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Illustration by Kelly Sutherland

Continuing Education

Creature of Habit

My wife's extended holiday at home has rattled my routine and taxed my, er, productivity

By Curtis Gillespie, '85 BA(Spec)

August 03, 2018 • 8 minute read

I'm not sure at what point in our current era the word routine took on the negative connotations now attached to it. Maybe it came with the advent of industrialization and the notion of the factory worker doing the exact same thing 800 times a day. Perhaps it was during the 1970s when the boomers believed every single person had a unique genius to uncover and doing something routine was seen as soul-harming. Maybe it was when Tonya Harding announced she had a new routine for the Olympics. Who knows?

All I know is that I will freely admit I like my working conditions to be as routine as possible. As someone who writes both creatively and journalistically, I often have to step out of my comfort zone, take some chances, upset patterns. Typically, such experiences involve the research or reporting phase of a project. I embrace these moments. But when it comes to periods when I need to hunker down and put words on paper, disruption is not advisable, at least not for me. That's something of a myth or misconception about writers and creative people; namely, that we lead lives of wild unpredictability, spontaneity and unshackled imaginative flights of fancy. That the only way we can free up our imagination is to treat every day like a piñata we've got to bash open to see what spills out.

Uh, no.

The truth, at least for me and most of the creative people I know, is that routine and orderliness and regularity are vital to the creative process. "Routine, in an intelligent man, is a sign of ambition," wrote the poet W.H. Auden.

Another myth is that creative people speak through their muses. Trust me, if I sat around waiting for my muse to arrive, I'd write a couple of paragraphs a year. There are many writers who need strictly imposed self-discipline in order to create. Graham Greene wrote 1,000 words a day and then stopped, whether that took him an hour or 10 hours. Charles Dickens' son said of his father that, "no city clerk was ever more methodical or orderly than he." Mark Twain used to count words. Stephen King does six pages a day, no more, no less. Alice Munro worked precisely from 8 to 11 every morning of every day.

The point is that routine is central to creativity. And because the only things creative people have to offer the world (and to make a living) are what they can squeeze out of their hearts and minds, we tend to get a little obsessed with our routines - though that routine might not always look the part. Most people, for example, would not think that a routine means working from 8:45 to 9:45, doing five minutes of yoga, making a coffee, filling the water in the bird bath, working from 10:20 to 11, playing a couple of games of online backgammon, chatting with an editor for 15 minutes, checking email, eating lunch … and then requiring a rest to recover from it all. Hey, nobody said it was easy.

It's important to note here that much of my routine revolves around the fact that I work at home. I have a small office in our basement, with the emphasis on small - most closets would be insulted to be associated with my office. But it's where I work, it is habit and the house is, for most of the daytime hours during the week, empty and quiet. The only sounds that normally emanate from the house, other than the ones I produce, are when the dog goes bonkers when the mail carrier swings by around 3 p.m. (Oh, I forgot - that's part of my routine, too, checking the mail every day for the letter informing me that I've been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. After that moment passes, I typically soothe the disappointment with a cup of tea and a cookie.) And if I feel on any given day that my routine requires some disruption - which I am given to understand is all the rage in corporate circles - I'll shake things up and work at the kitchen table.

Now that you know all this about my routine, I can segue to the actual point I want to make. In the late spring, my wife, Cathy, was presented with the chance to take the summer off. A good break was well-deserved and well-earned.

But there was the small matter of my routine.

I first knew trouble was brewing when it came to the brewing. For 20-odd years I have got up and made coffee the same way, my way, the right way, every weekday. But one day I got up and the smell of coffee was coming from the kitchen. That was immediately outside my routine. Feeling unsettled, I went downstairs. Cathy was sitting at the kitchen table and the newspaper was spread all over it. There was nowhere to put the sports section.

"Good morning," I said. "Umm, I usually sit in that seat when I have breakfast …"

"First come, first served. I've been up for an hour. I've already walked the dog and watered my planters."

