Routine or Rut?

Morbyd

Morbyd

Moderator
So here's an existential question for the Spotlight intelligentsia today.

When does routine become a rut?

Some might say it's when you get no joy from your routine. But that's problematic in that you could have various levels of joy during the course of the week.

My example: my weekdays are usually pretty consistent: go to work, come home, make dinner, watch TV or surf the 'net. On weekends, it's bars & nightclubs all night, sleeping half the day.

There are variations, of course - occasional evening receptions, weekday outings, concerts, watching sports. But the overall structure of the week is pretty consistent.

What do you do to break the monotony? Besides vacation, of course...
 
spooky, was just thinking about this very question whilst I was sat on the bog earlier.

I think the key difference is that you can accomodate a routine by doing interesting things without compromising other commitments, whereas when you are in a rut you are enslaved to the sheer tedium of everyday life, in a black hole with no obvious escape.
 
Morbyd said:
What do you do to break the monotony? Besides vacation, of course...
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Mini-vacations from your own life, be they an hour or a day. Despite my anti-religious bent I visited St Paul's Cathedral on Monday. Somewhere I'd never expect to enjoy but I did, even though on reflection, such magnifience and expense in the name of a lie is perverse to me.

Easier for me because I don't have the bind of work, but even leisure time can become motonous if you don't mix it up a bit.
 
Buckley visits religious edifice shocker! :lol:

Perhaps another key is having a hobby. Something that fits into the routine but brings daily bursts of joy.
 
I often think this when I am standing on the platform waiting for my train home - same train, same platform, nearly same seat unless I "mix it up". Life sometime feels like Groundhog Day.

I think varying things in the week helps. Some weeks I just go home, eat dinner, go bed and that soon gets boring....other weeks I do different things in the week, maybe a cinema trip, dinner out with friends.

It is hard though.

I thought about a hobby but not sure what I would like to do. My first choice would be to get back into horse riding but dont have the time or money :(
 
Morbyd said:
Buckley visits religious edifice shocker! :lol:

Perhaps another key is having a hobby. Something that fits into the routine but brings daily bursts of joy.
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Soccerball is your answer Morbs! Playing as well as your watching/working interest. For me Tuesday night training is sancrosanct as are Saturday afternoon games. The missus knows those times are booked out barring unavoidable weddings or funerals!
And at 35, l still get excited about playing.
 
1997-present

music - drugs - crap job - booze - occasionally get laid - music - drugs - Barcelona - crap job - occasionally get laid - London - internet - music - drugs - crap job - booze - occasi...
 
A good 80% (+) of people are caught in a career rut of working to earn money and believing in the status bull$hit.

Few people have the guts to do what they really want.

I'm working on it having proudly chucked myself off the career ladder recently.
 
There is a saying in Ibiza that roughly translates ...you should try to change your job every 3 years and only stay a maximum of 5 in any one position.

New Jobs present fresh challenges and you get to meet different people. Humans need a challenge or something to do to "Live". They say the biggest killer of old and retired people is boredom and not having a job to do.

The whole concept of the Matrix movie was that our lifes are programmes controlled by somebody else. Its not that far from the truth really, especially if a person is stuck in the same rut or routine all the time.

To answer your question I would say that a rut and routine are the same thing and its a mental block that influences the way you think and live your life. You should always try to do something new every day.

Like Emma has said she would love to ride horses again. I ride them every day and Its a different experience each morning depending on the humor and personality of the horse combined with the changing seasons and conditions around you.

I also feel that the English Physci is built around order,regimental rules and squares. There is little room to "Bend the Rules" or think outside the circle, so maybe its an inbuilt programme that keeps certain people in a rut or routine.
 
Robder said:
A good 80% (+) of people are caught in a career rut of working to earn money and believing in the status bull$hit.

Few people have the guts to do what they really want.

I'm working on it having proudly chucked myself off the career ladder recently.
Click to expand...


^^ this.
 
Morbyd said:
So here's an existential question for the Spotlight intelligentsia today.

When does routine become a rut?

Some might say it's when you get no joy from your routine. But that's problematic in that you could have various levels of joy during the course of the week.

My example: my weekdays are usually pretty consistent: go to work, come home, make dinner, watch TV or surf the 'net. On weekends, it's bars & nightclubs all night, sleeping half the day.

There are variations, of course - occasional evening receptions, weekday outings, concerts, watching sports. But the overall structure of the week is pretty consistent.

What do you do to break the monotony? Besides vacation, of course...
Click to expand...

