[Jawbone54]

I was lying here in bed watching Seinfeld, and realized that so much of every day is routine.

1. I watch Seinfeld on DVD every single night, all in order, disc by disc, season by season. When the episodes are done, I watch them with commentary (when available). Then I exhaust the other special features and move on. I've watched through the series maybe seven or eight times. I can't sleep without it playing.

2. I shower by routine. Washrag to face, shower gel application, wash, shampoo hair, facewash, then turn heat on full blast and just melt for a few minutes.

3. Deodorant, floss, brush teeth, Listerine, do hair.

4. Clothing is applied in particular order. Boxers, undershirt, socks. The right sock always has to go on first. Then jeans, belt, shirt, shoes.

5. I put keys in right pocket, phone in left, USB drive in left, wallet in back/right. As I walk out of rooms (and sometimes down the street) I rapidly pat my pockets from front right, front left, then back right.

6. I eat one bowl of cereal every night. The dog is given exactly two pieces of cereal. We practice her sitting and waiting for command trick every time. I take it in the room and watch Seinfeld.

7. Everything I do work-related is based upon a very specific routine. Everything.

So I have two questions for all of you:

Is any of this behavior bordering on OCD?

Secondly, what kind of routines (particularly odd ones) do you have?

[ghporter]

Routines and habits relieve us from the cognitive burden of managing simple, everyday activities. They allow us to concentrate on more important, more challenging issues without wondering "did I brush my back teeth?" Nothing you listed is at all OCD, it's just routine.

You may want to add some variety to your life in other areas, such as doing something other than watching Seinfeld on DVD. You could watch another series, watch something current on TV, or do something completely different. But you'd almost certainly do that different thing in the same timeframe you currently watch Seinfeld. That would allow you to fit it into your routine. And that's a fairly good thing, because it would give you control of the variability you've introduced.

[Atheist]

Originally Posted by Jawbone54 

Is any of this behavior bordering on OCD?

Secondly, what kind of routines (particularly odd ones) do you have?

Not OCD, but potentially OCPD.

I am the exact opposite. Not sure if there is a medical term for it but I'm deeply averse to routine. Spontaneity is the name of the game for me.

If I lived with someone like you I'd go insane! (Sorry.. not trying to be mean.)

[osiris]

It's good to break routine - it makes you aware that you're alive and a thinking person, not a robot. You may also run into an adventure or two.

I don't think you're OCD, only a doctor could answer that. Thing is, can you stop or change your habits?
The Seinfeld thing is interesting - I often use a similar method for writing - as a sort of meter or metronome. I once played the movie "Brazil" continuously for 3 straight days.

[mattyb]

This will just prove how boring my life is :

07H20 wake, toilet, prepare bottle for son, put son in high chair and cool down the bottle because I always heat up the milk too much. Accept telling-off from wife.
07H30 shower and sometimes shave.
07H40 eat, cereal - Special K, always Special K. Complain to wife that I always eat Special K.
07H45 shout at daughter to wake up, clean up milk from the floor where my son has thrown the nearly empty bottle in disgust that its nearly empty.
07H50 Leave daughter and son to hopefully slit each others throats while I dress then brush teeth. No idea if I put socks on the same way each day, I'm sort of on auto-pilot.
08H00 Leave house. Suffer in traffic. Swear at French drivers. Listen to crap radio programs.
08H25 Arrive at work, thank deity that I'm still alive.
08H35 Get to my actual desk since it takes ages to say hello in the morning to everyone - in France you shake hands with everyone that is male and kiss (air kiss type thing) every female on both cheeks (cheeks on the face) to say hello. Takes a while.
08H36 Ctrl+Alt+Sup, unlock laptop (which stays attached to docking station) check emails.
08H38 Accept offer of a coffee. Say hello to people in the offices that I pass on the way to the coffee machine that I haven't already said hello to. Talk sport. Rugby usually, sometimes football (real football for you colonials). Insult the French politicians. Insult the British weather.
08H50 Back at desk, databases checks, backup checks, solve major or minor problems. If not, search the news sites, or post on MacNN before the Americans wake up.
10H30 Second coffee
10H45 Bit of work. Send a few emails.
11H55 Organise lunch with colleagues.
12H05 First beer.
12H10 Argue over about how to run our company, France, Europe, the world.
12H15 Second beer.
12H45 Argue over which waitress would 'get it'.
13H15 Lunch over, walk back to work.
13H20 Systems check. Mail check. MacNN lounge check.
14H00 Usually some meeting or other. For telephone meetings I insist on being at my desk so that I can check the Lounge while listening to some idiot that doesn't know what he or she is talking about.
16H00 Start to wind down. News sites get better since the Americans always have so much more to say on so many more interesting subjects than us poor Europeans.
17H45 Some idiot usually telephones with an extremely urgent request, otherwise the project will cost millions more and he won't get a blow job from his wife or some such sorry excuse.
18H15 Set off home.
18H40 Arrive at home, thank deity that I'm still alive.
18H45 Greeting from kids. Either shouting and screaming or laughter and cheers. Wednesdays is guaranteed shouting and screaming since the wife has the two kids all day.
19H00 Event where food should be consumed. Rarely what happens. Sounds funny, but usually isn't.
19H45 Cleanup event. Son to bed after catching him. Shout at daughter to calm down. Bribe with Smarties.
20H00 News on TV. Shout at daughter again to be quiet.
20H15 Prepare daughter for bed. Read story. Go see son because he's jealous that we're talking to daughter and not him.
20H45 Peace. No kids. Check News on iMac. Shutdown iMac, startup Xbox. Fallout 3 or Call of Duty 4. Sometimes with a beer or eight.
21H30 Herbal tea. Maybe some dark chocolate.
23H30 Bed.
23H59 Son wakes up because he can't be bothered straightening his arm to find his dummy. I have to get up and stuff it into his mouth and calm him down.

