The Importance of Routine and Planning

As I’ve been on this journey to being a better man, I’ve started reflecting on how to be more conscious of the time I have during the day to do things. I’ve read a few different blog posts on time management, routine and planning, and I’ve noticed that I have been wasting so much of my brainpower by just floating through life, going where the universe takes me. Up until this point, I never really knew where my time was going to be spent; I just existed.

Recently I decided to put a stop to that; to work on assigning myself tasks for the day/week/month and make sure to complete said tasks. Something that is helping me is a calendar I picked up a couple weeks ago. It’s made of metal, dry-erase, and it’s wall-mounted. I mounted it next to my pantry in my kitchen so I’ll see it when I enter my house, and on it I’ve mapped out all the important dates and tasks, including paychecks and what they’re mostly for on each payday.

One of the things I really like about it is the redundancy of everything. The calendar I have on my wall directly reflects the digital calendar I have, so I don’t forget anything while I’m away from my home. Whenever I make a note on either calendar, I make sure to add it to the other. Now no matter where I am, I only have to take a quick glance at my calendar and I can remind myself when a certain bill is due, what I may have planned for the weekend, any appointments I may have during the week and so forth. Already my mind is clearer, I feel more structure in my life and I don’t have to question whether or not I have to do something later; it’s all on my calendar.

Add planning to a good daily routine and you can make a finely tuned, well-oiled machine out of yourself. When you think about it, men are the definition of routine. We are set in our ways, not wanting to deviate too much from the status quo, because it disrupts what we see as a good thing. My father, for example, is a practitioner of the “bookend” type of daily routine. Every morning he wakes up a couple hours before work, showers, shaves, gets dressed, makes coffee, reads the paper and eats breakfast. After work, he comes home, has dinner with the family, washes the dishes, spends some time unwinding and goes to bed.

Bookending your days like this gives you the opportunity to both start and end on a calm, organized note. You can use this time to get some of the smaller household tasks done, prepare for your day, or just take time to center yourself. It’s up to you how you spend the time you set aside for morning/evening routine. My setup will hopefully look something like this:

Morning:

0530 – Wake up

0545 – Three S’s

0615 – Dress to 90%, remainder to be done after breakfast

0625 – Make and eat breakfast, while going over schedule for the day

0700 – Complete getting dressed

0715 – Out the door to work

Evening:

1730 – Home from work

1745 – Make and eat dinner

1900 – Family time (play with son, etc)

2100 – Bedtime for the boy

2115 – Unwind (notes in journal, cocktail, TV time, etc)

2230-2300 – Head to bed

This is the initial draft of my planned morning/evening routines, subject to change until I feel it is rock solid; a rough draft, if you will. I think it will work out nicely once I iron out any kinks I may find. As with all new projects, you have to kind of massage it into what you want it to be; it doesn’t start out perfect.

I encourage you to start thinking about how you spend your time, and give the planning and routines a shot. I’d be interested to hear how you all manage your time.

~J