Schedules and Routines

[ewt]

On an ideal day, what would you get done? Include self-care activities (like hygiene and eating) and self-support activities (like working if applicable). Try to be realistic about what can actually happen in the course of a day. What would you need to do each day to never get behind in chores, to feel fulfilled and happy, and to maintain your relationships to your satisfaction?

On an average day, what do you get done? Include self-care and life-support activities as above.

On an emergency, oh-shit-everything-has-gone-wrong day, what are the essential things that you make sure you do? What is your bare-bones routine that you go out of your way to protect? What things from your above routines are "skippable" and for how long? Do you adapt by eating ready meals or by going in late to work? Do you skimp on sleep or shuffle chores to another day?

Details, details, details, please, if you will.

Comments

[qadira.livejournal.com]

On an ideal day I would have gone to bed around 9 or 10pm, and had a good night's sleep, and wake up around 6am. I'd use the bathroom facilities, shower, brush my teeth, and then make coffee and have a small breakfast (maybe. I hate breakfast). I'd feed the kids, help the young ones with getting dressed if they were ready to be out of pj's, and check my email and read the news & blogs online. I wouldn't have to do any tidying up, because it would have been done the night before. About once a week I would vacuum and mop floors and dust and wash windows. About every other day I would do the laundry. I'd get lunch ready mid-day, and after lunch the clean dishes in the dishwasher would get put away and the breakfast and lunch dishes would be loaded. The afternoon would be for working on various projects I am involved in that only require a few hours per week. At some point the mail is delivered. I sort it, and put bills with my notepad and bill-paying stuff. Those get paid a couple days after payday (after the deposit clears in the banking account).

Dinner time in the late afternoon/early evening, and when those dishes were loaded in the dishwasher, I'd add the soap and run the machine.

Bedtime routine with the kids of vitamins, pj's, toothbrushing, story time. And then some mindless tv watching or movie watching with my husband, while surfing the web or doing various hobbies. Tooth brushing, vitamins and pj's, and into bed at a reasonable hour 9 or 10pm.

My 'free' chunks of the morning and afternoon would include playing with kids also, and in spring/summer/fall would include yardwork and gardening and going to the park.

Grocery store excursions happen once or twice a week, in the evenings usually when my husband is home so I don't have to wrangle children while I shop.

Of course, I didn't put in specific trips to the bathroom. I think most people don't urinate and crap themselves, and go as needed to the facility.
-----------------
On a typical day, I get all of that done, except my mornings and afternoons I spend more time frittered on the internet than actual research or writing. I manage to spend several days per week, however, working on non-computer-related projects.

I tend to skip a daily shower in the winter because I get dry itchy skin and have to use lotion and I don't much like lotion. So the shower ends up being every other day.
-----------------------
When life goes to hell, I let the housework slide- the vacuuming, dusting, mopping, sweeping (I might let that slide a couple weeks). I'll let laundry pile up for a few days. I'll leave the dishes on the counter for a day or two. The kids toys will not get put away at night so I wake up to clutter. If I am -ill- I'll skip a shower until I'm feeling up to getting in it. Otherwise, I get clean regularly.

I can't stand filth and chaos more than a week or two, though, before I snap and everything gets cleaned. Every time the clutter happens, and the cleaning happens, more non-essentials get thrown away. I quit bothering with trying to recycle or donate to charity, because then the piles of stuff would sit there forever.

I decided my sanity and mental health were more important than angsting over throwing something away.

[qadira.livejournal.com]

I forgot evening activities.
We have 3 of us who have meetings (Boy Scouts, fraternal orders, music) and so depending on the week we might have 2-5 evenings where at least one person has a meeting, and dinner comes earlier so everyone can eat. On evenings that I have a meeting, sometimes I fix a meal and leave in the oven (if my meeting includes dinner) or we eat early. I also forgot to include the weekly bath for the two little ones (they get nasty eczema if they bathe too frequently). None of that stuff is skippable, and I don't skip it, unless there is an actual illness (high fever, strep throat, puking).