IT'S ROUTINE

FOR MOST OF MY ADULT LIFE I'VE TRIED TO CARVE OUT THE PERFECT WEEK.  While I'm not Japanese and I'm not a gardener, I read about the care and beauty of the gardens either in Shogun or Zen And The Art Of Archery, and I was inspired about trimming and hedging and fertilizing my weeks to make them perfect.

My weeks have become a routine I perform, beginning on Monday and ending on Sunday.  There are smaller routines within each day and even sections of the day.  All of these routines I enjoy and savor.  Rarely do I add something new without removing something old, stale.

With a brain like mine, the routines are necessary. 

I'm not sure what my condition is exactly, but my mind is very active and easily distracted.  I see everything and nothing.  I think this is why I'm able to go faster than most and return home in one piece - because my mind sees everything and the faster the better.  It's also why I have trouble plodding along doing the same thing day after day and why I enjoy working on lots of custom projects for my friends/customers.

Here are a few routines I use to save me from myself:

Riding Routine:

Monday:  lunch spin
Tuesday: TMWC
Wednesday: MTB
Thursday: surf
Friday: lunch spin
Saturday: big road or MTB

Morning Routine for M,W, Th, F, S, S

530 wake up
600 put water on to boil for tea
601 write in my One Sentence A Day journal
605 pour tea
606 read
630 meditate

Pre-Race Routine for the night before:

Clean my bike
Pack my RaceDay bag put it next to my bike
Make my drinks, put in fridge with my car keys
Take Surfer Girl to dinner for steak fajitas

A Work Routine:

Monday:  plan week, review production
Wednesday:  review estimates
Friday: review a/r and a/p

Routines should be beautiful and well thought out, they should give you peace and joy and create consistent positive energy.  My dad (damn I miss him!) got mad at me once when i was hauling off to surf without taking care of some chores.  I was all loaded up, ready to go and he got me out of the car by saying he'd help me and adding... 

plan your work,
and work your plan,
you'll have time to do it all.

What are your routines?