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Routines vs. Schedules

King_Oni said:
Over time I've grown to dislike schedules and plans quite a lot because of how society isn't doing it properly, so to speak.
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Ah that is a huge problem for me as well. No one is every on time, they don't plan properly and they're often late. Even if it is only by a few minutes it bothers me greatly. I just sit there and wonder 'why even set a time if you're not going to adhere to it'.
 
While being quite punctual, I still stew a bit at any upcoming place or function I have to attend.

Including having to do my income taxes, which I spent much of yesterday doing. Glad that's over. For one day's work I probably agonized about it for a week! Dumb...but there you have it. o_O
 
i have to follow my schedules and routines or else i get messed up. i am not that flexible with schedule and routine at times. I have to know scheduled things a week in advance or else i have meltdowns from a lack of preparation for the event. Everything has to be done with a schedule. I haven't done it any other way and i dont intend to. I love my schedules and routines a lot. To get away from that would be very bad on my case.
 
Progster said:
I'm ok with spontaneity and changes to the routine as long as I'm the one making them. I can suddenly decide to do something or change something when it's my idea. If someone else suddenly springs a change on me at the last minute, I can get upset and frustrated - I need time to adjust to a new idea or new thing. I'm a teacher, and it drives me mad when the students want to cancel or change my schedules at the last minute.
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Imagine if someone other than yourself had a monopoly on changing the routine. Maybe there are normal people with normal lives who are okay with changing routines as long as a normal person is making them.

But you are a teacher, and so, might you have a monopoly on changing routines.
 
When I was working, I used to be very "Type A" and although I was always early for appointments, I didn't give myself room to breathe between them. I craved deadlines, because most of my work was done during one week of the month, and (great for me) it was a steady do-it-by-deadline format, to which I thrived.

Since I haven't worked since 2006, many things about me have changed (still Type A, but better than I was), including the need to schedule. I will overthink and obsess on something for weeks, but when the day comes that I have to act, I can get it done. For instance, if I need to change a doctor's appointment, I'll think of it for a month, but not act until I'm just short of the 24-hour deadline. The weird thing for me, though, is that I keep a calendar in my head, so they stuff I "have" to do, always seems to get done.

While I've always considered myself completely spontaneous in my personal life, I've realized lately that even my spontaniety (sp?) is planned. I have things laid out "just in case" I have to go somewhere, or I'll walk to the laundromat and wash a half a load of laundry, just to get out of the house.

I have been getting lost lately (which is good, in a way) so I've had to navigate in my head where I am, but as far as schedules/rituals, I'm not necessarily busy enough to have them. I worked on contract with a guy who spent 5-6 hours a day writing lists of what to do, and then expected me to finish everything he wrote down -- in the next two hours. That didn't work with me. I also used to hang a "To Do" list on my wall, and he would try to add things to it. I stopped him and told him that was MY list, not his.

One of the reasons I've never joined a Book Club is because I can't read "on deadline." It caused problems in school, considering I could read a book I chose overnight, but if it was on deadline, I'd read the first chapter and the last page (smile).
 
Progster said:
I'm ok with spontaneity and changes to the routine as long as I'm the one making them. I can suddenly decide to do something or change something when it's my idea. If someone else suddenly springs a change on me at the last minute, I can get upset and frustrated - I need time to adjust to a new idea or new thing. I'm a teacher, and it drives me mad when the students want to cancel or change my schedules at the last minute.
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That's true for me as well.
I often thought about the difference of both and I think I figured out why I can accept one more than the other:
When it is my idea, I have already thought about it and - however spontaneous an action is - am prepared by the fact that the idea is in my head and comes from myself.
But when someone else changes something, it is really spontaneous. I haven't had the time to think about it myself before or to adjust to it. It just suddenly happens and then I am supposed to deal with it. This is difficult to handle for me.
 
Routines – yes, without them I forget things.
Schedules (and time sheets) and managers who micromanage – Nope, doesn't work for me.
 
I like a planned routine, but not a strict schedule to accomplish it by. In other words I like a known sequence of events but want flexibility in the timing.
 
Myrtonos said:
Imagine if someone other than yourself had a monopoly on changing the routine. Maybe there are normal people with normal lives who are okay with changing routines as long as a normal person is making them.

But you are a teacher, and so, might you have a monopoly on changing routines.
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No, I don't have a monopoly on changing people's routines. I avoid it at all costs.
 
This week my routine has been thrown into chaos because my schedule also has been altered. I've found my routine and schedule to be closely tied together.
 
Progster said:
I'm ok with spontaneity and changes to the routine as long as I'm the one making them. I can suddenly decide to do something or change something when it's my idea.
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My aspergers, my rules ! I know exactly what you mean.

Progster said:
If someone else suddenly springs a change on me at the last minute, I can get upset and frustrated - I need time to adjust to a new idea or new thing.
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It's the feeling that someone else is imposing their changes on you.
 
shinkansen said:
My aspergers, my rules ! I know exactly what you mean.



It's the feeling that someone else is imposing their changes on you.
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This. And there is more. I have made efforts to be more flexible. But when there has already been one change made and I've managed to calmly adapt, & then if someone changes things again, I snap. Not violently, that's not what I mean, but my mind withdraws from the situation and I can no longer function in their "system."
 
I hate it that something silly like the change of packaging and shape of a frozen pizza can somewhat unravel me in real time. But hey...it's been a routine to me for years in how I enhance a frozen pizza.

I adjusted...even realized that the rectangular shape allows for distributing meats and condiments more evenly. But I still don't like the new soft packaging instead of cardboard. Doesn't stack well in the freezer. Oh well...o_O

Another day in this Aspie life I suppose.
 
I think I need to adopt more of shinkansen's ideology an fight back against what I do not like. I accepted a little too much change and it has left me reeling a little. I spent 2 days on bus runs that I hadn't been trained on. I need to learn the power of the word "No."
 
I find that routines and schedules often clash. With a schedule, certain things need to happen at a certain time. With a routine, certain things must happen in a certain order, without omission, and without regard to time. If the time scheduled doesn't incorporate enough time to accomplish your routine, you've got a choice to make.

That being said, I'm horrible with schedules. I have a complex system of multiple alarm clocks staggered to different times and physically affixed to different areas of my bedroom, but it's a futile attempt at best to schedule when I wake up. I'm up when I'm up. And if I'm up late, it doesn't matter. I'm going to follow my morning routine, come hell or high water. As a result, I'm often late to work, even if I could've made it on time by just putting on pants and rushing out the door. My routine is just more important to me and my ability to meet the world's demands at all other times.
 
I'm better adapted to objectives with time blocks. As an example' I have an objective towards personal grooming and presentation, my time block for that is an hour.

So I start my objective by noting the time and I work towards completing the objective within my allotted time.

Too much management or planning makes things too ridgid and takes too much time. Be empowered and be efficient.
 
My daily and weekly routines are pretty much set in stone.

I do occasionally make slight changes though but with loads of planning in between, because usually when I plan something it as an annoying habit of going wrong.
 
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