Rhythms vs. Routines

I've been thinking about how my life works and what I like because of how I was raised and it seems like it comes down to rhythms versus routines. Until recently, I've never given this much thought but I'm trying to dig into why some things work for me and some things don't and the answers are not surprising but eye-opening.

First I need to define how I'm using the word "routines". For our purposes today, a "routine" is something that is set and immovable. There is probably a better word for what I'm trying to convey but this is what I've come up with. So an example of a routine for me would be going to church. It is a set day and time and cannot be changed or adjusted. You go on that day and time or you don't go. This is set up against a rhythm. In my life, an example would be mowing the lawn or baking bread. Typically that doesn't have to be done on a specific day and time and can be flexible to the week and the things I have going on. Hopefully that all makes sense.

How My Childhood Was Structured
Years ago I realized that my childhood was very flexible and I liked that. My days and weeks rarely looked exactly the same and even the things that were a regular part of my life had elements that changed.

We definitely had routines growing up but they were more rhythmic routines. An example would be that we had what we called our "morning routine" but it was not set by the clock. It was certain things (like eating breakfast, getting dressed, and brushing our teeth) that we had to do before we started school. But unless we had somewhere to be that day, it didn't really matter what time we did those things or in what order. (Okay, we ate before we brushed our teeth but we could get dressed last if we wanted to).

There were things that were set in stone as far as date and time - church activities were always Wednesday or Tuesday evenings, co-op was always on Thursdays, art class was one Tuesday a month - but even then, the things we did was constantly changing. Each semester we had new classes at co-op. Art class was a different picture and learning different mediums. We were a part of a sports organization and got to try a bunch of sports through the years.

Yes, there was a lot of routine in my life, but even then, every few years the routine would change because one activity would end and another would begin. And no matter what, we tried to leave room for flexibility. I don't know if my mom was intentionally trying to create rhythms but that's what it seems like we had.

What This Means For Me Today
All of this, along with some influences I've found in the last five or six years, have merged into the life I'm living and the life I want to create for myself. It's also a life that I feel allows me to be intentional, slower, and less frantic when I do it right. This is the idea of rhythms.

To me, a life of rhythms is knowing what needs to get done, but not worrying about when it happens. Anyone who knows me knows that I am a planner. I have used a paper planner since high school and possibly before and it is so helpful to me. But I use my planner in a whole-week approach, rather than a day-by-day approach.

In a general week, I have a set day that I go to the library and do dedicated work. I have a set cleaning day, we have two set days for laundry, I have a day to do education... things like that. And while that works for me most weeks, there are weeks when I don't get to the library for one reason or another. I still need to sit down and work on blog posts or creating things for my client experience or IG posts so it means that I have to move that task to another day. Some weeks I am gone all day on cleaning day so I move it to the day before or after. And as previously stated, when bread needs made or the lawn needs mowed, I find a slot where I can do it.

People have asked me what a typical week looks like and I can't tell you day by day. I can tell you that in a given week I will spend dedicated time working on content creation, dedicated time on education, and dedicated time to helping my family run our home. The exact days these things happen can vary from week to week but the rhythms we have mean that is just fine.

I love living life by rhythms. I love not being a slave to a clock or the calendar. I love the flexibility I am blessed to have. I know that this is not possible for so many people but I would encourage you to try and life a rhythmic life wherever you can because I believe it let's people live more freely.


What do you think? Do you live by routines or rhythms? Do you like the way you live life? Would you consider trying to live by rhythms?