I would call that neither routine nor rut!! (one mans meat and all that)

how about kids?? that would definately mix things up and soon have you longing for your old life!! ;)
 
I think a little routine can be a good thing, it provides some structure and stability from which to function. I suppose I see it as a foundation from which to build... Of course, I have kids, so routine is somewhat imposed by circumstances above and beyond the job, etc. Robder is right too, I think things rapidly go stale when you are only looking to keep up with the Jones's (sp??) or for purely materialistic reasons.

I guess it becomes a rut when there is no joy left in the routine. I think it really helps to step out of the comfort zone or challenge yourself in any way. My grandmother used to say to me, every day, do something that scares you or something that you really love...

A hobby can be a great way to find joy again, or lots of mini hobbies or "things-to-do-before-you-die" lists ! Or sometimes just a fresh outlook on each day, an attitude ajustment that helps you notice the beauty in the moment, the detail.

Now, just to practise more of what I preach :lol:
 
basically my view is that modern life is fundamentally awful and custom-designed to drive you MAD - the cushion you have as a child and up to graduation is suddenly brutally removed and then your entire 20s, 30s, (40s?) are spent in a desperate quest to make sense of everything. The smart, the fiendish, the lucky, the beautiful get ahead, the rest tread water or drown. We are all conditioned into obsessing with what everyone else is doing or what we assume they are doing and therein starts the race to keep up and not be the laughing stock. I definitely think it's worse in the UK than elsewhere in Europe, where class divisions aren't so obvious. It's all well and good saying get a hobby, get an interest, but you can become seriously demotivated in a terrible job with repellent people where your confidence and self-esteem are crushed to dust. You become cynical/depressed/lazy/bitter and so the only solution is then to just get out of your mind whenever you can, because otherwise you may as well just top yourself...
 
Robder said:
A good 80% (+) of people are caught in a career rut of working to earn money and believing in the status bull$hit.

Few people have the guts to do what they really want.

I'm working on it having proudly chucked myself off the career ladder recently.
Click to expand...

Well done. What would happen if the 80% did the same?

I like my job, I like my money. I even sometimes like my (small) status. It's not a rut & no one is fooling me. There is a system, we are all kept in our boxes, but you know what it's ok. We need some order otherwise nothing has context.

Back in the room - Is a rut not something that is difficult to get out of? That requires energy or effort or the defeat of barriers seemingly beyond us?

I.e Morbs, is the reason for your lifestyle self motivated or passive or are their social or other barriers barriers keeping you in (peer pressure, needing to network) that you would need to break down. Maybe that's the difference?
 
I think there are differing levels of routine....What you Morbs, would consider routine would be far too exciting for most people!
Myself, I haven't had any routine since I worked for BT when I was 17. It's only purpose being to put me off ever having a job again.
A rut would have to be where you are a slave to your commitments whether financial or otherwise and you would rather be doing something else.
On the whole, I tend to think that people are scared of change and the unpredictable outcome that it will bring.
However, you tend to see that most people that set themselves a realistic goal usually get there in the end...for some it may take longer than anticipated.
I think the hardest thing is to decide what one wants out of life....then not changing ones mind on the journey to achieve it.
I know that's my problem.
 
jjinit said:
I would call that neither routine nor rut!! (one mans meat and all that)

how about kids?? that would definately mix things up and soon have you longing for your old life!! ;)
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Be careful about that one...

Bear in mind that once you have kids, you no longer control the majority of your"free" time.

I don't say that with resentment either, I want to spend time with the mini jams, the truth then is that your "me time" is reduced...

Your capacity then to do more expansive or time consuming things is also reduced.
 
Few people have the guts to do what they really want...!!

don't confuse having a lack of courage to make a drastic change with having too much responsibility/committment to risk it!
 
Courage has nothing to do with it (for me at least).

I have a responsibility to "be there" for the mini-jams. One that I chose, and am completely happy with.

My comments were more for those that might think kids are the answer to a boring life...
 
Olly said:
It's all well and good saying get a hobby, get an interest, but you can become seriously demotivated in a terrible job with repellent people where your confidence and self-esteem are crushed to dust. You become cynical/depressed/lazy/bitter and so the only solution is then to just get out of your mind whenever you can, because otherwise you may as well just top yourself...
Click to expand...


Then you are just fooling yourself." Getting out of your mind " is just avoiding the issue and not dealing with it head on. I have no sympathy for able bodied, young people with no commitments and their lifes ahead of them, not being able to get up and change their lifes whenever they want.

If you let yourself be demotivated and surround yourself with horrible people, then you just have yourself to blame. There are people out there without limbs, jobs, or food and they would jump at an opportunity to better themselves in a heartbeat.

Its different for people with children and mortgages as they have a responsibility to commit to.
 
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