Working Out A Daily Work Routine

 I decided to write a blog on a daily work routine when my daily routine broke down and I was feeling depressed and anxious. At my age, I don’t have many close friends, certainly none nearby, and my relatives are all busy with far more important things than responding to my whining about my lackadaisical lifestyle.

When this happens, I do two things.

First, I take my dog for a walk. This does a couple of useful things. First, it makes one sentient being on this planet exceedingly happy. And second, it gets my body moving, which I am told by my health-conscious sisters is a good thing.

The second thing I do is write about whatever is bothering me.

That’s how writers usually handle their problems. They put everything down on paper (or a screen) and hope that solves the problem. It rarely does, but it does keep us busy so that we don’t notice the problem is getting worse.

So here are my thoughts on what went wrong with today.

Why is a routine necessary?

Human beings are terribly predictable creatures. Give us some free time and we will find the least productive thing to do with it. Normally, we try to do things that gives us instantaneous gratification. For me, these instant gratification things include eating, watching YouTube videos, listening to cable news channels until I become furious with the world, staring at the pile of dishes in my sink, and wondering if I can sneak off to bed again.

However, having a routine changes all of those priorities. It pulls you away from the world of self-gratification to the much more refined world of self-guilt. The guilt starts immediately, as soon as you realize that such a list of action items exists.

My list is on my computer, in a folder called “Drawer 1 – Daily Work.” The first item in that drawer is a folder called “Morning Routine.” I mean, damn, I even call it a routine! The routine itself consists of seven action items.

1.     2025 – Shopify Daily Sales (a tracking form)

2.     Social Media Follower Tracking (another damn tracking form)

3.     Social Media Worksheet (to plan out any of my social media posts)

4.     Mailchimp promo schedule (monthly) – a list of all the books that MisquePress will promote this month

5.     Blogs (yeah, you know, to write this kind of stuff)

6.     30 Day Marketing Plan

7.     Link to the in-progress draft of my current work

There is also a folder of all the promotional materials I have collected and a Planning Calendar, in case I want to see visually what my schedule looks like.

Each of these items triggers specific work activities that presumably will keep me up to date. The first four items usually take about 1 to 2 hours to complete. Item 5 is highly variable and not always required. Item 6 is just to remind me of the bigger picture, and trust me, I try not to look at it as often as I can!

Item 7, however, is supposed to be the highlight of my workday. If I don’t get to it, I get very depressed.

What constitutes a good routine?

The answer to this might vary depending on who answers it. In my opinion, a good routine is one that is not so rigid that it can’t be broken, postponed, switched around, and added to. It is even better if the routine allows for the introduction of physical activities.

A good routine allows for a balance between critical action items and non-critical action items. If everything is a top priority, it turns out that nothing is important. A good routine, like any good schedule, should ensure that important things are handled, and less important things are scheduled in case there is a deviation in the execution of important tasks.

What are the pitfalls?

One of the most significant pitfalls of a routine is boredom. Most routines fall apart because the person performing the routine gets so used to doing the required activities that they no longer provide any excitement or joy.

Another pitfall of any routine is focusing on the trivial rather than the important. By this I mean that the reason for a routine is to accomplish important work or life objectives. When the effort becomes more focused on following the routine rather than the work or life objectives, the routine becomes self-defeating.

Do the benefits outweigh the downsides?

As long as you are focused on the big picture – the purpose for having the routine in the first place, then the benefits outweigh any of the downsides. When you lose sight of why you even have a routine, it’s time to walk the dog, then come back home and do the dishes.