Even though the routine doesn't change much, I'm not sure that I do things in the same way every day. I obviously have a method in how I do my job, check stuff, get info etc, but that's more to do with my work-flow and not some sort of compulsive disorder. I hope so anyway.

[OreoCookie]

Nah, it's normal. I noticed that the older I got, the more routines I have. Most of my routines are tricks to keep me from forgetting things before my first coffee kicks in.

Some examples:
(1) Before hopping into the shower, I put on my espresso maker. When I step out of the shower, I have my first sip of freshly brewed coffee.
(2) After I've woken up, I do some push-ups and some sit-ups to wake up and get in shape. (I do that only on weekdays, not on the weekend.)
(3) I only eat after I've made my bed. Because breakfast is very important to me, I always make my bed.
(4) Before I leave my apartment, I check whether all windows are closed, the stove is turned off (which I've used to make my coffee) and close from the outside using my key. Which means, my apartment is in order and I have my keys.

On the weekend, I'm much more relaxed (unless I have to get up early and don't have time to lose). I can't judge whether your behavior is bad or whether you're suffering from OCD. I guess the key point is whether you (or your family and friends) suffer from your behavioral pattern. (I find these patterns in the morning comforting, because I don't have to think too much whether I've done everything. Certain stuff that requires not much brain activity is done much faster if you try to stick to an efficient pattern. Gives me more time to focus on interesting stuff.)

[Dakar V]

Originally Posted by OreoCookie 

Because breakfast is very important to me, I always make my bed.

wat

[ghporter]

Originally Posted by Dakar V 

wat

It's a motivator. He has set a rule for himself that he can't eat breakfast until he makes his bed. This ensures that he makes his bed without having to "remember to do it."

I used a similar technique to stop eating doughnuts coworkers would bring in. I prefer the un-glazed type because all you generally taste is the glaze, so I insist that I ONLY eat un-glazed doughnuts. Krispy-Kream doesn't seem to MAKE un-glazed doughnuts, and since everyone seems to think they're the only place to get doughnuts, I wind up not having a doughnut... Starbucks started carrying breakfast foods a while back, and the only doughnuts they carry are-you guessed it!-glazed. Lucky for me, huh?

Again, routines are very important. You can use them (as in Oreo's case) to effect a change in your behavior or enforce a practice, or you can use them as autopilots. Either way, as I said, they relieve us of the mental challenge of actually thinking of and remembering what we do from day to day, moment to moment. Ever hear the old bowling joke? "The best way to get the guy you're bowling against to mess up is to ask him what he does with his little finger." That's because bowling, like walking, uses a motoric routine (really a motor program, but the idea is similar), so you don't HAVE to think about it. Try thinking about how you walk some time...if you don't fall on your face, you may wind up with sore muscles due to over control.

