Letting go of routine (just a little)

Routines are great, especially if we operate with low energy. They provide us with a sort of safe zone and an autopilot that allows us to regularly move our create work along in a way that we have learnt to trust in.

A routine that works well

My morning routine works very well for me. I wake up, flick my teasmade switch and whilst I wait for the wonderful machine to brew me my first cup of tea of the day I start to write my morning pages. I pause midway through my pages to drink some tea and then write on.

Routines can be excellent crutches on bad days

Usually by this point a cat (or two) is letting me know it’s time for breakfast and so I go downstairs, carrying the remains of my tea in hand, and feed them. I usually empty the dishwasher as the cats eat (hopefully not squabbling) and then decide whether it’s a coffee or a and lemon and ginger tea morning. Clutching my coffee (or tea) I head out to my studio to record my One Thing Today podcast and my working day is underway.

On a particularly low energy day I know this routine will get me through my morning and gets a few things I want to do done. It has developed over months and years and I trust in it and am therefore loathed to tamper with it. Whilst it isn’t exactly set in stone I do notice even minor (unplanned) fluctuations make me feel slightly panicked!

A glimpse of a different perspective

On my recent trip to London I tried to keep the routine going as much as I could (minus the cat feeding and dishwasher emptying!). I woke up at around the same time I do at home, made a cup of tea while I began writing my morning pages, drank the tea and then went on to record a podcast. It all felt very familiar and safe despite the unfamiliar surroundings.

On the second day of my visit I changed hotels. In the morning in the new hotel I put the kettle on to make my morning cuppa, popped the teabag (from the little tray of tea and coffee offerings I love finding in hotel rooms when I travel) in a mug and looked for some milk. There wasn’t any! Such a little thing, but not part of my usual routine. The cup of milkless tea was fine, I actually rather enjoyed the change, but it broke the spell of my routine.

Can routines lead to a creative rut?

The black tea, being hotter than normal,  took me longer to drink and I began to think about how routines can, as well as being our creative friends, also become creative ruts. Was I in a creative rut? It was interesting that I had come away to a big city and still stuck obsessively to a tried and trusted routine. How would it be it as well as not having milk in my tea I didn’t write my morning pages, but rather went for a walk in the early morning of the city instead? How about if I let myself sleep later or, unholy of unholies, stayed up late?!

My rather mutinous thoughts have stayed with me all week. My routine, truth to tell, has been a huge comfort and crutch this week, getting me through a rather tired time, helping me move my work on and making me feel grounded. Nonetheless I have been watching the days unfold and wondering, if, just for a while, how things would be if I did things differently. What for instance if I took a break from routine completely?!

Declaring a holiday!

A scary thought, but one I’ve decided to follow. I’m going to declare a week’s holiday, let go completely of my routine and see what fills the space. I have no plans beyond not doing what I usually do. That means for a week there’ll be no new blog posts, tweets, podcasts, microMags, letters or postcards. 

I suspect I’ll still write morning page, but perhaps not in the morning. I’m quite sure I’ll still be drinking plenty of tea (but perhaps without milk).

I hope you’ll forgive me and still be around when I return on Monday 1st August.

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