I’m a little bit sorry to say I’m one of those people who needs habits and routines to get through the day. Or to put it another way, life cycles.
I need to know what I’m doing, both now and next, and if I don’t… Well I just don’t get much done.
And now the renovation’s over, I’m finding it really hard to pick up where I left off, because when we were in the cottage there were other habits and routines.
So, it’s time to think about it again, and work some out.
The last time I thought and wrote about routines was after the mastectomy in 2023, in which I mentioned your habits put you in the right places to get the right things done at the right time.
Daily Cycles
A lot of habits and routines take place in daily increments. You complete a task, and its completion sets up the cycle for the next task, and so on. A long habitual routine that takes you from morning to night.
Though Daniel H. Pink talks about chronotypes; whether you’re an early bird, a night owl, or a third bird. Each of them move through the day with a peak (best for analytical work), a trough, (admin), and a recovery (insight or creative work).
In loose business terms, that’s from start to morning tea-ish, through to afternoon tea time, and then to end of day. I seem to recall that was my pre-stroke routine, though I’m not sure I could do that now.
Plus, my tendency is to go do those pesky errands in the morning because I know I won’t want to go out if I don’t do them in the morning.
And with some new solar collectors on the roof, I have an additional source of disruption. My pre-renovation days were bookended by washing – clothes in the morning, and dishes in the evening to make sure those power hungry appliances were used during the cheap off-peak rates. Now I’m trying to do them when the sun is out, which takes a chunk out of my daily productive time.
I also know that I’ve acquired an obsessive need to finish my most important “analytical” task, before I move onto the next thing. And that’s not limited to the day. If I don’t get it done in the morning, I’ll do it in the afternoon. And If it’s not done by the end of the day, I’ll keep going through the night as well.
And besides, that google guy recommends putting your making time first. As do a bunch of other writers.
So, somehow I have to bring those disparate elements together into a workable day.
Weekly Cycles
As if a daily cycle isn’t enough, there are weekly cycles too.
Similar to the daily cycle, most people are more efficient and effective earlier in the week, getting past Wednesday hump day, with a slight uptick at the end of the week, though I don’t recall the source. Perhaps Daniel Pink again. Or it might have been Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
So, knowing your energy and attention will fade, reconcile your bank accounts on Monday and do your filing on Friday. Start with the most important tasks and leave the routine tasks to later.
I found one 2016 source, which suggested low energy tasks for Mondays, the hard stuff Tuesday and Wednesday, meetings on Thursday, and keeping Friday for planning and relationship building.
Other than that, it’s all about getting stuff done, not managing your energy.
I’ve gone back though my diaries and journals, and found a couple of different cycles of weekly themed days, but I haven’t been able to decipher what it was that made me think those were the best days for those tasks.
Some of it was to get tasks done so I didn’t have to think about them for the rest of the week, and some of it relates to having different kinds of business.
Any rate, it’s probably a good time to rethink those as well.
Monthly Cycles
To a certain extent, the same energy cycle flows through the month as well.
Of course, when you’re menstruating, that’s obvious.
But for me it’s more about where I’m up to with my hamster juice injections.
And am I eating, sleeping and exercising well enough.
Quarterly Cycles
I’m just learning my quarterly cycles. Trying to keep my projects small enough to finish in one thirteen week period.
Though I know they follow the same starting energy, followed by the slump, and if I’m lucky, getting through with a burst of finishing energy.
Luckily this is week nine of thirteen, so with five weeks left to go I should be bursting with finishing energy.
Though I suppose it should be four weeks to go, seeing as one will be taken up with planning the next quarter.
Cycles within cycles
I’m tired just thinking about all those cycles…
