Establish A Routine

One of the powerful tools I have developed to help me live with paranoid schizophrenia is establishing a routine. I have a daily routine, a weekly routine, and a monthly routine. In addition, there are two holidays I take with my spouse each year.

For my daily routine, the strictest rules belong to the morning. I usually wake up early because I go to bed early. Getting out of bed at 3:00a.m. for my first coffee is common. I am sometimes up as early as 1a.m. and rarely sleep past 5a.m. To help ward off the overshadowing of nightmares, pessimism about my day, and any other negative thoughts trying to creep into my mind as soon as I wake up, I always do the same thing for the first few hours of my day while my spouse is usually still asleep. I find that puzzles are an excellent way to ward off negativity. I have the New York Times Crossword app on my phone, which hosts alternate games like Spelling Bee, Wordle, Connections, and Letter Boxed. These alternate games only take a few minutes to solve, but they engage my mind and are fun. I do the crossword later. After doing the alternate games, I have had fun as I start a new day, and usually, any negative overhang has lifted. I then spend about an hour studying Welsh with the Duolingo app. That’s a more complex challenge, focusing my mind even more as I get through my second cup of coffee. If my spouse wakes up during the word game and Welsh part of my morning, I simply tell him I can’t give him any attention until after my second cup of coffee. At the other end of the day, I try to stop all solo activities by 2p.m. to spend the rest of the day focusing on my spouse and winding down before my early bedtime.

I find a weekly routine works better for more critical tasks like writing my novels, keeping track of our budget, and doing some mathematics. For each day of the week, I choose one activity I want to focus on, even though I may spend a little time on other activities.

The monthly routine is more about managing my home and my assets.

Despite all this planning, I make my spouse the number one person of importance, and, except for the strict early morning wake-up routine, I will adapt my day around what he wants to do. He is incredibly considerate about leaving me alone for long periods if I need that, for example, when I write, and he uses that time for his hobbies.

In the sea of fear and confusion that can accompany me when I am struggling with my schizophrenia symptoms, these routines help to ground me and fight back with something concrete I can achieve.

In any routine, scheduling time for exercise, eating well, and resting is always essential. These are other reasons why I don’t push myself after 2p.m.

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