I have a love-hate relationship with routine. While my structured lifestyle is often praised for its “self-discipline”, the life I lead is not always as rewarding and productive as it seems. Weirdly enough, I find it easy to get caught up in the lull and solace of routine. I wake up, get ready, eat breakfast while typing up emails, head to class, do work in between class intervals, eat the same thing for lunch that I eat everyday, attend events, meetings, etc..see my friends briefly at dinner, do more work to “get ahead,” and eventually pass out from exhaustion. Of course, every five days, comes the brief interlude that is the weekend, but even my weekends have succumbed to routine. Friday and Saturday pass in what feels like a matter of hours and soon enough, I find myself folding a pile of laundry and overwhelmed with work at 9 PM on a Sunday night.
What I am trying to articulate is that while developing a routine has its perks, it also has its downsides. I always find the compulsion for regimentation always creeps its way back into my life toward the second half of a semester. Before I know it, I am isolated from my friends and have neglected my favorite pastimes. I become a robot, mechanically performing the same tasks daily. If I do something as simple as switch up my lunch order, I feel an inexplicable sense of uneasiness for not adhering to my usual routine. Who knows, if I order something different, it might throw off the rest of my day and leave me with more or less energy than I normally would have at 4 PM. Putting these cognitions into writing feels absurd but I know I cannot be the only one. Routines can be seductive. They allow me to operate without thinking. I am not left alone with my thoughts because I constantly have something to occupy my time. This helps the days pass relatively quickly and before I know it, summertime will be here.
Sounds pleasant enough but..what’s the point? If each day goes by without variation, what do I have to show for my college experience? While it might require a conscious effort to change habits, occasional sacrifices of productivity must be made for pleasure. Attend that weeknight concert in Boston with your friends. Go for a walk around campus when the weather is nice. Start binge-watching a show with your friends. Join a pickleball league. Change your coffee order. Whatever you decide on, that’s your prerogative. The point is, when you look back at your college career, the academics, the internships, and the extracurriculars will all fade into the background. Though it goes without saying that these things are important, they do not constitute the entire college experience. Stop storing all of your exciting plans up for the summer and start acting on them now. Make full use of your tuition by exploring all of what this campus and city has to offer. Not every activity has to be a bullet point on your resume. In the last month of the semester, bask in the spring weather and do things that are good for the soul.