They say having routines in your life keeps you mentally healthier than living a disorganized or haphazard life. Schedules have a profound effect on our well being. Belonging to clubs, organizations is good for us.
According to research from UCLA Health, " a predictable daily routine supports mental health by reducing stress, lowering cognitive load, and creating a steady sense of personal control. "
It keeps sickness away too. People with good daily routines and habits live longer and decidedly healthier lives. It promotes a feeling of productiveness and purpose.
Boredom contributes to sickness and cognitive decline in the elderly.
1. Do you have a daily routine for yourself and for your home?
Yes I do.
2. What is your morning routine? How about your bedtime routine?
The morning routine includes making coffee and a small snack like toast or a muffin though on occasion I'll make a full breakfast of bacon, an egg, hash browns and toast or corned beef hash, an egg and toast. On a rarer occasion I will warm up some leftovers for my morning meal.
It takes me a long while to ease into the day and begin to feel that I can tackle what is on the list for the day. In between having coffee, and perhaps a bite to eat, I will do any number of things before I shower, make the bed and get on with the day. After dinner and dishes are done it's time to wind down, pray, read, check email and socials & watch a variety of YT videos and other things on television before going to sleep.
In addition to the daily routines, I've mentioned there are also routine things to do every day and on a weekly basis which revolve around housekeeping and shopping. I loosely follow the Fly Lady System in this regard.
3. Do you have a routine get together for a family meal or game/movie or pizza night?
No we don't have any of those routines for a variety of reasons. We go with the flow. But each evening DH and I watch the late news together and share about our days. Sometimes we watch You Tube videos about things of interest, including current happenings in Kenya. He has very little free time at the moment so it's special to share this time together.
4. Any TV programs, clubs, organizational routines you never want to miss? Do you attend town meetings, choir practice?
We are not in any clubs. I'm only watching Y & R on a regular basis as I've done for several decades. If I don't watch it one day I go back and watch it within the 24 hour limit. If I miss more than one day I don't fret. It's easy enough to get back in the flow of the show.
I'm not sure what is meant by organizational routines and I don't attend any town halls or choir practice. In any case, I don't think we have many town halls here.
To be honest, I don't have a lot of free time and lack energy for activities that require attendance on specific dates and times. I already keep more than busy with all the things I currently do. Lest it sound like I don't do anything of interest, I'll share that my city always has something of interest on offer and I participate in as much of it as I can. There are free things and paid things and I keep on a regular look out for all of it.
The things I like to participate in include special events, library talks, classes at the local community centre and so on. The kinds of things I enjoy and have participated in include talks by authors at the local library, special presentations at various community centers, festivals featuring different ethnic groups, free classes on cooking healthy, beading class, soap making class, gardening seminars, attending Christmas events like the annual Van Dusen Garden Light Display and so on. There is a lot that I've participated in over the years. I've participated in an older ladies group where we did a great variety of things. Ladies would host an event and members would sign up. It was difficult to attend a lot of things because of overwhelming interest by others. Eventually I got 'booted' from the group for lack of attendance, lol.
I've also participated in the church Missions group from time to time because missions is a special interest of mine. My specific interest is Africa but few of the churches here seem to focus on Africa, instead they tend to focus on work in Asia because my city is considered a gateway to the Pacific and Asian countries.
We've been having some spectacular weather the last couple of days and the autumn light has been wonderful.
I captured these scenes on my walk to the local hospital for a visit to the ER.
All ended well. I'm being treated with ear drops and daily IV antibiotics for an ear infection. I haven't had one in years and years but all of a sudden I've had two of them a week apart. Not sure what that's all about but will follow up with the ENT specialist soon.
