This post is in response to a comment I saw on a ZenHabits article months ago and which has been digging at me every since:

“My only criticism of ZTD is your emphasis on recording progress, and what I would call over routinization. I completely agree that routines such as getting up early, going on a run, getting hard work done first, make a lot of sense. What I don’t agree with is making a routine out of the whole day almost, I don’t want to be a robot.”

It is worth mentioning that this commentator is in his teens. I suspect that at that age, I may have felt the same way. As the level of responsibility in my life has increased, I’ve gained the wisdom that you can’t always depend on passion and spontaneity to meet all those demands.

I’m a fan of FlyLady, and FlyLady herself is a devotee of routines. She coined the phrase “routines are not straitjackets,” and that is pretty much my sentiment on the matter. There are a couple of ways to interpret this phrase, all equally valid:

1. Routines aren’t things you have to do; they’re things you do to nourish your own well-being. You’re not meant to wake up and say, “Ho-hum, I have to make the bed again.” Ideally, you’re not even supposed to think about it. It’s supposed to be something you do automatically so that when you come back to it later, you think, “Wow, the bed’s made! Isn’t that awesome? Now I have a clean and comfortable place to rest.”


One of my favorite parts of the FlyLady regimen is the evening routine. The basic routine involves picking out your clothes for tomorrow, shining your sink, and cleaning up “hot spots” - those places where clutter tends to gather. Why do you pick out your clothes for tomorrow? So that you don’t waste time hunting for them in the morning. Why do you shine your sink? So that you wake up to find the heart of the kitchen cleaned. Why do you put out the hot spots? So that clutter doesn’t build up to the point where it would take a monumental effort to take care of it. All of these activities are a short-time investment of time for a long-term investment of peace in the home.

2. Routines, like rules, are meant to be broken. Ultimately you need to realize that you are your own master, not any arbitrary set of rules. The rules are simply tools that you use to keep yourself on track. If you see yourself as the master of the rules, there’s no guilt in breaking them. That said, we are most tempted to break with routine when something “out of the ordinary” occurs. It helps to realize that almost everyday is out of the ordinary in some way, and that routines are the very thing that helps us to order those kinds of days.

3. Routines provide tangible progress towards a goal. Last month, I set the goal to study for the GRE for 30 minutes a day. I used the ZenHabits July challenge to keep me on track. Therefore I know that I met this goal 14 out of 31 days last month. My bookmark in my review book adds another tangible measure of success. I know I am now better prepared for the GRE. How better prepared? At least 7 hours more prepared, in fact.

I still have a lot to learn about making friends with routines. I know the sense of peace they can engender; but I, too, often have a hard time escaping the perception of authority that they imply.

Random Posts

Join In!