Happy Wednesday! Hope y’all are off to a great week! Big times here in Georgia as today is officially the last day of school for my 4th grader! No more worries about missing the bus or getting stuck in rush hour traffic trying to drive her to school! Good times. It is difficult to believe how quickly the time is flying by though. Of course, she is the last of four, so everything seems to happen faster and faster. One day things will slow down…. right? Wishful thinking… 🙂
It’s roughly 9:45am and I am waiting on a “guy” to provide an estimate for some shelves in our new home. He was supposed to come at 9:30am and, as my wife is busy on work calls, I decided it was better to delay my jog than risk him showing up early and interrupting her. So… I wait. I’m starting to get just a little bit annoyed having to wait… mostly because this guy is taking me off my normal routine! 🙁
“What’s the big deal?”, you ask? “You can always exercise after he leaves. Right?”. WRONG! 🙂 Well, technically you’d be right, but for me at least… routines work! How to explain this? It’s not easy without sounding a bit spoiled or set in my ways. I guess the easiest way is to say I’ve established daily routines around my energy level and how I expect to be feeling. So, if my routines get off track, it can make for a rough day as something I need (or want) to do will likely not be happening. I know, I know… cry me a river. 🙂
The thing is, I DO have MS and it DOES impact my life each day. Some days a bit less and other days a bit more. I know, for example, that my energy level is typically at its best before 11am each day. After 11am there is a good chance I’ll run into a bit of a wall from a fatigue perspective. This usually lasts for 2 or 3 hours and then rebounds a bit. So, if I’m going to try and exercise, earlier is better because I have the energy for it. Also, mornings are typically cooler which makes things a lot easier as well.
To provide a better picture, here is an outline of my typical day!
- 6-7am Wake-Up, Hot Tea
- 7-7:45am Daughter to school
- 7:45-8:45 Exercise
- 8:45-10 House Stuff
- 10-11:30 Writing, Lunch
- 11:30-3:30 Break…
- 3:30-6 Daughter home from School, Dinner, Etc.
As you can see, my mornings are definitely a bit more robust than my afternoons. To help myself feel productive, sticking to the routine noted above really helps! It is what it is!
Yes! I am aware! Routines are boring and way too predictable! Routines can make me feel like my 80 year old dad and father-in-law who can’t do anything if it’s off schedule! Messing with their meal times… no way! 🙂 However, from a bit of a different perspective, routines provide a consistent path to productivity. And, as I am no longer working (Thank you MS), that productivity helps me feel a bit like a normal person. Weird… but normal!
I’ll stop things here. Just an FYI… it’s now 10:49am and the shelving guy just left. I could have exercised, cleaned the house and taken care of a few administrative things (Other than this blog) if I’d known he’d be this late. In fact, I’d still be on my routine! 🙂
Have a great week! New post next week!
Steve
#1guywithms
