Routines - going back to one after being out for a few days
Biscuitman
Veteran
Joined: 11 Mar 2013
Age: 46
Gender: Male
Posts: 2,674
Location: Dunking jammy dodgers
I am not absolutely stuck in routines but get very anxious over changes to what I expect. I moved house over the weekend which I found very stressful, I only moved half a mile away and it was to a family house that I bought so I know it but still, it's a mess and I can't find things and I am stressed.
Today is my first day back at work, so back to the old routine right? the weird thing is I find it very hard to go back to normal routines after a few days away and I don't know why. It's like I lose touch with what was my normal routine after having a short break and find it just as hard trying to get back into it. When I was diagnosed last year I discussed how back at school growing up I would get very stressed on a friday knowing my weeks routine was over but would then also struggle on a Sunday knowing my weekend routine was at an end.
Anyone have similar struggles going back to familiar routines after having a short break?
Today is my first day back at work, so back to the old routine right? the weird thing is I find it very hard to go back to normal routines after a few days away and I don't know why. It's like I lose touch with what was my normal routine after having a short break and find it just as hard trying to get back into it. When I was diagnosed last year I discussed how back at school growing up I would get very stressed on a friday knowing my weeks routine was over but would then also struggle on a Sunday knowing my weekend routine was at an end.
Anyone have similar struggles going back to familiar routines after having a short break?
Hello,
Yes i have very similar struggles with routine and change. It takes me a while to adjust and get back into it. It's very weird. I remember when I was younger and away at uni. I always really struggled going from home to halls and back again and it'd take me a while to adjust. I always had a feeling that I didn't seem to travel well and thought I was imagining it but now I have a diagnosis it makes sense to me now. How was your first day back at work?
_________________
I'm working with ASD, generalised anxiety disorder and recurrent depression and they frequently kick my ***
Biscuitman
Veteran
Joined: 11 Mar 2013
Age: 46
Gender: Male
Posts: 2,674
Location: Dunking jammy dodgers
Today is my first day back at work, so back to the old routine right? the weird thing is I find it very hard to go back to normal routines after a few days away and I don't know why. It's like I lose touch with what was my normal routine after having a short break and find it just as hard trying to get back into it. When I was diagnosed last year I discussed how back at school growing up I would get very stressed on a friday knowing my weeks routine was over but would then also struggle on a Sunday knowing my weekend routine was at an end.
Anyone have similar struggles going back to familiar routines after having a short break?
Hello,
Yes i have very similar struggles with routine and change. It takes me a while to adjust and get back into it. It's very weird. I remember when I was younger and away at uni. I always really struggled going from home to halls and back again and it'd take me a while to adjust. I always had a feeling that I didn't seem to travel well and thought I was imagining it but now I have a diagnosis it makes sense to me now. How was your first day back at work?
my day was ok thanks. There was a big event taking place in London so most people were there and I was with just 5 others in my office. Didn't get a lot done though, too busy stressing about life and reading up on the news etc as normal!
I have trouble with having to take a break from routine as well, but I don't think it's as bad as yours. For example I've never had that problem with weekends after a week of school or work; weekends have always simply been part of my weekly routine. As in five days at work/school and two at home were the routine. Changes to this pattern have always been hard, like when I've been sick in the middle of the week and have had to stay at home.
Another problem is traveling: while I love being in the places I travel to and most of the time the actual traveling as well, I stress about it before and after the trip (almost never during it.) Before the trip I stress about what to bring and what if I forget something important (most people probably do to some extent) and after it the idea of returning to the routines is stressfull. Having to unpack, possibly do some chores that I didn't do before I left, put things I bought on the trip to their places (this is surprisingly stressful even when I don't buy much.) Those things aren't part of the routine, yet they are something that needs to be done before I can return to the daily schedule.
Today is my first day back at work, so back to the old routine right? the weird thing is I find it very hard to go back to normal routines after a few days away and I don't know why. It's like I lose touch with what was my normal routine after having a short break and find it just as hard trying to get back into it. When I was diagnosed last year I discussed how back at school growing up I would get very stressed on a friday knowing my weeks routine was over but would then also struggle on a Sunday knowing my weekend routine was at an end.
Anyone have similar struggles going back to familiar routines after having a short break?
Hello,
Yes i have very similar struggles with routine and change. It takes me a while to adjust and get back into it. It's very weird. I remember when I was younger and away at uni. I always really struggled going from home to halls and back again and it'd take me a while to adjust. I always had a feeling that I didn't seem to travel well and thought I was imagining it but now I have a diagnosis it makes sense to me now. How was your first day back at work?
my day was ok thanks. There was a big event taking place in London so most people were there and I was with just 5 others in my office. Didn't get a lot done though, too busy stressing about life and reading up on the news etc as normal!
what are you stressing about in life besides your routines?
_________________
I'm working with ASD, generalised anxiety disorder and recurrent depression and they frequently kick my ***
Dear_one
Veteran
Joined: 2 Feb 2008
Age: 77
Gender: Male
Posts: 5,721
Location: Where the Great Plains meet the Northern Pines
Routines are a bit like a song - one bit follows another. If I've done a rare day trip, I can't just pick up the song when I return - there are new verses for the day after shopping, and other distractions. It never seems to return to just the same - the seasons change too. I have at least learned to use a check list for the trips, which reduces anxiety. A decade after my last move, I'm still working out how to arrange things. At first, I tried to copy the old pattern in new rooms as much as possible, but now even the primary functions have changed.
Biscuitman
Veteran
Joined: 11 Mar 2013
Age: 46
Gender: Male
Posts: 2,674
Location: Dunking jammy dodgers
During diagnosis last year, we discussed routines and I drew a line on a bit of paper as my usual day, I then drew another line coming out of it and running parallel to represent a break from routine, that 2nd line then later merged back into the original line to show where the break from routine ends and how I am back into routine, but my point was once I am away from the break in routine and back to normal I still don't feel right, something is off and I still feel stressed & anxious.
Dear_one
Veteran
Joined: 2 Feb 2008
Age: 77
Gender: Male
Posts: 5,721
Location: Where the Great Plains meet the Northern Pines
During diagnosis last year, we discussed routines and I drew a line on a bit of paper as my usual day, I then drew another line coming out of it and running parallel to represent a break from routine, that 2nd line then later merged back into the original line to show where the break from routine ends and how I am back into routine, but my point was once I am away from the break in routine and back to normal I still don't feel right, something is off and I still feel stressed & anxious.
Do you feel more "off" each time, or do you slowly return to baseline between excursions? Philosophers note that "You can't step into the same river twice." Perhaps your sense of "off" is just a fresh perspective on the background nonsense, normally more numbed out.
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