Method to my Madness

I like my routine. I take comfort in my routine and having a plan. Having a plan to follow makes it easier for me to function without losing my shit. Now while my plan is sometimes disrupted by the unforeseen, I'm not always terribly good at adapting and and adjusting my original plan to compensate for whatever winger got thrown at me. Sometimes I can roll with it, but other times it takes much more of my resources than I may have on hand to go with whatever flow I'm supposed to follow.
I absolutely do not enjoy major shifts in my plan or routine.

Me when someone expects me to adjust for their emergency. They just don't appreciate the domino effect of what they ask.

My routine provides me with a solid foundation to start my day, to accomplish  my tasks, and to return home in a satisfied way that allows me to unwind, chill, and prepare for the next day.
Before I go to work, I subscribe to a well-thought out regimen of mental health and orderliness.

1. Make coffee: I need this. I enjoy this. I gave it up once because I was overdoing the caffeine thing and got premature ventricular contractions. Not wanting to incur that weirdness again, I now exercise more moderation. My current caffeinated beverage is Three Peckered Billy Goat. No; really. It's dark roasted and yumminess.

Even this picture makes me crave the warm caffeine embrace.

2. Yoga: I either do a Rodney Yee  DVD or I use one of the Strala at Home on Youtube videos. I like the stretching, the centering, and the flexibility it gives me. However, I will not attend a yoga class. I do not have disposable income for that and ew! People! Kidding aside, I'm not interested in getting my relaxation and mindfulness on in front of other people. That's just going to make it harder.

You can't get this level of mellow with other people around. 

3. Mindful Meditation with Binaural Beats: While my coffee brews itself into deliciousness, I pop in my earbuds and listen to an app on my phone that uses binaural beats. I close my eyes and just sit there for about 15 minutes. My mind wanders--not gonna lie. However, just sitting there listening to the beats and experiencing the solitude around me for a bit is lovely. Before you "Whoa! Binaural beats are rubbish and snake oil!" No, they aren't. The claims made about them may be rubbish (OK, they are total rubbish) but the drone of the beats is what I look for. It's like the meditative chanting that monks do. Some say "Ohm," I listen to the dull hum on my earbuds. When I have a headache, adding the white noise track helps me focus on my task rather than my pain.

Umm, what? How the hell are they doing that in a room full of people? 

4. Exercise: Again, not going to an exercise class. Icky! I don't like sweating in front of other people, and I don't like locker rooms. I also don't like work outs that take longer than 30 minutes. Working out is a solo gig for me.  I do those 30 day challenges. I also do work out DVDs at home. I go for walks. I go for bike rides, at least I will go for bike rides once I can wear my helmet again. Apparently it is still too heavy for my post surgery neck according to the surgeon. *sigh My point is, I need exercise as part of my routine. I did not enjoy not getting any kind of physical exertion while I recovered from surgery. I got excited when the surgeon said I could slowly work back into my burpee, plank, and free weight routine.

Oh FFS! It's the stuff of nightmares I tell you!

5. To Do List: So this is more of an afternoon task, but it is ready and waiting for me in the morning. I have one for the weekends and I make one before I leave the workplace every afternoon. Crossing items off is deeply satisfying. It also helps me prioritize my tasks. It's horribly vexing when something keeps getting moved from one day's list to the next's, but sometimes things demand more time than I anticipate or something happens to completely throw off my original plan. That makes me plain crabby, but what are you going to do? Put it on the next day's list so you don't forget about it altogether. I enjoy knowing what my day will demand and what I need to accomplish.

That's how this Goat rolls, yo!

6. Chores: I'm not entirely sure where I developed such a cleanliness fetish, but I like a tidy living space. Before work, I make sure I do a little work like emptying or loading the dishwasher, putting a load of laundry in, taking out trash, or even disinfecting the bathroom. I do a little each day so on the weekends I don't have to. I also do some when I get home after work. I try to get in 30-45 minutes a day just so I don't log hours on the weekend. It keeps the place looking presentable most of the time. If it's messy on the weekend, I can't relax. I must handle it.

Hardwood floors + cats in spring = a losing battle. You can only manage the fur, not eliminate it. I accept this.

7. Fun: I also make sure that I have time just for fun. It might be Diablo III or it might be dancing. Learning new moves takes time, so putting on music and experimenting is important. Reading. I cannot describe my deep and abiding love for the written word. I just downloaded two new books in preparation for spring break, but I don't think I can wait. I shall begin before break. I might also indulge in my current binge watching of Grimm. Amazon and Netflix make it so easy to while away a little unstructured time.

My monk is more bad ass than Zen.

8. Feline Time: Yup. I'm a cat lady and I embrace it. I make time to give them a little undivided attention whether it's play time or grooming time. Sometimes it's just one of the conversations where they meow and I respond with a narrative structure. It's therapeutic and necessary. Totally.

Hissy commands: Look deep into my eyes, Human. You shall provide me with lovins only so far as I tolerate. No more. No less. And immediately.

9. 4-7-8: This is something my husband shared with me. It's intended to help manage anxiety and it does help me sleep as well as manage my emotional responses. It's a breathing technique. In through the nose for 4 counts. Hold with the tongue pressed to the hard palate for 7. Breathe out through the mouth for 8. I use it before work, during work, and after work. It's also particularly helpful for when you run across bullshit on Facebook that vexes you into a blathering ranty state.

You're doing it anyway. Might as well make it count.

10. Learn Something: My day is simply not complete if I did not learn something new. It might be something I sought out. I might be current events. It might be a new belly dance move or a new music group. New recipes and cooking techniques are fantastic. It doesn't matter what I learn, but I value knowledge. Sometimes what I learn is not particularly pleasant, but I still know more than I did when I woke up. Sometimes I learn perspective. Sometimes I learn patience rather than facts. Learning something is an objective each day regardless of what it was that I learned.

 A Goat needs time to process all that learnin'.

So you see, my routine is quite precious to me. When I don't have something on this list each day, its absence is felt. I honestly don't know how to be unfettered and spontaneous all the time. It's one thing to randomly decide to go out for dinner or to call a friend for coffee; those fall under fun time. However, not to have a morning prep routine or to-do list?