With a pinched expression, I said, "Oh." I went about making my toast. "So, what are you up to today?"

She proceeded to list off a ridiculously long roster of activities.

"I said today, not this week."

"I'm action-oriented," she said. "Not everyone likes to sit around all day, you know."

She quickly finished off her breakfast and - this was still before 8 a.m. - launched into cleaning the kitchen windows as I sat at the table trying to have a peaceful coffee. That day, and in fact the next few weeks, saw her burst into spasms of activity that involved painting the garage door, painting the window trim, washing the front windows, reseeding part of the lawn, planting various perennials and annuals, cleaning out cupboards, organizing kayak trips, visiting friends and walking the poor dog to within an inch of its life. The common denominator in most of these activities was that they involved making a hellacious racket all over the house.

One hot June day, she strolled unannounced into my tiny office. I happened to be doing some online research on the upcoming U.S. Open Championship. I have written about golf in the past, so I consider this a legitimate use of my time. (Do you believe me?) Cathy burst into my office, saw the Golf Channel on my screen and said, "Oh, working hard? Or hardly working?" She laughed at her own joke and plopped herself down in the little reading chair behind my desk chair. "Oh, it's so nice and cool down here. It's boiling outside. I was just cleaning the driveway and then I was weeding the vegetable garden. Man, oh, man."

I turned around and gazed at her. "You do know that I'm working?"

"Working?! Good one." She took her sandals off and put one of her bare feet up on the armrest of my desk chair. "Don't mind me. Just keep 'working.' I'll just sit here for a while. I won't bother you. Anyway, can't you concentrate with someone around? That's not very impressive."

What could I do? I turned around and started working.

A couple of days later I was hard at work, actual work, around mid-morning, when I got an email from Cathy. It was marked URGENT! "Come upstairs!" she'd written. I hurriedly saved the document I was working on and bolted upstairs. She was sitting at her desk.

"What is it?!"

"I am totally stuck. I just don't know whether I should ride my bike to Square One coffee shop or whether I should drive there and then go for a walk with my mum afterwards. What do you think I should do?"

During her time off, I received numerous texts and emails like this. So often, in fact, that I succumbed to Stockholm Syndrome - I began sympathizing with the difficulty of such dilemmas and devoted quite a bit of time to helping her resolve them. I also became conditioned to respond promptly to urgent texts and emails saying, "Come upstairs, QUICK, there's something wrong with the printer/computer/phone/dryer/dishwasher/fridge/toaster/ kettle/toilet/sink/vacuum …"

The truth is, my wife's supportive and funny presence has upset the delicate rhythm of my workday, in the same way that a Tasmanian devil might disrupt the routine of a three-toed sloth. But don't criticize the sloth. As I said to Cathy at one point, quite profoundly, I thought: "Oranges are orange and lemons are yellow."

She considered that. "Is that what you spent all morning coming up with down there?"

In the end, Cathy being home hasn't particularly negated my productivity, since (I can hear her saying), it sure didn't look like I accomplished much on any given day anyway. Truly, it has been great having her around the house. It makes the day brighter and more interesting, which is what's supposed to happen when you get to spend more time with the person you married.

But I have to be honest. If she retires while I'm still writing for a living, you might see me scouting around for an office outside the home.

After all, sometimes you've got to shake things up to get into a routine.

About the Author

Curtis Gillespie has written five books and earned seven National Magazine Awards. His New Trail article "A Hard Walk" won gold for best article of 2018 from CASE, an international post-secondary association.

