What Kind of Routines Do You Have?
You have routines if you brush your teeth, exercise regularly, or store your phone in the same pocket each day. You probably have daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly routines. Without a doubt, we all have some kind of routine.
What do you struggle with most about routines? Is it keeping up with them?
The most common problem I hear is that people struggle with communicating the routines they want to happen. As a result, these routines may not get accomplished.
For example, do you sweep the kitchen floor after dinner? I do. But is there anyone else in the family that could take on this chore? Communicating household routines can be as simple as posting a list of chores on the frig and assigning people to do each chore. It’s that easy!
Would you like to remember to replace your furnace filter monthly? Or even better, get someone else to remember? Basically, monthly chores could be grouped together and done all on the same day, like the first Saturday of each month. With this purpose in mind, everyone participates and stays accountable.
What do you struggle with most about routines? Is it keeping up with them? Share on XWhat routines do you need help with? Let us know. We probably have some great ideas for you!
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Janet Schiesl
Janet has been organizing since 2005. She is a Certified Professional Organizer and the owner of Basic Organization.
She loves using her background as a space planner to challenge her clients to look at their space differently. She leads the team in large projects and works one-on-one with clients to help the process move quickly and comfortably. Call her crazy, but she loves to work with paper, to purge what is not needed and to create filing systems that work for each individual client.
Janet is a Past Board Member of the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals and a Past President of the Washington DC Chapter of NAPO were she has been named Organizer of the Year and Volunteer of the Year.
Janet Schiesl
Janet has been organizing since 2005. She is a Certified Professional Organizer and the owner of Basic Organization.
She loves using her background as a space planner to challenge her clients to look at their space differently. She leads the team in large projects and works one-on-one with clients to help the process move quickly and comfortably. Call her crazy, but she loves to work with paper, to purge what is not needed and to create filing systems that work for each individual client.
Janet is a Past Board Member of the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals and a Past President of the Washington DC Chapter of NAPO were she has been named Organizer of the Year and Volunteer of the Year.
I absolutely have routines! I need to tweak them from time to time, but I can’t imagine living any other way.
I agree! Routines keep me sane.
Yes, I am definitely a routine lover. Every time something “new” comes into my life, I think about what routine I can develop for it. The one I am working on now is using a key for my new car that doesn’t get put into the ignition. I know it is supposed to be easier, but I find I am losing track of my key. Since my pants don’t always have pockets, I find it is sometimes in my coat, sometimes in my purse, etc.
I actually liked being able to stick it into the car and then take it out. Am I weird? I have to have it in my hand to lock the car when I get out, so I don’t feel like it is saving me anything… Oh well, I’m working on a new routine!
I agree with you about the new key fobs. I find it harder to keep track of them, especially since I already have house, office, etc keys to keep on my ring so I may as well keep them together and know where they are!
I love my routines! I have a morning and an evening routine. In thinking about it I also have a few monthly routines. These routines are terrific as I don’t even have to think about them. They are part of the way my days flow. Things get done. It’s as easy as that.
Yes, easy as that. It’s great when you don’t have to think about them.
I love routines. I have several seasonal ones, like setting up the garden or cleaning the grill. To opens that happen every day, like walking in the morning.
Seasonal routines are great!
I have some routines and others tasks that “happen” when I see a visual cue, like weeds in the flower beds or moss in the greenhouse. They nudge me. It’s time to take action.
Other household routines my husband and I divide up, but we don’t have it written down anywhere. He manages recycling and trash. I handle bill paying and updating accounts. He changes light bulbs, batteries, and clocks for “fall back” and “spring ahead.” I do the grocery shopping and laundry. We’ve been married so long (almost 40 years) that we’ve arrived at a comfortable place for handling certain things.
However, you bring up an excellent point about communication. That’s key. And also, acknowledging appreciation for handling specific tasks is too. He doesn’t need to thank me for doing the laundry, but he always does. I appreciate that and do the same for what he takes care of.
Visual cues and communication are great ways to make routines happen. And yes, even though thank yous are not always necessary, they are always welcome.
My life is a routine. I think that comes from having had a first career in television, where everything must follow a specific, time-based order, and being off by even a few seconds, let alone minutes or hours, or skipping something altogether, means loss of revenue. I don’t write down my routines because they’re innate; the only time I forget anything is if I’m not in my own space (like when I’m staying in a hotel and dining out), but sadly I can’t delegate anything in my routines because I’m a singleton. I suppose I can talk to the birds and squirrels outside my window, Cinderella-style, but the woodland creates have formed a union and aren’t eager to do my labor without fair compensation.
That makes sense! Haha love the Cinderella delegation.