[Dakar V]

I'm not sure motivator is the term I'd use, but the rest of the logic makes sense, though it seems easily defeated by free will.

[sek929]

I have the complete opposite of anything remotely resembling a routine right now.

When I was working it would be...

7:00 - Wake up to alarm, turn alarm off.
7:30 - Actually wake up, jump out of bed, hat goes on head.
7:40 - Eat a quick breakfast, brush teeth, wallet in right pocket, cellphone in left.
8:00 - Arrive at jobsite, cranky, but with coffee.
8:01 - Coffee kicks in, crankiness subsides, start working.
9:30/10:00 - Break time, drink another coffee, eat a Bacon Egg and Cheese.
12:00 - Lunch time, check MacNN.
1:00 - Arrive back at jobsite
3:30 - Water break/packing up. Depending on the situation I may work for another hour.
4:00 - Home now, boots off, shirt off, pants off. sweatpants on.
5:00 - Crack a beer, roll a joint and crank the tunes.
6:00 - Dinner
7:00 - Poke the missus, crack another beer, watch TV.
9:00 - Eyes get heavy, missus goes home, TV goes to channel that will make me fall asleep (baseball in the summer is perfect for this)
11:00 - Wake up and angrily turn off TV because some loud-ass commercial came on.

Repeat.

I miss my set schedule, I mean, unemployment was fun at first....besides the whole 'being poor' thing. I stayed up till 5am playing video games, slept all day, hung out whenever I wanted. Now that awesome weather is here I am pining for a project, here's hoping we get this 300K dollar renovation.

[OreoCookie]

Originally Posted by Dakar V 

wat

Breakfast is more important to me than having my bed made. In the past this meant that I'd run for the bus without having my bed made. My apartment looked more like that of a student. Now it's a little bit cleaner. (Please, please, don't think of me as a neat freak. I'll just upload a picture of my desk to prove you wrong!)

Originally Posted by Dakar V 

I'm not sure motivator is the term I'd use, but the rest of the logic makes sense, though it seems easily defeated by free will.

Yes, sure. But I have the desire to keep my apartment (semi-)clean and I had trouble to remember/manage to do it. Now it's `automatic.'

Just think of it this way: assume you need to take something with you the next day, a document or something like that, where is the best place to put it? On top of your keys!

[turtle777]

What's making a bed ?

I purchased my bed, so I don't have to make one

-t

[Dakar V]

Originally Posted by OreoCookie 

Breakfast is more important to me than having my bed made. In the past this meant that I'd run for the bus without having my bed made. My apartment looked more like that of a student. Now it's a little bit cleaner. (Please, please, don't think of me as a neat freak. I'll just upload a picture of my desk to prove you wrong!)

I don't think there's anything wrong with a clean place... I just think making your bed is probably the last thing necessary to achieving that goal.

Originally Posted by OreoCookie 

Yes, sure. But I have the desire to keep my apartment (semi-)clean and I had trouble to remember/manage to do it. Now it's `automatic.'

I think the more correct term is conditioning.

[OreoCookie]

Originally Posted by Dakar V 

I don't think there's anything wrong with a clean place... I just think making your bed is probably the last thing necessary to achieving that goal.

It was just one small example and I do think it has contributed to my place being neater. Picking up this habit is nothing more than leaving the piece of paper I need on top of my keys.

Originally Posted by Dakar V 

I think the more correct term is conditioning.

Conditioning comes from the outside. Habitualization would probably be more suitable, because there is no one else involved.

[Salty]

I wake up, 15 minutes before I need to get out of bed, hop in the shower at 7:30, spend a minute just waking up under the hot water, shampoo, condition, leave in while I body wash, rinse off, get out, towel, I've started making a raisin bread and cheese sammich, toast the bread for that, cut the cheese, put on socks and boxers, butter bread and put cheese on, put on shirt, pants, make sure wallet is in pockets, grab my blackberry, start eating my sammich, load up backpack with water bottles for work, laptop, charger, lastly I put my iPhone headphones in and my iPhone in my pocket, grab my keys and my shoes and I'm out the door.

That's the only real routine I have.

[Dakar V]

Originally Posted by OreoCookie 

It was just one small example and I do think it has contributed to my place being neater. Picking up this habit is nothing more than leaving the piece of paper I need on top of my keys.

Contributed, sure. I just think its trivial compared to all the other ways one can be messy inside their abode. As for the keys, the difference is you don't put a piece of paper on top of your keys every day, do you? I imagine its a conscious decision to place it there so you don't forget when you do.

Originally Posted by OreoCookie 

Conditioning comes from the outside. Habitualization would probably be more suitable, because there is no one else involved.

I'm not prepared to argue the semantics of this. From a glance at dictionary I'd say you're right. A glance at thesaurus says its a po-tay-to/po-tah-to situation.

[mattyb]

5:00 - Crack a beer, roll a joint and crank the tunes.
6:00 - Dinner
7:00 - Poke the missus, crack another beer, watch TV.

Officially jealous.

[Dakar V]

Personally, I find life a little too fluid to carry a strong routine. I have more of an outline for what needs to be done. I don't shower the same way from one day to next, eat dinner at the same time, etc. But in a contradictory fashion, I can get quite flummoxed when something disrupts certain aspects of things I do daily (at the moment the only thing I can think of is I tend to ease into the day at work, and I can get agitated if approached in the first hour).

I do develop patterns (which you might call a routine) of things I do, but the pattern within them is I will eventually abandon the pattern because I get tired/bored of it or something other aspect of life renders it laborious or cumbersome to maintain.

[SSharon]

I'm still a student and so my routine depends on what time class starts on a given day.
Morning routine:
alarm goes off and I hit snooze until my wife kicks me out of bed. I generally wake up with exactly enough time to pee, brush my teeth, shower, and get dressed (in that order). I then drive 23 miles to school and sit through a few classes. On Monday and Wednesday I leave school at 1pm and go to work until 5pm. On Tuesday I am in class until 7pm and on Thursday I am in class until 8:30pm.

I never eat breakfast although today me an my wife woke up early planning on doing so together just to see what all the hubbub is about and we ended up just watching TV. We just aren't morning people or breakfast people.

When I come home I make sure I have done my reading for the next day of class and do what little real homework they assign.

Starting next week when finals start my routine changes big time. I wake up earlier, go to school, study, come home, sleep, repeat. Sometimes I eat, but I tend to eat less when I am stressed out.

[OreoCookie]

Originally Posted by Dakar V 

Contributed, sure. I just think its trivial compared to all the other ways one can be messy inside their abode.

True. I try to practice kaizen, small, steady steps of improvement. How to shorten the time it takes to keep my affairs in order, that type of stuff.

Originally Posted by Dakar V 

As for the keys, the difference is you don't put a piece of paper on top of your keys every day, do you?

No, the difference is a 30-50 % probability I'll forget what I needed to take with me. And if I need to take something with me, it's right there within reach with zero effort. I think of it when I need to think of it. This way it's out of my head when I don't need to think about it. (There are a few things I haven't quite figured out: e. g. how to not keep on forgetting to recharge the rechargeables for my bike lights.)

The opposite story would be about an ex gf I've had. She was very messy. And she always forgot where she put her keys. Instead of picking one place where she keeps the keys, she'd throw them somewhere when she comes in and looks for them when she has to leave. Of course, we both tended to be rather late and it was an additional annoyance that she didn't know where her keys were.

Much of this has to do with time: I'm rather busy and I don't have the time to spend x additional hours when I could be at the lake chilling with friends, doing research or watching the new Star Trek movie. If I have time off, I like to do the complete opposite. When I'm in a strange city, I enjoy very much walking aimlessly around for a certain period of time, doing whatever I want to. There is nothing else on my mind.

[Laminar]

7:05 Alarm
7:30 Out of bed, into shower
7:45 Out of shower, get dressed
8:05 Get to work
12:00 Lunch
5:00 Off of work

Once I'm off of work, no two days are alike. My time is spent with a mix of making supper (ha!), fixing my car, working on my bikes, watching House or any of my subscribed shows on Hulu, hanging out with the GF, or riding the motorcycle around the lake if it's nice. There's never any specific order to it, sometimes supper (ha!) is at 5:30, sometimes it's at 10. I usually have a couple bowls of either Reece's Puffs or Cinni Mini Cruch (off-brand Cinnamon Toast Crunch) before bed.

[Atheist]

This is a highly enlightening thread. So far I seem to be completely different that most folks here. I rarely know what I'm going to be doing from one day to the next. Hell, from one week to the next I'm not even sure if I'll be home in St. Maarten or up in DC for work. I've spent 6 of the last 8 weeks in DC all the while trying to get prepared to move to yet another country (Dominican Republic) next month. When I'm up in DC my schedule is really dependent upon the project I'm working on and the people I'm staying with. Very hard to try to have any type of consistent routine.

