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Lack of daily routine

Deleted User

Does anyone have difficulty with having a lack of routine? I'm ok when I'm in work or have commitments but otherwise I seem to flim flam around. I notice other people are able to productively relax (eg I'm going to sit and watch a film then I'm going to do a work out) whereas I feel I act more on a whim. I'm getting some help to establish a better routine outside of working days because of a non autism related issue.  They've left me just to get on with it and plan myself which is fine because I know I need help with this but I feel there's an element of demand to it now. It's hard for me to establish a routine and very easy for it to unravel. Can anyone relate to it? 

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  • Yes definitely, I can be much happier and productive if I have a routine. Otherwise, I unintentionally end up doing nothing or very little because I have don’t have specified periods in my day to focus or motivate me. It’s because of autistic need for predictability, but also inertia and monotropism.

     If I am on holiday (which I really don’t like) it’s like I have too much time to be able to organise myself to achieve anything. I think it’s because I am monotropic, I need to be interested or focused on one or a few things to achieve something. This means that when I am out of routine there is too much that I could potentially do which means I find it difficult to focus my attention. People say that holidays should be relaxing, but usually for me they are the complete opposite. A holiday gives me too much time to ruminate or become anxious because I find it difficult to focus my attention.

    Unknown said:
    Does anyone have difficulty with having a lack of routine? I'm ok when I'm in work or have commitments but otherwise I seem to flim flam around.

    Yes that’s  exactly what I do. I like your use of ‘flim flam’, great phrase. Be kind to yourself though, you don’t always need to be productive. Days of resting, doing nothing, or autistic self care are just as important to feel happy and replenish lost spoons (energy).

  • in reply to Ausomely Autistic
    Ausomely Autistic said:
    Days of resting, doing nothing, or autistic self care are just as important to feel happy and replenish lost spoons

    I need to keep reminding myself of this! I feel so bad when I take whole days of doing nothing, or several to recover from something. I always feel better on a day when I have managed to do something I think is productive. That's one reason I took up language learning - I can always get a bit of a productive feeling just from revising some vocab or the like. But of course then I feel also bad if I haven't even managed that...

  • in reply to AuTriker

    The problem is when you sometimes have more days than you need to rest. I have other health problems so energy levels are a bit up and down more than usual at the moment. I think it's about finding balance. Up until a few months ago it was more a case of not having enough time to rest. I need some productivity to enjoy the rest.

  • in reply to Deleted User

    Yes, getting the balance right is hard! And after a day or two of rest that feels like a habit so it is hard to break out of it! So easy to overdo things and then rest and not be able to restart. And some things are just energy sapping so it's not even a matter of overdoing it but just doing at all that has to be recovered from.

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  • in reply to Deleted User

    Yes, getting the balance right is hard! And after a day or two of rest that feels like a habit so it is hard to break out of it! So easy to overdo things and then rest and not be able to restart. And some things are just energy sapping so it's not even a matter of overdoing it but just doing at all that has to be recovered from.

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