The weird thing about routines is that often times you don't even know you're in one until you've gotten comfortable in it. Personally I'm not a fan of routine and tend to do what I can to mix it up as much as I can. Still I think there is a tendency to find yourself repeating things a certain way because you've found that they work. Problem is that you can just as easily find yourself in a rut. Like I mentioned about a career, the same thing that once made you comfortable, now makes you complacent.
When I was in high school I had a routine. Every morning I would wake up with about twenty minutes before the school bus was scheduled to arrive. It was still dark outside and the house was quiet. My mother had left at least an hour before I even woke up. My father had only gotten home from the swing shift six hours before and was sleeping. I would get in the shower with the lights off. Then I'd dress and head out. I would always go out the side door of the garage. This was because it was the easiest door I could exit from without a key. Back then I didn't carry keys with me, which makes me wonder when was it that we really start carrying keys on a regular basis. From there I'd walk down the dark driveway towards the road. Every single morning as I passed by the woods on the left I would imagine what it would be like to just walk in there with a blanket and go back to sleep. The rational part of me knew that was a terrible idea, but I was usually so tired still that sleeping in the cold was probably very much like a person in the ocean dying of thirst contemplating taking a drink of sea water. I would walk to the end of the block and wait for the bus. Once it arrived I'd sit in the same seat every day and sleep with my head on my backpack. This went on all winter for two years until I was able to start driving or get rides from people. Strangely enough that routine was so comfortable that to this day I treat it as my happy place. When I need to calm down, I think about that walk down the driveway and what it would be like to go to sleep in the woods.
You watch in movies where someone is being tailed by the cops, or an assassin, or just a stalker and you notice how the person doing the watching is slowly learning the target's routine. With that knowledge they know where to park the van for eavesdropping or where to setup the sniper rifle for the best shot. Having a routine means that you're much easier to predict, which can both be good and bad depending on your situation. If you have a stalker on your ass then them knowing you spend the time between five and six at the gym would be bad if they wanted to actually step up from stalking to hurting. The flip side is that if there was an emergency or someone was trying to reach you because Salma Hayek suddenly rolled into town, then they could quickly pinpoint where you normally are at that time.
For a long time I prided myself on not having a routine. Granted I left work around the same time every day, but I wouldn't always go straight home. Or when I got there I wouldn't always do the same thing. I think part of that was because I was single. When you're in a relationship or have a family there is an inherent need for routine. It helps the other people plan their time as well as yours. Parents want to know where their children are so when we're young we tend to have a bit more structure to our lives. In fact I've known many parents who have a very specific routine for their children. Bath time is always the same. Then unwind time followed by brushing teeth and story. From what I've been told, children need a structured schedule in those early years. It brings them a sense of regularity. So when we get older we tend to build that same type of structure for ourself because it's what we grew up with.
I suppose one of the potentially bad things about having a routine is that you may unconsciously lock yourself into a pattern that doesn't allow for spontaneity. Tonight is meatloaf night so having the idea of pizza is almost foreign. I'm not saying having a routine prevents you from doing different things, but the whole point of a routine is that it's a set of actions that have been tried and done before so you know the expected outcome. Knowing what comes next is something a lot of people hope for in their every day. Meat loaf tonight means you know exactly what's required to make it and you've probably already prepared for it ahead of time. And it could mean left overs for lunch tomorrow so that day is planned too. One event sets up everything around it. So what happens when meat loaf night is interrupted or changed on the fly? The ingredients go unused and you have to sort out what's for lunch the next day without the left overs in the equation. For some people that type of vagueness is unbearable. For me it's kind of refreshing because there is a bit of excitement in having nearly limitless options in front of me. Of course having all those options could be overwhelming in a way that instead of picking something different, you go with what's safe because it's all you can think to do. In that case the lack of routine makes you pick something safe, defeating the whole purpose.
So maybe routines aren't a bad thing to have. Predictability can be like a warm blanket. I still prefer to have almost to nothing when it comes to a set pattern. That way even I'm surprised by what I do next. Besides the more you plan out how things are supposed to happen, the more likely something could disrupt that plan.