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Five Things We Learned Competing in The Amazing Race Canada
false
Continuing Education
Winning Actually Isn’t Everything
false
Alumni Impact 2024
Playing With Food, Seriously
Grads Matt and Jalene Anderson-Baron sitting at a table and looking at a laptop
Alumni Impact 2024
Thinking Tiny to Go Big
Glowing orb with emanating binary code and light.
Did You Know
What’s Up With Quantum Science?
An illustrated silhouette of a human head surrounded by stylized electronic waves
Discovery
AI Research in Action
a photo of Deena Hinshaw
2023 Distinguished Alumni Award
Calm in the Eye of the Pandemic Storm
a photo of Gordon Wilkes
2023 Distinguished Alumni Award
He Helped Give Patients Confidence to Face the World
Colourful grid of different coloured bananas
Did You Know
Does ChatGPT Really Understand Us?
hildren telling scary stories in a tent at night
Just for Fun
How to Tell a Terrifying Tale
Mature male adult with headphones on, taking a hearing test in a soundproof booth
Health
Breaking the Silence on Hearing Loss
Lazina Mckenzie at a November Project workout
Health
How to Become a Morning Exercise Person in Any Season
false
Profile
Nine Questions With Your New Alumni Association President
People rock climbing
Thesis
Reading, Riding and Arithmetic
false
Feature
Why You Should Care About Small Molecule Drugs
Corridor of people with a man at the center
Tiny
What Is the Smallest Small?
Helping child to read
How-to
How to Help a Child Read Better
false
Tiny
Teeny Words Expose Societal Changes
Couple walking outside
Health
One Small Step
false
Distinguished Alumni Award
Scientist-Entrepreneur Creates Drug Molecules That Can Change Lives
false
Profile
Five Things I’ve Learned About Preserving Indigenous Languages
false
Thesis
It Lies in the Making
false
Continuing Education
A Matter of Meat
false
At Work
How to Manage Imposter Syndrome
false
Thesis
Linger In the In-Between
false
Society
‘We Can Hear the Fighting From Afar’’
false
Society
Pitch Perfect
false
Society
5 Things I've Learned About Black History on the Prairies
false
Living
Let It Snow
false
Discovery
What Has a Nobel Prize Ever Done For You?
false
Relationships
Friends Forever
false
Thesis
Route of Memory
false
In Memoriam
To My Unknown Friend
false
Living
How to Be Media Literate
false
At Home
What Is the Pandemic Doing to My Young Child?
false
Continuing Education
Don't Be Boring!
false
Environment
The Future of Farming is Smarter
false
Discovery
A Nobel Search
false
Environment
How to Fashion a Sustainable Future
false
Living
See Spot Cope
false
New Trail 100
Lawnmowers and Rabbits: A Tale of Progress
false
New Trail 100
Then and Now: Discoveries That Keep on Giving
Photo of Michael Houghton
Health
In Conversation: Michael Houghton
false
New Trail 100
Mystery on Campus
false
Alumni Awards
Stanley Read Brought Compassion to Families Living with HIV/AIDS
false
At Work
How To Network
false
Thesis
Wrong Way, Again
false
At Work
Rethink Your Next Job Interview
false
Discovery
COVID-19-Fighting Tools
false
Environment
Renewable Energy Myths, Busted
false
Profile
Coming Home
false
Just For Fun
A Great Catch
false
Feature
The Virus of Social Unrest
false
Commentary
Reflections on Flight PS752
false
Money
The Dos and Don’ts of Investing After a Market Crash
false
Alumni Recommend
Feed Your Inner, Isolated Art Lover
false
At Work
Business As Unusual
false
At Work
When the Lectern Is in the Living Room
false
At Home
Tips to Help School Your Kids at Home
false
How-to
Support Your Kids During the COVID-19 Pandemic
false
In Memoriam
‘He Was One of a Kind’
false
Thesis
When Your Thoughts Run Away With You
false
Feature
Cinnamon Buns: A Love Story
false
Did You Know
What Baseball Fights Tell Us About Ourselves
false
Commentary
Opining the Opinions
