It's A Beautiful Day

I learned my caffeine routine in a
foreign country.  

Oh, springtime.  The days are getting longer, the population is becoming twitterpated, and every group in law school is having a very special networking event.  I'm getting tired of having to dress at 9 am for an evening event that doesn't start until 6 pm.  My feet are longing to be in sneakers and I don't feel like constantly checking my hair to make sure it hasn't turned into a frizzy mess.

Especially since the frizzy mess is an inevitability.

On days like these, I need a little something to ground me in the whirlwind.  Maybe you do too.  And may I suggest routine?

Sure, everybody says a routine is boring, but I don't necessarily mean you should do the same exact thing every day.  Rather, pick something that makes you feel normal and sane and make it into a ritual of sorts.  For instance, the first thing I do in the morning after my 7:15 wake up is make coffee while I eat breakfast.  After I finish my breakfast, my coffee accompanies me throughout my morning until I brush my teeth at 8:35 am, right before I leave for class.  That full hour of caffeinating myself while I get ready for class keeps me from jumping out of bed and flying off the handle.

After my classes and other meetings are done for the day, I come home and do my reading for the following day, hopefully finishing before 7 pm, when all my favorite sitcoms come on.  At that point, I either go to the gym for a long run/workout while watching tv, or I decide that I'm too tired for exercise and just watch television from the comfort of my bed.  Regardless, I spend the rest of the night taking care of myself, dealing with personal matters, and playing catch up from the day.  The last thing I do is take a long, hot shower to get rid of the last 16 hours and start the new day fresh and clean.  Depending on what the next day looks like, I make a to-do list for the following day just before bed.  

Routine isn't necessarily about doing the same thing over and over, but rather about doing familiar sorts of things daily.  Even my daily coffee doesn't need to be coffee, sometimes it's orange juice if I feel scurvacious.*  It's like the way I always keep my keys on the hook by the door:  It's not because I want to know exactly where my keys are,**  it's because looking for my keys causes me to panic and feel insecure.  

So find your own routine.  Listen to your favorite song every night before bed, or do your multiplication tables in the shower.  Call your mom at lunch, or check your favorite website first thing in the morning when you know it updates.***  Do something that makes you feel in control of your own life, and prevents that feeling of being too exhausted to live.  

Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a cup of coffee to drink before I have to brush my teeth at 8:35.

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*Adjectival form of having scurvy

**Okay, it's a little bit that.

***I know it's this one.