The Value of Varied Routine

I RECALL MY STUDYING DAYS WHEN I HAD DIFFERENT routines every single day. Back then I held three part-time roles. Over the week each day held its joys even though I had to work incredibly hard keeping all compartments of my life in balance; keeping all the balls in the air, so to speak. Still, Wednesday was my favourite day of the week back then; mysteriously it was also easily the most demanding day of my week.

I think the secret to life back then—as since then I’ve become a fulltime, one job professional again (apart from my writing)—was the routine of variety intrinsic to the life. I’d work in the secular world on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays and study in the Christian world on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. There were routines for family and the church ministry work I was involved in also.

What I enjoyed most of all was the routine seemed so predictable and “safe,” yet it was so different from one day to the next. It was the very best of both worlds.

These days life is less predictable, but the learning of five years ago has applications for us today, in any walk of life.

è Try having activities every day that you can look forward to. Ideally, these are unique to the different days. For instance, these days I look forward to my gym workouts on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and there are different walks I look forward to on the other days.

è If possible have times for reflection each day or at least every second day. Routines for reflection are underrated. They provide us necessary soul-space and revival.

è To extract the value of routine in your week have different foci in as many of the seven days as possible. For some jobs this is impossible. The way I do it in a 5-day working week routine is save all my site tasks for Thursdays where possible—I look forward to getting out of the office and into a different environment.

è Finding regular time to spend with people who make your life fun or inspire you is also something that makes the value of the varied routine sparkle with resplendence.

Variety is the spice of life they say. Variety also augments hope as we look forward positively, not dreading the future. But a reliable routine of variety is the best of life, compounding the value.

© 2010 S. J. Wickham.