Damn... the more I think about it my life is pretty freakin' bizarre.

Anxious to hear what others experiences are.

[sek929]

Originally Posted by mattyb 

Officially jealous.

Well that was before my unemployment and subsequent move back home, now it would be.

Crack a beer, go on MacNN.
Poke the missus as silently as possible and watch TV
smoke a bone and turn on the 360
wake up to father working on one of his 7 tractors

[Chuckit]

No routine here. Yet despite that, I'm fairly predictable.

[Dakar V]

We knew you'd say that.
feel free to kill me

[Salty]

My evenings tend to be completely unplanned and fly by the seat of my pants... and most days at work are spent bored surfing the web.

[Dakar V]

Originally Posted by OreoCookie 

I think of it when I need to think of it. This way it's out of my head when I don't need to think about it.

I'm not sure I'm getting this.

Originally Posted by OreoCookie 

The opposite story would be about an ex gf I've had. She was very messy. And she always forgot where she put her keys. Instead of picking one place where she keeps the keys, she'd throw them somewhere when she comes in and looks for them when she has to leave. Of course, we both tended to be rather late and it was an additional annoyance that she didn't know where her keys were.

Picking somewhere to keep them and actually doing it are two different things, though. I mean, she has to remember to put them in a certain place when she gets home, but then again chances are if she was good at remembering things she wouldn't need to, right?

[Oisín]

I’d love to have routines. I just have too much free will and not enough strength of will. I always end up messing it up on day two or three.

My ‘routine’ would basically consist of a series of sleeping and being awake, repeat. I don’t eat at regular hours (I don’t even eat the same number of meals every day), I go to bed any time between midnight and 3 AM (sometimes later, rarely earlier), I get up any time between 8 AM and noon, I work random days, go to school random days, etc.

I think I’m pretty much like Atheist—except that I manage to do it with a completely regular ol’ stay-at-home life where I basically spend my time at home, at school, at work, playing badminton, or on the way to or from one of the above.

[mattyb]

wake up to father working on one of his 7 tractors

Officially not-jealous.

Atheist, mind answering what type of job allows you to travel like you do?

Without meaning any insults, I have a feeling that those with 'a family' tend to be those that are in routines.

[Atheist]

Originally Posted by mattyb 

Officially not-jealous.

Atheist, mind answering what type of job allows you to travel like you do?

Without meaning any insults, I have a feeling that those with 'a family' tend to be those that are in routines.

I'm a programmer/analyst/software engineer (or whatever term we're using these days). I'm able to do a lot of my work from home but there are times that they need me up in DC so they fly me up.

[Jawbone54]

Originally Posted by ghporter 

Routines and habits relieve us from the cognitive burden of managing simple, everyday activities. They allow us to concentrate on more important, more challenging issues without wondering "did I brush my back teeth?" Nothing you listed is at all OCD, it's just routine.

This is generally the way that I feel about it. There are aspects of my life that are different day-to-day, but there are certain activities that I just need to be the same so that I can think about other things.[/QUOTE]

You may want to add some variety to your life in other areas, such as doing something other than watching Seinfeld on DVD. You could watch another series, watch something current on TV, or do something completely different. But you'd almost certainly do that different thing in the same timeframe you currently watch Seinfeld. That would allow you to fit it into your routine. And that's a fairly good thing, because it would give you control of the variability you've introduced.

I have switched up and watched The Office or Arrested Development from time to time, but they don't quite hit the sandman button like Seinfeld does. My wife actually prefers Seinfeld too; we feel it's the familiar voices.

As far as variety is concerned, I'm playing in a golf tournament this weekend and going skydiving (first time ever) the next. Maybe that'll shake things up a bit.

Originally Posted by Atheist 

I am the exact opposite. Not sure if there is a medical term for it but I'm deeply averse to routine. Spontaneity is the name of the game for me.

This makes me envy you and pity you at the same time.

[QUOTEIf I lived with someone like you I'd go insane! (Sorry.. not trying to be mean.)[/QUOTE]

Trust me, no offense taken. My wife is unbelievably schedule/routine-oriented, so it works out nicely. My few little "routines" are the only organized part of my life.

