I’m in Florida for a month without my stationary bike — my primary source of exercise — and I need to figure out another way to burn some calories and keep myself mentally healthy. Normally I’d go for 30-60 minute ride a couple times a week as my primary means of exercising (in addition to a very low-key morning walk which is much more about waking up than it is about getting stronger). If I was only going to be here a week or two I wouldn’t worry too much about it but because I’m here until early January I don’t think it’s wise for me to throw all plans of exercise to the wind and just roll with the punches. Because I will end this month too fat. Fat and sad. And nobody, especially me, wants that.
And really, it’s about more than exercise. Without going into a bunch of detail that makes me look even more privileged and out of touch than I already am, I’m fortunate to be spending the month of December in Florida with very little work to do. Emily and I drove down (to avoid the Covid hotbeds of airports and airplanes) and are socially isolating in a condo that we’re inhabiting by ourselves (and we just got tested for Covid today). I’m very lucky to be able to do this. And I very much need the break. But four weeks is way too long to be in “vacation mode” the whole time.
So, to preempt that, I’m calling this week’s experiment Sustain the Home Routine. It’s about hitting the same major beats of my daily routine at basically the same time and not throwing all my structure out the window just because I’m in a new location and a non-work setting. It would be very easy for me to ignore all the routine that I rely on and love when I’m in more “normal” times just because I’m on vacation and in a new location. Without a little bit of vigilance I’ll eat like an idiot, exercise not at all, and just kind of flit from one somewhat pleasing activity to another before ultimately ending the day not feeling particularly rejuvenated or good.
More specifically, these are the basic “beats” of my day that I’m expecting myself to adhere to for the next week:
6:00 up, make coffee, and read a book
7:00ish out the door for a walk
9:00 - 12:00ish knock out whatever work I need to do
12:00ish lunch that I make (not delivery or fast food)
3:00ish snack so I have enough energy for an afternoon workout
5:00ish some kind of workout, probably a run
6:00ish make dinner
7:00ish dinner
10:00ish bed
What may seem like a ton of structure to some is actually the perfect scaffolding for me. It ensures I’m doing the most important stuff without hyper scheduling my day (especially since I’m ostensibly on vacation). I’m hoping that this little bit of extra planning and discipline will actually make me feel more rejuvenated than if I just followed each and every whim that I have.
End of Experiment Retrospective
The experiment this week was to basically hold onto the normal beats of my daily routine even though I’m in a different location and ostensibly on vacation. A month is too long to be in full-on vacation mode and I know I’m the type of person who derives a lot of comfort and satisfaction from keeping to a relatively consistent daily routine.
How did I do? I’m going to give myself a letter grade for each of the areas I said I wanted to focus on:
Waking up & going to bed on time: Pretty much nailed it. Got up a couple minutes late (like, < 10 minutes) a couple times but that’s a pretty negligible miss. A-
Going for a morning walk: 7:10, 7:06, 7:04, 10:52, 7:10, 12:10 were the times of my morning walks this week. The 10:52 day I deliberately decided to go later because I was down to the last few pages of a book I had been reading for a long time. The 12:10 walk was on Saturday and I’m deliberately much more relaxed about when things happen on the weekend. A
Make lunch rather than buying: Made lunch every day. Booya. A
An afternoon snack: I don’t keep records of this so I don’t know exactly how I did. I’m guessing pretty well because when I get my 3:00 PM reminder on my phone I get SO PUMPED to eat a snack. Snacks are the best. Probably an A?
An evening workout: I’ve been trying to do a bit of a run/walk as my workout. I haven’t run in months so it has been very slow going. More walk than run, if I’m being honest. I made it out there on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday (active recovery), and Friday. The only day that felt a little bit like a miss was Thursday, but honestly my body was not feeling all that great so I think the extra rest day was smart. Nothing on Saturday other than a bonus walk (on the beach). A-
Making dinner rather than buying: Nailed it. We did a great job using our groceries this week. We even skipped Friday Pizza Party in favor of an equally fun dinner we made ourselves. A
Overall, I call this experiment a resounding success. I definitely felt pretty good and didn’t get into that listless state where I find myself kinda mindlessly drifting from one distraction to another for large swaths of the days. That’s always enemy #1 for my happiness so experiments that help me keep that at bay are very much worth it. As I suspected, a decent daily routine gives me something to build around and as long as I don’t become an utter slave to it, then I think it’s a mostly positive thing for me to focus on — even on vacation.