Finding Routine in the Mundane

I have no routine right now. That is neither good nor bad. Just different. 

I have a love-hate relationship with routine. When it's working for me I love it; when it's not I hate it. Maybe that's a truism. 

This morning I woke up at more or less my usual time. I got up and had my tea, puttered a bit, handled a few phone calls, finally ate some breakfast, and made a list of things to attempt accomplishing today.

My best friend reminded to find "small victories". I had a nice rambling chat with my daughter. I organized the laundry closet and did some laundry. I talked with my son's girlfriend (how nice that she stopped by to pick up some stuff and made time to talk!).

I paid some bills and organized some paperwork. Answered a few emails. Checked Facebook and the news. 

All of these mundane bits and pieces did something unexpected for me -- I found myself. I felt a little like Sabrina in the movie of the same name, except of course she "found" herself in Paris. Somehow it's fitting for me that I found myself in the routine, mundane activities, because in truth that is who I am. I'm not interested in flashy events and behaviors. I'm not belittling myself here. Quite the contrary, I enjoy my mundane routine. 

So those are my ramblings for today. Nothing exceptional or amazing, except that finding myself felt pretty exceptional to me!

My Daily Routine -- Day 10

It's funny that this is one of the prompts for this meme, because I've been thinking about posting about a new routine I've been using.

I am the queen of lists, but I've also always had a hard time getting into a consistent routine that works for me. Now that my kids are both in college, I'm perfecting a new approach. I'm usually hesitant to share things like this, for fear of being judged and found lacking. But what the heck, Tiffany put it out there so lets see how it goes.

I created a chart for myself that works for me pretty well. It's very open ended, but gives me lots of space to jot down the random things that come into my head during each day.

Each Sunday I print a new copy (or if I'm really feeling organized I'll print out a month's worth at time.)

Then I sit down and fill in the recurrent events. For me this includes:
--checking my schedule 
--doing my devotion
--working on memory work
--updating my blog
--making the bed
--shower, dress, etc.

Once those items are set, I fill in any appointments I know I have coming up during the week. Next I schedule in exercise. I like to check the weather to help me determine what exercise will look like for the week.

Each evening I sit down with my clipboard and mark off what I've accomplished, what needs to be moved to the next day, and then look over what's on the agenda for tomorrow. 

This format has helped me learn to roll with the punches, as it were, because very few items are "written in stone". It gives the ability to move things around at will, while still being able to see the overall layout for each week.

So there it is. How does your day work?

linking up with 31 day blog challenge