Make Walking A Routine

I really like having a schedule...a lot. One of my favorite assistants used to put my weekly schedule on my desk every Monday morning. I would arrive at work around 9:00 a.m. Before I even had my coffee at my desk, she had my schedule there ready to go. I never had to wonder or worry what was going on. And, if I changed my schedule during the week, she would put the updated schedule on my desk and take the old one away. That way, I wouldn't confuse the old schedule with the new schedule.

I like schedules, structures, and routine a lot. It really helps me keep my life organized and planned. I often say that I like planning so much that I have a degree in planning. I am not a fan of pantsers or the pantser lifestyle. I think that it is simply unstructured behavior that others try to mask as spontaneity. It isn't spontaneity. It is disorganization. I really don't like waking up every day and someone telling me they don't know what their schedule is or not having any clue about their plan for the day. That is one thing that will really set me into a teeth-gritting, wanting to throw cooked spaghetti at the wall fury. 

I want to say here that I don't have everything planned out specifically. I'm not Sheldon Cooper from the "Big Bang Theory." But, I do have a general schedule and plan for my day. And, I have included walking in that schedule. I have made walking a part of my regular routine. 

Close to the end of every work day, I change out of my work clothes and into my walking/running clothes. I do try to dress up at home from time to time because I like to look nice -- even if it's just for me. I chose walking at the end of the day for two primary reasons. First, more people are on the trail at night, so I get more social interaction that way. Second, when I come home and I am tired from walking, I can eat dinner, take my bath, and relax in bed until I fall asleep. In fact, right now, I am writing this blog post sitting in bed. That's part of my schedule, too. I have to get my writing about walking done on the day that I do it. It's one of my rules for myself.

Photo by Jeanette R. Harrison

While I am walking, I also have a bit of a routine. The first mile I use as a warm up. I also use it to kind of let my mind process all of the work I did earlier in the day. I used to do the same thing when I commuted to work. Now, my "commute" is my walking time at the end of the work day. After I'm into my first mile, I turn on my play list that I've labelled "Walk It Out," and I jam to my music the rest of the walk. If I've had a really hard day or have an issue I need to think about, I may just walk and listen to the sounds of the park and nature around me. 

Usually, before I even start walking, I set a goal for how many steps I am going to take that day. Today's goal was 5,500 steps. I don't allow myself to leave the trail and head home until I have completed those 5,500 steps. I still have to walk up the hill, but I don't count those steps as my goal steps. Those are bonus steps in my mind. 

There are times, though, that I am a bit more spontaneous, like if I have an injury or I am feeling unusually sore for some reason the next day. I've had knee injuries from soccer and also from outright clumsiness in the past. I've had more sprained ankles than I can remember, and some days my feet hurt for no reason. A couple of years ago, I had some strange rash up and down both arms for about a month (I still walked but I wore long sleeves). On those days, I take a break. I try not to take more than a 2 days' break at a time. And, I typically don't walk on Sundays, unless I need to make up time from earlier in the week. 

I find that having a walking routine really helps me establish goals and reach those goals easier. I don't have to wonder when I am going to fit walking into my schedule because I already made it a part of my regular schedule. Hopefully, in a few weeks, it will become such a part of my schedule that I won't even have to think about it as part of my routine.