[SunAngel]

I was just wondering if you guys have a routine you follow everyday that helps create structure in your life.

I know I have my own routine, whether it's my own messed up one, that keeps structure in my life.

I hate chaotic situations in my life so I have my own little messed up routine that I follow everyday.

[Miss Laura]

Hey SunAngel,

I should have structure and routine but I hate it and have not been able to get myself into one. Probably why my life is a mess lol

[Forgive77]

Nope not a clean or organized bipolar. All I do is get up, and let the chips fall where they may.

[onlymedid]

Oh yes, I lead a very structured life. I can't stand when things don't go the way they're supposed to. It makes me anxious. I have everything planned out every day and if anything messes it up I get upset. It seems silly to get upset over, though....at least for me. I shouldn't get so upset over the fact that we have to go to the store and it wasn't planned out ahead of time.

[Forgive77]

Originally Posted by onlymedid

Oh yes, I lead a very structured life. I can't stand when things don't go the way they're supposed to. It makes me anxious. I have everything planned out every day and if anything messes it up I get upset. It seems silly to get upset over, though....at least for me. I shouldn't get so upset over the fact that we have to go to the store and it wasn't planned out ahead of time.

Okay okay....I sure am like that in the "change" department....esp on the days when I do have to plan...on my lazy days like today...I'm supposed to get my daughter's glasses adjusted, mine adjusted...but nope...not happinin...and I can't seem to find the will to clean either.

[onlymedid]

Originally Posted by Forgive77

Okay okay....I sure am like that in the "change" department....esp on the days when I do have to plan...on my lazy days like today...I'm supposed to get my daughter's glasses adjusted, mine adjusted...but nope...not happinin...and I can't seem to find the will to clean either.

LOL, I even schedule my cleaning! How bad is that?!

[GreenIvy]

If I am going somewhere or there is something involving others that needs to be done I prefer to have it planned out ahead of time. If it is just me and involves normal day to day activities I let my mood and energy level determine what I will be doing each day. The closet thing I have to a routine is my meals since I need to take my meds with food and have to take them at set times.

[50guy]

Yeah.
1. Get up at 6AM eat breakfast, take vitamins.
2. Leave for work @ 7:07
3. Arrive at work at 7:22
4. Park in my usual spot
5. eat lunch at 11:30
6. Work as a Manager for 8 hours, deal with everyday problems with employees.
7. Go home @ 4PM
8. Arrive home around 4:55PM
9. get changed, eat dinner
10. sit ouside a while, then watch TV
11. Shower
12. Go to bed around 10PM
13. Take 30mg of Valium throughout the day, 10mg at a time.
14. have weekends off.
15 Start over again on Monday.

[Forgive77]

Originally Posted by nikki2010

If I am going somewhere or there is something involving others that needs to be done I prefer to have it planned out ahead of time. If it is just me and involves normal day to day activities I let my mood and energy level determine what I will be doing each day. The closet thing I have to a routine is my meals since I need to take my meds with food and have to take them at set times.

Amen

[Anneinside]

Tuesday through Thursday I stay busy with scheduled things every week. Monday and Friday mornings are usually routine. I get most of my appointments Monday and Friday afternoons if I can. I can get upset even if I have one extra store to stop at that I didn't plan to when I left the house. Weekends I get nothing done.

[rjaimz]

I am trying to form a daily routine, I have noticed it provides stability which is something I crave. I actually have a nightly one that I cannot sway from. Its a ritual before I lay down to go to sleep, and if I happen to forget one step I have to get up and do again.

[BlackPup]

When I get depressed I need structure to get out of bed, but the rest of the time I just do whatever happens... I start a new job next week so then it will be more structured...

[Phoenix_1]

When I'm working my schedule looks somewhat like Eric's, except I take the bus to work and home.

I lost my job at Easter, since then have been taking it one day at a time. My pdoc says I should go back to work now, I'm all better, (hahaha), so I'm looking for work now.

[Sossie]

If I wasn't organized and very systematic with things..nothing could get accomplished. If things do get crazy it causes issues for me.

[Confusedinomicon]

I am the most disorganized and messy person in the world. I don't have any plans for the day and usually make them up as I go. If I see a friend and I want to hang out with them I'll suggest meeting them later. That's about as far as my planning goes. xD

I used to be so structured, even with my BP, but it's since gone & I'm not sure why. I used to create to do lists every morning of things I wanted to get accomplished, but since, I've grown complascent. I'm trying to form a daily routine because I might actually get things done, but it's so hard to get the motivation. : /

[Sophia57]

I have a lot of structure but it is not rigid. So every day I have goals to accomplish, from housework to gardening to playing flute and riding my bike or doing weights. I find if I have a sense of accomplishment, my mood doesn't dip. I also keep track of everything on a mood chart.

But I try very hard to vary when I do things. My mom is severely OCD and her life falls apart if you interrupt her rigid schedule. I promised myself never to get like that.

My work and my three teenage boys and their activities pretty much structures each and every day, whether I want it to or not.

[BNLsMOM]

Right now I have something that resembles structure, but in a couple of weeks things change with the school schedule and I'll have to figure out the new structure.

[louisaslow]

Excuse me, guys, I am trying to make out this site! Haven't got it yet. I am working on making a routine because the chaos in my life is really getting me down. This morning, I wrote down everything I did, and there were heaps of distractions - for one, I went into the closet to get dressed, and ended up sorting and throwing away old shoes. Anyway, I'll try again tomorrow.

[wing]

I have a routine in the am, lots of blank space throughout the day, and an evening routine. The blanks are filled willy-nilly, seldom planned or organized. I do make lists, but don't force myself to do things on a schedule.

[zbmom]

I don't have a specific routine I do every single day, aside from now trying to eat breakfast and take my med at the same time in the morning. I do have certain things I do on certain days of the week though, and I try to keep regular work hours. I've also been trying to go to bed around the same time and get up at the same time, and I try to see my T on the same 2 days at the same time each week.

[Yoda]

Nope, nothing routine here. Not even sleep; sometimes I go to bed at 11pm, sometimes I go to bed 6-9am.

I eat when I am hungry. No scheduled meals or menu.

I do sometimes make a 'to do' list and will cross things off that I accomplish. And then there are days when I accomplish nothing at all except feeding kid/cats/horse.

[SunReach]

No routine...Apart from trying to sleep around the same time every night, the most crucial thing, otherwise I end up with 5 hours sleep with some good 10-15 mins breaks throughout! But I seem to involuntarily fall into a routine anyway - and not the routine I would have chosen! So I'm trying to change that now and find some sort of loose structure...I am told this would help a lot with anxiety..Because even though I have no routine, if I knew I'd do a certain thing at a certain time and that changes, I get this feeling like I've missed a step going down the stairs! (or several steps :P ) Maybe because I have very few things to organise my scattered brain around and they get blown out of proportion...(sorry that ended up too long!)