Lack of daily routine

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).

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...

Yes it is so important. 

AuTriker said:

I feel so bad when I take whole days of doing nothing, or several to recover from something

Doing nothing is productive, it recharges spoons. Humans do not have endless energy, particularly us autistic humans! It is important to take time to recover, it helps us set boundaries, reflect on everything including how many spoons we have spent.

What language are you learning?

Yes the Mafia does go way back, not that I can remember much information. With the limited information that I can recall, we covered this:

https://www.history.com/.amp/this-day-in-history/aldo-moro-found-dead

No need to  apologise, I can’t remember details about the Mafia.

‘I find it interesting that both Italy and Germany are relatively recent as actual united countries, having been small city states or principalities for much of history.’

Maybe this explains why there is such a marked North/South divide in Italy, certain regions wanted to exist independently. For your knowledge or interest, there are 20 regions in Italy.

 I have a Kindle although I don’t use it much now, I much prefer paper books.

Yes the Mafia does go way back, not that I can remember much information. With the limited information that I can recall, we covered this:

https://www.history.com/.amp/this-day-in-history/aldo-moro-found-dead

No need to  apologise, I can’t remember details about the Mafia.

‘I find it interesting that both Italy and Germany are relatively recent as actual united countries, having been small city states or principalities for much of history.’

Maybe this explains why there is such a marked North/South divide in Italy, certain regions wanted to exist independently. For your knowledge or interest, there are 20 regions in Italy.

 I have a Kindle although I don’t use it much now, I much prefer paper books.