The Beautiful Routine

Routines can be beautiful. Right now I am riding high and fast on the routine train and the days and weeks are flying by me. Time seems to be going at a hare's pace and shows no sign of slowing. It is already spring and summer is right around the corner. Yes, the routine contributes to this curve in the space-time continuum. Routines are not, however, always fit for comparison to Star Trek-coined phrases: sometimes they can be bad.

Having just recently completed my 5-year stint at university in very anti-routine fashion, I am relatively new to this routine thing. My previous experience was spoiled by a little government organization known as the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency, or, more colloquially, Revenue Canada. Here I was able to sample from the post-university buffet and was categorically unimpressed. I think someone poisoned that dish with a vile of monotony. Now I realize that routine is not synonymous with monotony and the future seems a little brighter. With the right recipe I think routine can make a tasty dish.

First, you must have a good overall structure to the routine (i.e. starting work at 11am) and fill it with the occasional time to, say, check up on your Canucks. Then, fill the rest of your time with blocks of certain tasks or events. These events should be the same everyday, but have space within them for variety. Finally, sprinkle on some weekends full of relaxation and absolutely no responsibility and you are cooking up a fine routine. In this place I have found comfort in my time in Korea.

Overall, you should have days that sort of blend into each other, but in the end are distinguishable. You should not, as in the case of Revenue Canada, have such malicious monotony that your routine looks flat and lifeless because, remember, you are what you eat.

Don't burst my bubble,
Joe