Through Our Day

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One thing that I have learnt over time is to always have a set of daily things to do. It is a popular thing to say routine is lethal. And, that is true in the sense of missing out or subduing creativity and losing yourself eventually. However, I believe it is highly elevating to have a set of core activities or practices for yourself through the day- and essentially, make it a routine!

Why? Why do I think that keeping a core like that will help?

The activities through your day can be broken up into three broad categories- what you have to do, what you want to do, and what you must do. What you have to do is generally the things you can't avoid like work or study, and what you want to do is probably read, write, watch, or do any activity that is pleasurable to you, and what you must do is the core you keep for yourself. A small note here: there can be overlaps in these three categories.  

For example, we all shampoo our hair 2 or 3 times a week. This is a kind of a rigid routine that we come up with, and any given week in your life, you'd have mostly done this without second thoughts. Why? Because we want our hair to be clean and taken care of, without spending too much of time and thought on it. So, we set a routine. Another example can be working out. You go for a jog three days in a week, and then do yoga the other days. That's a routine. You start falling into that groove, so the matter of health or fitness is automatically taken care of. 

The list of things that you must include in your core activities through your day or week is completely your decision, and your choice. Someone might make studying their lessons an everyday habit because they want their academics to be automatically taken care of when the exams arrive. But some others may not really prefer that and would rather study one day before their exam. However, they might want to make reading newspaper an everyday habit or core activity. Some others might want to tend and spend some time with their plants everyday, it can be anything that you decide. 

Core activities are essentially habits, but these activities are more significant and will help you plan the other activities for the day around it. They typically act like the backbone of your day or week, and brings a sense of structure to it. For example, we all have common core like our meals. The day is literally structured around it, and those who don't follow a timed meal plan do lose out. It is up to you to frame a set of cores for yourself and just stick to it. 

It is also a popular thing to say an idle mind is a devil's workshop. A core will make sure you aren't so idle that the devil wins over you, and it will ensure that a lot of the most basic requirements that you have are taken care of by default. What better can you ask for?

Sensible routine helps a lot, and keeps us engaged! Think about what's your core, and whether you stick to it! Happy day!