Refinding Rhythm

I’ve had some version of a Daily Routine for a while. It has taken different forms, utilized different apps and tools, used parts or even the whole of various systems. But it has served me well for a long time.

Somewhere this year I just lost the traction of it.

One thing I’m still realizing is the effect working remotely has on really all my daily routines. I just took for granted what that (mostly) defined start and end time to the work day did for the structure of life.

When I worked at the office for a while I had worked in the office 7-4 rather than 8-5. One of the things I did enjoy about working at the office was that first hour or so of the day when I could just sit, catch up on email, have time for a morning Startup Routine.

It shouldn’t be that different. If anything I should have more time in the morning. But somehow the “blur” of the work and the personal and everything in between being more intertwined has had an effect on that overall Daily Routine that I don’t know that I expected.

I have to acknowledge the fact that I’m a pretty bullet point kind of guy. I joke at work that I think in spreadsheets. It seems those bookends of leaving home and getting to work then leaving work and getting home provided a structure that was more important than I realized.

I started talking about my Daily Routines.

Some days my work day starts before I’ve sat down at my desk. Sometimes I’m making breakfast, sometimes I’m on the way home from the gym when the Team Standup call rings. Please don’t hear that as a complaint. Working from home absolutely has been, is a gift.

With the blessing of working from home, comes the need Mr. Spreadsheet Thinker to find that bookend to restart that Morning Routine.

Sometimes it is easier to coast than others. But right now there are just a lot of things in flight that all seem to have a lot of moving parts. I’ve heard it said that sometimes the thing the hardest to find or come by is the thing that is needed the most.

It is a season where that consistent rhythm, a clear plan to start the day has more value.

Writing Day 3 – Complete