tool to help you be better (and another opportunity for your kids to make fun about you getting older and set in your ways.)
But if you want to live better, you need to embrace the unexpected opportunities that will inevitably slam into your plans for the day. Use the routine when life is routine. Chuck it when you see a chance to get out there and LIVE.
*Note: after I posted this blog, I marked it off with an “X” in my planner