[Shaddim]

I don't usually have set routines. Sometimes I go to bed at 12am and get up at 4 or 5, other times I go to bed at 10pm and get up at 3am. Most of the time I only sleep 4-5 hrs /night, so I typically get quite a bit accomplished in a day, even though it seldom feels like it. The cabbages sleep 9-10 hours and it seems strange to me.

[Oisín]

^ Dude. Four or five hours per night is not enough to live on as an average amount of sleep.

And ‘cabbage’ sort of works better as a term of endearment in French than in English …

[Laminar]

Originally Posted by Oisín 

^ Dude. Four or five hours per night is not enough to live on as an average amount of sleep.

One of my English professors was a former Army Ranger. His schedule involved writing from 12AM-2AM and sleeping 2AM-6AM, with a short nap or two scheduled during the day.

[OreoCookie]

Originally Posted by Dakar V 

I'm not sure I'm getting this.

I thought it's quite self-explanatory: the way most people's brains work is that thoughts like `I need to get milk' or `I should give my grandparents a call to see how they're doing' are occurring more or less `randomly.' Perhaps you're under the shower or in a meeting. But rarely do these thoughts spontaneously occur when you're in the grocery store standing in front of the different types of milk or when you're free and next to a phone. So one trick is to pick reminders that remind you at the right time -- just when you need it. So just when you're about to pick up the keys and leave the house, you see that you need to take something with you today (perhaps a letter you'd like to mail). If I have a message or something for colleague of mine whose desk is a mess you couldn't believe (solidly filled with stacks of paper at least 8-10 cm high!), I put it on his keyboard -- the only place where he can directly notice it.

Originally Posted by Dakar V 

Picking somewhere to keep them and actually doing it are two different things, though. I mean, she has to remember to put them in a certain place when she gets home, but then again chances are if she was good at remembering things she wouldn't need to, right?

No, it's not about the difference between picking a place and sticking to it, as far as I could tell she has never even made the conscious decision to pick a place.

To me, habits are there to take my mind off minutiae that are repetitively done. If I can do the things I have to do more efficiently, then by all means. As Glenn has elegantly put it, it's the things you want to do while on autopilot and those where you want to enforce good behavior. I have enough things I want to do and I want to enjoy doing. I have a habit of putting my wallet and my keys in one place, so I can blindly grab them when I run for the bus. It makes my life easier, because I catch the bus with higher probability.

[Chuckit]

Originally Posted by Oisín 

^ Dude. Four or five hours per night is not enough to live on as an average amount of sleep.

And ‘cabbage’ sort of works better as a term of endearment in French than in English …

Pish, I was averaging three for a while. (Hours of sleep per night, that is. Not cabbages.)

[Oisín]

Originally Posted by Chuckit 

Pish, I was averaging three for a while. (Hours of sleep per night, that is. Not cabbages.)

The key word being ‘for a while’ (okay, key words, technically). If you went through your whole life like that, you’d end up with problems.

Similarly, if you went through your whole life eating three cabbages a day, your intestines would end up with problems.

[Shaddim]

Originally Posted by Oisín 

^ Dude. Four or five hours per night is not enough to live on as an average amount of sleep.

And ‘cabbage’ sort of works better as a term of endearment in French than in English …

Well, I use it in a semi-derogatory way, when they're lounging about being unproductive. One day we were talking about terms of endearment and I mentioned mon chou and it stuck.

At night I almost never sleep more than 4-5 hours, but I often take a 1-2 hour nap in my chair during the day. Seems perfect to me.

[Oisín]

Originally Posted by Shaddim

At night I almost never sleep more than 4-5 hours, but I often take a 1-2 hour nap in my chair during the day. Seems perfect to me.

I can’t remember where now, but I seem to recall reading a study that concluded that this does not work. The amount of sleep we require per night should be in one go, at the right time according to our circadian; otherwise, it does very little to counterbalance the increased risk of cardiovascular diseases, type II diabetes, etc. (even if it makes you feel well-rested at the time).

