In these days of lock-down, I have re-structured my day to exclude going to work and to include more exercise.  I like to have a routine to follow, and so although each day  more or less resembles the previous one at the moment, it doesn’t bother me because I have made sure I have enough to do.  As far as I’m concerned, it’s good to already know what needs doing next.  Here’s a typical day for me:

06:30 – Get up and do 20 minutes of Pilates exercises.

7:00  – Breakfast/shower/housework.

08:15 – Walk for one hour and 15 minutes (about 3.5 miles) along the route previously shown in ‘A Self-Isolating Walk’.

09:30 – Check social media sites and listen to files for a new audio book currently in production.

11:30 – Lunch and read at the same time (bliss!).

12:00 – Write some blogs/WIP,

14:00 –  Go for a 30 minute walk (yeah, I know we’re only supposed to go out once, but we live in the arse end of nowhere and I don’t usually see anybody else out and about).

14:30 – 16:00 – Writing and checking social media sites.

16: 00 – 18:30 – Watch BBC News Coronavirus updates and main news in-between cooking dinner and washing up.

18:30 – 22:30  – Spend evening with Sam either out gardening or watching TV.  I might do some more reading, or there may even be another short walk along deserted lanes before bath and bed.

Some people would baulk at this routine and wonder why on earth I bother with it.  However, I like to be productive, and I’m not one to sit about in my PJs all day.  I prefer to be up-and-at-’em by 06:30 every day including weekends.  I was never allowed to lie in bed as a child, and my OCD mother would get me up because she ‘wanted to make the bed‘.  After having prolonged radiotherapy on the neck area, I find it’s not really possible to lie down for long periods anyway due to the after-effects.  I guess I’ll always be an early bird.

Have you made a routine to get you through the lock-down?  Does it help, or do you prefer to have an unstructured day?

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay