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Routine chaos

asd8513

asd8513

Active Member
How many aspies actually find it hard/found it hard to establish a routine? With me i have no routine and i am finding it very hard to get into a routine. Also, organization? Whats that? Lol.

Does anyone have any tips or tricks to help establish a routine?
 
Oh dear, here is one aspie who NEEDS routine!

Usually, at first, my mind is all over the place and then, once I make myself breath and regulate that breathing, the fog diminishes enough to enable me to see through it and things come into focus and thus, routine is established.

I just cannot function in a mess!

Right now, I am going through a mental crisis because I have leads that I need to be in easy reach ie I have a bluetooth speaker and the sound that comes out of it is just mind blowing! So clean and LOUD ( if I want) but needs to be recharged each evening. Then I have my phone lead and that has to be on hand and then, oh wow the amount of ear plugs, that horribly and most annoyingly, do not work for all. Well, I have my phone and the computer - so not really: all, lol but I have no idea how to store these things and it is driving me crazy.
 
I'm not exactly the best person in the world where it comes to organisation, and rely on routines to organise myself and get things done, especially for personal hygiene, cleaning, etc. Introducing a new routine can be difficult, and it take a while to learn. I have to give myself visual reminders to do something, or is just won't get done. For example, if I have to remember to take medicine in the morning, I leave the box with the medicine on the coffee jar, so when I make my morning coffee I see the package and remember to take it. If I have bills to pay, I leave them in a place where I'll see them and remember to pay them. Memos written on post-it sticky notes also help.
 
I've got to have everything organised otherwise my head turns to mush. I hate changes to routines, mostly it makes me cry. My OCD tendencies mean that I need everything perfect, which is obviously impossible.
 
I thrive on chaos (in varying degrees) and make an effort to keep all routine out the door. For a rough idea; I often have to consult my phone to see what day of the week it is.

Yet for friends I'm not that chaotic it seems. There's a method to my madness probably. I tend to make decisions last minute a lot because I deal with anticipation a lot worse than impulse.

When it comes to bills and such I usually automate it on my account so I don't have to bother with reminding myself to pay bills on time. What I can automate or let others take care of I'll gladly do as it means I can function on my own way more
 
Wow king, thats funny. I personally dont mind living in a messy bedroom (dont like come out because of my family). However, my mom is a complete neat freak. I cant even organize my efforts to clean. Lol!

I dont do well with sticky note reminders, prog, which is a bad thing i guess. Lol. As for hygiene...whats that? Haha.
 
It depends I think how "routine" is classified. I don't make plans or schedules but I carry I ton of routines in my life. I always stop and pick up a coffee before work, I always have a shower right after work, I take a vitamin before bed at night. Those are easy examples but I think for me a routine can be the simplest thing. What makes it a "routine" is that if I don't do it I feel anxiety, fear, anger or some other emotion not related to the actual act that isn't being done or done wrong.

I hope that came across as coherent
 
asd8513 said:
How many aspies actually find it hard/found it hard to establish a routine? With me i have no routine and i am finding it very hard to get into a routine. Also, organization? Whats that? Lol.

Does anyone have any tips or tricks to help establish a routine?
Click to expand...

I find it very hard to establish a routine but I chalk it up to my current state of major depressive disorder more than my Autism.
 
I'm a bit of a paradox really. I thrive on routine and organization and am most happy on days where i wake up at a decent time, make my bed, and get everything all cleaned up and such early. Buuut with my two jobs, now officially down to afternoon/weekend full time job, i often get lazy and have no energy to devote to me and my room/the house apart so i get out of routine. For me, getting back into a routine or establishing a new one may as well be next to impossible. I find that when i add a new routine onto a routine already present (like taking a sleeping pill before i brush my teeth at night) its easier to do, but even then its difficult.

However, some things that are set in stone routines - like how i shower an hour and a half before i have to clock in for work - are unalertable. And god forbid something happens and they get altered - like my sister hogging the shower when i needed it this morning - will ruin my mood for the rest of the day and i really really would want to yell at the person responsible but i was raised not to do that so i won't i'll just hold onto the anger and get in an even worse mood.
 
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