Routines

Routines are a necessary and valuable part of getting stuff done with as little friction as possible. However, I try to avoid routines for the most part. I find that they make life feel monotonous and stifle creativity. The routines I do keep, I find fulfilling and enjoyable. They also give me piece of mind when all is said and done. I thought I’d share a few of my routines that involve my iPad and Mac.

When I refer to a “routine” I generally mean a scheduled, conscious chunk of time intended for a limited number of tasks. For example my Morning Coffee routine does not have a single start time, nor does it consist of a contiguous block of time. I have a pre-commute cup of coffee around 4:45 am where I generally do a few tasks. I continue my daily coffee routine after I arrive at the office around 6am. For me, routines are less about schedules and more about consistency.

Daily Morning Coffee

• Omnifocus review
• Clear tasks into Omnifocus
• Zite on iPad
• Discover on iPad

Monday

• Store off-site backup at work in locked cabinet
• Review topics and agendas for work meetings
• Send missing agendas for work meetings
• Review topics for One on One meetings
• Review project schedules

Friday

• Bring home off site backup disk
• Review Omnifocus work projects
• Clean work email and file archive messages
• Review project schedules

Saturday

• Check server logs
• Weekly backup refresh of photos, videos and music for off-site storage
• Weekly backup log check (make sure the backups ran)
• Boot drive clone

Sunday

• Review bank statements
• Pay bills
• Scan bills to PDF’s and shred paper
• Clean up personal email and file archive messages
• Holistic Omnifocus review (tasks, projects, inbox, timelines)
• Clear files from todo inbox on Dropbox

Monthly

• Change Passwords
• Clear old notes in Simplenote