There’s a lot of positives to having a routine; believe it or not, it actually helps to manage the stress of life better. Getting up around the same time, eating around the same time and same amount, going to bed around the same time–all of that helps tremendously.

So what’s the problem with routine? No, it’s not boredom–at least for me. It’s falling out of routine and getting back into it.

My personal biggest challenge in keeping to these routines when I have a long work stretch–nine, ten, eleven, twelve, even thirteen days–right now I’m on day eight of eleven. I’m beat. I’m so tired I can barely stay awake to blog and code, let alone make lunch for tomorrow. It’s a lot easier to do things like stop for fast food than get lunch ready or sleep through a workout rather than force myself to run two miles.

So it’s time to get back into routine. It’s not easy, but it has to be done. What’s fortunate about this–falling off the horse and getting ready to get back on–is that there’s always tomorow, but what’s unfortunate is there really isn’t always tomorrow, and every tomorrow I can’t get up early enough to ride or don’t feel like pounding my body with a run or risking drowning and embarrassment in the pool is one less tomorrow I have to do it.

I will give it my best shot to get back into routine tomorrow.