[Dakar V]

Originally Posted by OreoCookie 

I thought it's quite self-explanatory: the way most people's brains work is that thoughts like `I need to get milk' or `I should give my grandparents a call to see how they're doing' are occurring more or less `randomly.' Perhaps you're under the shower or in a meeting. But rarely do these thoughts spontaneously occur when you're in the grocery store standing in front of the different types of milk or when you're free and next to a phone. So one trick is to pick reminders that remind you at the right time -- just when you need it. So just when you're about to pick up the keys and leave the house, you see that you need to take something with you today (perhaps a letter you'd like to mail). If I have a message or something for colleague of mine whose desk is a mess you couldn't believe (solidly filled with stacks of paper at least 8-10 cm high!), I put it on his keyboard -- the only place where he can directly notice it.

Everything here made perfect sense and was realistic – except you didn't explain how one would remember to pick-up milk after getting out of the shower.

Originally Posted by OreoCookie 

To me, habits are there to take my mind off minutiae that are repetitively done. If I can do the things I have to do more efficiently, then by all means. As Glenn has elegantly put it, it's the things you want to do while on autopilot and those where you want to enforce good behavior. I have enough things I want to do and I want to enjoy doing. I have a habit of putting my wallet and my keys in one place, so I can blindly grab them when I run for the bus. It makes my life easier, because I catch the bus with higher probability.

I think we're getting way off track here. My point was is in the grand scheme of things I don't see a bed being made contributing to the overall cleanliness of a house in any meaningful way, nor personal orderliness as an unmade bed doesn't obscure other more vital items. It sounds more like having this routine makes you feel like your life is more in order.

BTW, the italicized part: Totally sounds like conditioning.

[ghporter]

Originally Posted by Dakar V 

I'm not prepared to argue the semantics of this. From a glance at dictionary I'd say you're right. A glance at thesaurus says its a po-tay-to/po-tah-to situation.

From a clinical perspective, Oreo is spot on. One establishes a habit, but one has conditioning imposed (willingly or not) from the outside.

I realize that I haven't said anything about my own routines.

0430 Alarm goes off, put out dogs, start coffee, feed dogs and cats
0500 Breakfast
0600 See wife off to work, go for a power walk
0640 Surf MacNN while I cool down (mostly just stopping sweating)
0700ish Shower, dress
0745 Start studying
Between 1130 & 1200 Stop studying and have a bite
Between 1200 & 1300 Back to studying
1700 Feed dogs and cats
1730 More studying
1900 Wife finishes at work, calls-start dinner
1930 Wife comes home, serve dinner
2015 Clean up, surf some
2100 Bedtime

I should explain that my wife is a Neonatal ICU nurse, and that I'm preparing for a national certification test.

[OreoCookie]

Originally Posted by Dakar V 

Everything here made perfect sense and was realistic – except you didn't explain how one would remember to pick-up milk after getting out of the shower.

That's exactly the point, in general, you don't!
Hence the little smart reminders when you need things.

[kmkkid]

As someone above mentioned, I more or less have 'outlines' of what I do from day to day. It's not the end of the world if I'm late doing something, or if things get thrown out of order.

But I do obviously:

Wake up
Shower
Get dressed
Go to work
Work
Get a Subway sub on the way home
Eat
Internet
Eat again
Watch TV/Internet
Go to bed

A routine I guess, but it's kinda the norm for most.

[Oisín]

Originally Posted by kmkkid 

But I do obviously:

Wake up
Shower
Get dressed
Go to work
Work
Get a Subway sub on the way home
Eat
Eat again
Watch TV/Internet
Go to bed

Ever consider spreading your meals a bit more equally over the course of the day?

[Oisín]

Originally Posted by ghporter 

0430 Alarm goes off
2100 Bedtime

My God. What kind of madness is this?!?

[kmkkid]

Originally Posted by Oisín 

Ever consider spreading your meals a bit more equally over the course of the day?

Well I obviously have lunch at work.

And the first eat would be the sub

It's my after work energy snack (just a 6").

[mattyb]

Originally Posted by Oisín 

The key word being ‘for a while’ (okay, key words, technically). If you went through your whole life like that, you’d end up with problems.

Apparently Thatcher and Chirac (not together obviously) could both get by on 4 hours sleep a night.

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by Oisín 

My God. What kind of madness is this?!?

Pff, just different time zones.

See, for you, that would be

1130 Alarm goes off
0400 Bedtime



-t

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by mattyb 

Apparently Thatcher and Chirac (not together obviously) could both get by on 4 hours sleep a night.

That's why they were so ugly.

-t

[residentEvil]

eat sleep sh!t

not always in that order, and all 3 more than once a day. can't get more routine than that.