Routine and Structure

Heyo! 

It’s become apparent in recent weeks that I do actually have some form of structure to these posts, and that wasn’t something I’ve ever tried to do but it’s kinda just happened, and I’m really glad it has because even the non-structured ones feel familiar when I read back over them. I am really happy with how open and informal my blog is at times, and yet at other times I know it can become formal and I can use this platform I’ve created to talk about important issues, be they personal to me or if they have significance and relevance in a wider sense.

So you’re probably sat there reading this thinking, why is she telling us this, right? I know, it’s pretty meta that this is a blog post talking about my own blog posts, but there’s a reason so stay with me on this one. I’ve been thinking a lot about structure lately, from my blog posts and the blog’s structural and presentational look, to the structure of my uni work like essays, my dissertation and all of the reports and briefs I’m working on at the moment. This, alongside any work I’m trying to do outside of university to boost my own profile and CV is keeping me really bogged down into routines. As a result, I’ve found that if I don’t have some sort of structure in my life and day I get really stressed, grumpy and irritable which is not good.

I don’t know where, but somewhere along the last two years I lost my routine and it’s been getting under my skin. I’m someone that does need some sort of routine and structure, but it doesn’t have to be as rigid as others might prefer it to be. I like having a flexible routine, where I have some basic plans, but I am open to changing some of them to see friends and do other more exciting and spontaneous things if I can. Making sure I had time to do the important things seemed to slip on out of the window, and as a result I found myself getting very bored, and restless around deadlines due to this absence of structure in my once rather rigid routine.

Since December, I’ve been working on having a routine, and doing three things every day. This might sound horrifically daunting, but they could be three things that on a normal day seem easy, but when your mental health kicks in can seem very difficult and/or pointless, such as making my bed, putting on clean clothes and going outside for at least five minutes. Bigger tasks have been things like tidy my room, doing a food shop for the week, going into uni on a day off and studying and spending the whole day out of the house so when I get back I appreciate the four walls of my room, instead of hating them like I had for a couple of years now.

Cut to now, and I’m managing to go into uni around 3-4 days a week (I only have to go in three times maximum, but I make sure I go as often as I can to ensure I’m staying on top of the ever-growing workload). I’m socialising a lot more than before, and whilst for an introvert like me who finds it exhausting socialising more than three times a week, I’ve been pushing myself and I’m really enjoying seeing people more than I have done before. I’m being productive in my free time, I’m writing blog posts whenever inspiration hits and I have a little backlog for when uni gets heavy and intense next week. I’m thinking ahead, and for the first time in a while I feel like everything is starting to feel manageable. I had a bit of a realisation and panic last week when I realised how much work I have due before the end of term (over 10,000 words if you’re wondering) and had a bit of a cry about it all because that’s scary. However, instead of letting it bug me for the next few weeks like I usually would, I decided to give myself the rest of the day off and then tackle it all head-first tomorrow. Since then I’ve written another 3,000 words, and I’ve almost planned out my next essay. I think the thing that helped the most was having the routine of going into uni and getting work done, and not leaving until I hit a significant milestone.

So, if you’re a third-year student like me, or just a person that’s feeling overwhelmed and lacking some form of routine I say this; take a deep breath, give yourself some time to write down what you need to do, and figure out a way to do a small chunk of it every day between now and the deadlines you have, and set about doing it all alongside other things to form some sort of routine or schedule. Do not forget to schedule in some you-time, this is something I am still working on, but doing something just for you is often needed s it allows you to relax, reboot and recharge ready for the next day. I usually pop on a TV show or a film and do some knitting or crochet, or I read a book, but do whatever works for you.

You’ve got this and you’re more than capable, just don’t be too hard on yourself,

B x