The value of routine
Lately I’ve been struck by how much I’ve become a creature of habit. And naturally, this has got me thinking about what this means for my work.
For reference, here is what a typical workday looks like for me:
6:45 alarm
7–7:45 dress, make smoothie, check for emergency emails
7:45–8 ride to work with girlfriend in tow
8:15 get coffee at CoffeeCultures in my Trusty Mug
8:16–9 sit quietly, sketch, plan my day, people watch
9–12 work (meetings, design, operations, email)
12–1 lunch
1–2 work
2 nab an Ambrosia (medium sweet, cream) from the Philz truck
2:15–6:30 work (design, production)
6:30–9 home/personal time/surf
9-? a bit more work
Routine benefits
I’ve come to quite like this routine of mine. It’s familiar, it provides what feels like a good balance of work along with breaks in the day to reset my brain and give me breathers. And it seems to be at the limit of what “productive” means for me, i.e. 10–12 hours of work and 2–4 hours of personal time. I’m not a machine, I can’t work 18+ hour days on the regular. I value my work-life balance and sanity too much for that (life is too short to not spend time with loved ones and do things other than work).
There’s also plenty of evidence that routine is actually a useful productivity device. Famous artists, creatives and politicians all have wildly different schedules and definitions of productivity, yet all share one thing in common:they follow routines.
And yet.
I can’t shake this nagging suspicion that maybe my routine could use some selective editing. Sure, I try to shake it up every once in awhile by working from home or a cafe, or surfing before work, or splitting my day into 30 minute design sprints, or going for a ride, or or or…
But is it enough?
The issue is, when I look back in 5, 10, 30 years, will I think “you did all you could to be productive and kick ass”, or will I feel regret at not having done enough? Of course, the real question is whether there’s more to life than being productive, but that’s a topic for another day.
The routine narrative
Over the last few years I’ve developed this positive internal narrative that having a routine sets expectations for my brain around when it needs to do what: meetings in the morning, design and production in the afternoon, a mix of both at night. It seems to make sense on the surface, and I can pat myself on the back for a job well done at having a “good” routine.
But humans are remarkably adaptable, and I can’t help but wonder if my brain has adapted to this schedule and is actually working less overall. Similar to Tim Ferriss’ idea in 4 Hour body of shocking your metabolism once a week with crazy caloric intake, maybe I need to shock my “brain metabolism” to keep it on its toes, to prevent mental atrophy.
The more I dig in, I see the positives and negatives of routine in other parts of my life as well. For example, I’ve found corollaries in my surfing practice: if I surf the same wave day in, day out, I definitely get strong and my reflexes improve — but my body also adapts very quickly. Muscles that ached on the first day are relaxed by the 3rd, as they become accustomed to the fatigue. Where I initially found it tough to read the wave and paddle appropriately, after a few days I’m paddling more efficiently and have the place dialed.
There are examples of the benefits and negatives of routine in my personal life as well; to whit:
I try to talk to my parents every day. They live far away, and staying in touch and being connected to them feels important to me (that, and they’re my closest friends). However, a daily call can sometimes turn into conversational repetition,
“Anything new since yesterday? No? Oh well, chat tomorrow then…”
Having a routine is the correct gesture, I think, but the end result might not be what was intended. Ironically, it appears that the side effects of routine can serve to undermine our original intent.
The question then becomes not, “Should I have routine”, but “How can I make sure to routinely question my routine?”
Photo cred to ryuu ji 竜次