How often have we heard statements like ‘It is a part of my daily routine’, or ‘I am wedded to my routine’ etc. Does it mean that routine is something that is immutable? Or does it allow for incorporations and deletions based on situations, contexts and requirements? Is it flexible?
We also hear about ‘fitness routine’, ‘diet routine’, ‘study routine’ etc. It is often said that ‘the body achieves what the mind believes'.
I recently happened to read a book titled ‘Ikigai’. ‘Ikigai’, a Japanese concept, is all about finding a purpose in life in order to make it healthier, happier and longer. The book mentions in a section about ‘finding flow in everything you do’. The import of this phrase struck me!
Regardless of trying to arrive at a definition of 'routine’ or trying to define its parameters, it goes without saying that if we like what we are doing we are going to do what we like. If routine means drabness and drudgery, we should be able to review it. If routine means absorption and adaptation, we should be able to embrace it. The routine could either add or subtract!
A daily routine of waking up and going to bed with some exercise thrown in to the mix can usually help make us feel more in control of our lives. This in turn can help in promoting a healthier lifestyle.
While a daily routine has much to commend itself, there is a study which found that while routine may be healthy and productive it can also become a creativity dampener which may partly explain the slightly unconventional lifestyles of creative persons like painters, artists, musicians, poets and even scientists.
In a letter addressed to his brother in 1888 Van Gough, the eccentric and hugely gifted painter wrote ‘Today again from seven O'clock in the morning till six in the evening I worked without stirring except to take some food a step or two away. I have no thought of fatigue, I shall do another picture this very night, and I shall bring it off’.
However, this does not imply that the Mozarts, Teslas, Hemingways, Newtons and Einsteins of the world were against routines. In fact, there are detailed accounts of the daily lifestyle and regimen followed by some of the creative minds mentioned above. Interestingly, some of the exceptional works of Einstein for instance came or were rather conceived and created when he was not doing anything. Possibly, that was a part of his routine.
Like most things in life, there is nothing that can be termed as eminently perfect or totally incorrect. As we age and move on in life, wiser from life’s experiences, each one of us has to find and discover for ourselves what is good and suitable for us. That includes decoding the enigma called routine!