false
Thesis
Seen One, Seen ’Em All
false
Thesis
More Than the Sum of Your Parts
false
Thesis
Whole Medicines
false
Environment
Tips to Free You From Plastic
false
Just For Fun
Are You a Sucker for Pseudoscience?
false
Energy
From Research to Reality
false
Energy
Lost in Transmission
Energy
Decontaminate Water With Chicken Feathers
false
Energy
Reworking the Flywheel for Better Energy Storage
false
Just for Fun
How to Start a Podcast
false
Health
New Food Labels Will Help You Choose
false
Just For Fun
How to Find a Great Podcast
false
Just For Fun
How to Skate Like Connor McDavid
false
Did You Know
How to Feed Your Inner Genealogist
false
Just For Fun
How to Make a Paper Airplane to Challenge Your Assumptions
false
Did You Know
How to Take Part in a Round Dance
false
Living
How to See Like an Artist
false
Relationships
How to Avoid Death by Small Talk
false
Health
Sugar Highs Are Not a Real Thing
false
Continuing Education
That Time I Enrolled in a Community
false
Thesis
Good News for Picky Eaters
Alumni Awards
For being a coach and a leader
false
Thesis
Deserts and Swamps
false
Just For Fun
Registration Woes
false
Environment
Not a Drop Wasted
false
At Home
How to Hang Art Like a Boss
false
Thesis
Your Tech, Your Self
false
Thesis
When Medicine Is Designed Just for You
false
Trails
In Lister Town
false
Feature
The Advance of AI: Should We Be Worried?
false
Tech
Have You Heard the One About the Robot Comedian?
Tech
Unexpected insights from an AI rock star
false
Trails
Modern Campus Life
false
Tech
Fighting Fire With Data
false
Health
Keeping Gym-Class Dropouts in the Game
false
Living
7 Things You Should Know to Rock Your Look
false
Profile
A Sport Psychologist Was Among the Supporters and Athletes Hurrying Hard in Pyeongchang
false
Health
Clearing the Smoke on Cannabis
false
Feature
Seen/Unseen
Feature
Words and Images
Alumni Awards
For finding new ways to succeed in sports
Alumni Awards
For being a powerful voice for change
Alumni Awards
For Being a Model of Leadership
Alumni Awards
For devoting his life to serving the public
false
Feature
How We Can Work Together
false
Feature
A Hard Walk
false
Feature
Facing the Painful Truth
false
Feature
More From the TRC
false
Commentary
Fake News and Surviving a Post-truth World
false
Society
A Cultural Space in a Natural Place
false
Did You Know
Salt Could Save Lives
false
Health
Research Rises From the Ashes
false
Did You Know
The Power of his Song
false
Health
A Healthier Future for Women and Children Is Closer Than Ever
Did You Know
For the Public Good
false
Tech
Changing the Game: Why Teaching AI to Play is More Than Fun and Games
Discovery
Research in the News
false
News
News Briefs
false
Living
Beyond the Books in Italy
false
Did You Know
Milk in Tea Can Reduce Teeth Stains
false
News
Campus News
false
News
Alumni in the News
false
News
David Turpin Named Next U of A President
News
University Plans Land Trust
News
News Briefs
false
Just For Fun
Hiding and Seeking Fun
Discovery
Research in the News
false
Did You Know
Alumna in Judge's Seat at Olympics
false
Just For Fun
Superlative U
false
Just For Fun
Raise a Glass for the Bears and Pandas
false
Society
The Accidental Protestor
false
Health
New Horizons in Health Care
false
Did You Know
The Alumni Effect
false
Profile
The New Kid on Campus
false
Health
Mastering Health Sciences Education
false
Discovery
Research VP Wins Top Prize
false
Discovery
Water Bearers
false
Relationships
Team Building
Continuing Education
High School Reunion
Society
Biotechnology Meets Art
false
Living
One Village at a Time
Notes
Alumni in Australia
false
News
Ultra-Sonic Performance
false
Discovery
Hot Tip
false
Feature
Easy Rider Endowment
false
Health
Master Mind
false
Discovery
Cell Mates
false
Did You Know
Mission to Mars
false
Discovery
You Do the Math