routine disruptions

it's amazing what a disruption in routine will do to you.

i've been in interview hell.

i've also been in work hell because our unit is rapidly shrinking (my deluge of spam tells me there are things that will help the problem of a shrinking unit, but i don't think it will cut it in this situation) and people are starting vacations, so i'm getting a tad overloaded when it comes to workload.

and then there's the fact that it's summer, and for some reason in my world summer equals exponential increase of social commitments. which is fun. don't get me wrong. but doesn't leave a lot of time for day to day things.

we haven't had time to grocery shop (today for dinner i had a couple left over bbqed drumsticks and a pear, not the most balanced of meals...), we haven't had time to do laundry (although i'm rapidly approaching the last pair of clean underwear threshold, so that will change tonight...), we haven't had time to do dishes (luckily with meals like left over bbq drum sticks and a pear, dishes aren't as big a concern as you might imagine...), i haven't been to the gym in over a week and a half, basically i've been going full throttle for a couple weeks now.

and it's taking it's toll. i'm missing having a 'normal life'. i know there is no such thing as a 'normal' life, but i guess i'm just talking about what is normal to me. you know, the little things like not wearing the dregs of my clothes just because they are clean (although the last three days in a row i've had to wear a suit, tomorrow i will be wear jean just to balance things out), not being able to have, oh, i don't know, say, a salad with my left over drumsticks, not being able to have that beloved meditative time at the gym, not being able to breath, you know, the little things in life. i miss feeling cool calm and collected. i'm not good at feeling like everything is urgent.

so, tonight i think i'm going to make a list. a schedule. something to get me back on track in the whole living a 'normal life' thing.

saturday morning i'm going to try and go to the market and load up on fresh yummy goodness, hell, i might even go to the organic market at high park (has anyone been, is it nice?). i'm do my laundry tonight. i'm going to accomplish things that i've been letting slip.

i have also decided that if i am going to be able to get in my gym time during the socially demanding (and very fun) summer, i'm going to have to go in the morning, the winter after work routine is just not going to cut it anymore. and this is going to be the most challenging part of getting my routine back, because, here is my confession, i am not a morning person. the idea of getting up a couple hours early so that i can go to the gym (or anywhere, unless it's to catch a plane to somewhere fun) is just not coded into my dna. the only weapon i have in this endevor is that i used to do it. when i was in guelph for some reason i was able to go to the gym in the morning instead of after work. and the truth? the truth is, once you get past the two hours earlier thing, it's way nicer. it's far less crowded, you never have to compromise and take a machine you don't want while you wait for the cross trainer to be free, you can just jump on the machine of your choice and go for it. plus, even if you have a useless day at work, you've already done something nice at the begining of the day, so the useless work day (or people) seem that much more tolerable. the trick is begining. after the first couple weeks it's a breeze. it's just habit. but how to start.

so my fine blog friends, any suggestions on how to start a routine of getting to the gym by 7am?

the other stuff i think i can handle, i suspect that it will involve a lot of lists and milestones. i'm a project manager to the end. but apparently even project management can't make me drag my ass out of bed by 6am...