What is Your System?

We all have some sort of a system. A specific way of doing a task to make it more efficient, more bearable, or just remembering to do it all-together.
What is your system?
How did you make it happen?
Do you ever tweak it to make improvements?
What little details make all the difference?
Feel free to give a complete run-down of your system, if you'd like - and maybe even offer suggestions to improve the systems that others have shared.



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Most of my life I have been interested in making things more efficient. When I was in junior high I started using the stopwatch feature on my wristwatch obsessively, improving my time not only on running a mile, but also on showering, reading, eating meals, etc. Eventually I realized I could make things move even faster if I did things precisely the same way every time, developing muscle memory and habituating myself to a rapid set of tasks to take out the guess work. That passion for efficiency has worked well for me over the years. Life is always more enjoyable with a clear system.

But recently I have felt out-of-whack. Things just haven't been flowing like they should. There are so many new things to deal with (new baby + lactation) I have had to develop an entirely new system.

My husband and I have worked hard the past 2 months to develop a system for getting both of us to work on-time with the new baby. This morning it all fell into place and worked perfectly.

Here it is:

Night before:
Pack lunches. Sandwich & apple each for dad and mom My previously-pumped milk filled to 3 oz in date-labeled 5 oz bottles then placed in open cooler lunchbox in fridge for baby.
Prep breakfast. 3 scoops of quick oats in a bowl with brown sugar and nutmeg. Fill kettle with filtered water and place on stove.
Pick out clothes. Baby's outfit placed on changing table for morning. Mom's outfit on closet door hook.
Shower.
Go to bed early. Wake up at 10: 20pm and 2am and do the following: Pee. Feed baby, drink 1 liter H2O, and pump milk simultaneously. Change diaper. Clean pump parts. Prepare a bottle for the next feeding and leave within arm's reach (in cooler if room temperature is excessively warm, otherwise breastmilk is good left out for up to 6 hours in a fresh bottle). Place excess pumped milk in fridge so it's available for the next day.

Morning of:
Awake at 5:30. Tt hops in shower, dresses, and goes downstairs for breakfast with no baby obligations. I hydrate (1.5 liters water), then wake baby and feed while pumping.
5:50am. Tt puts heat on tea kettle and grinds coffee, makes coffee press of coffee and pours boiling water in oatmeal. I make goofy faces at satiated baby while dressing myself. Take baby to changing table and change diaper, dress her, file her nails, sing morning songs. Slip contact case in pocket, wash face, comb hair.
6:15am. Walk downstairs with baby and packed breast pump. Hand baby to Tt with bottle. Throw ice pack in baby's cooler, check diaper bag for completeness, then pack car. Return to kitchen/family room.
6:25am. Take baby from Tt. He leaves for work. I eat breakfast and brush teeth - either with baby in arm (if fussy) or playing on play mat (if happy). Grab baby and load her into carseat, making sure she is happy before I sit in my seat. Usually this entails blasting classical music, showing her a toy, and kissing her on the forehead.
6:45am. Drive out of garage.
7:15am. Arrive at daycare. Get baby comfortable.
7:30am. Leave for school.
7:50am. Park in specific parking space by track. Walk swiftly on track to microscope facility (this is my morning workout).
8am. Walk in the door of my office as bell tower sounds. Put on contacts when have a few minutes.

 

No, unfortunately I wing it for the most part.
And yes, this has gotten me burnt in the past.

My routine is only in the morn.
Up, coffee, check web, shower & shave (brush while water is heating), dress, walk dogs, eat food, get essentials (key, wallet, cell), then out the door to work.

Now on Sunday,
It's get up, walk dogs, coffee, food, check web...watch all the political shows, nap, then get up and do something...

Everything else is up for grabs.

And if I'm with someone, their routine becomes my routine...I'm easy that way.

 

I try to frontload tasks as much as possible. For example, one thing I do consistently is empty the vacuum canister after I'm done vacuuming. Then, the vacuum is ready to go when I want to vacuum the next time.

My system for grading is very simple. I have a document wallet with 8 slots. I have a slot for my action research consent/assent forms, a slot for my originals, a slot for Per. 1's daily work, a slot for Per. 3's daily work, a slot for Per. 1's project work, and a slot for Per. 3's project. One slot is for my work sample stuff. The other is for student work that needs to be recycled. I don't take out student work at home. I keep it in the document wallet at all times unless I'm working with it or handing it back. The document wallet lives in my backpack. I only take out student work at school or at the coffee shop. As I grade, I flip the paper over so I know I've marked it, and create a new pile of upside down papers. I then go through that pile once more to enter the grades into the electronic gradebook. Then the stack of papers goes back into the document wallet. It works well for me.

 

To give a visual as to how I am, I'm like Chitty-Chitty Bang Bang's Dick Van Dyke's character the random scientist/inventor, Caractacus Potts

Everything I do by pattern is by obligation, like work's hours.

I'm inconsistent, activity and creation comes in bursts...intense, fast, targeted...like a Cheetah.
Otherwise, whatever...It looks like I'm languishing. But I'm actually analyzing and planning.

It annoys the shit out of many, they can't predict me. (or categorize)
Likely a reason why I'm not at places for years...it's not by choice, people and groups like predictable. (even fast excellent results don't matter)

If I was very rich, then it would be a much better situation...but I never get the chance to leverage it.
Maybe now, now that I have some freedom.

 

Yes.

Reminds me of another aspect of my system: get my shit done, then DRINK!

 

I see how listing my system out as I have may make me seem uptight or like I'm not taking time to smell the roses. But the reality for me is that I feel much more comfortable taking the time for such things when I don't have to think about my actions - I strive to develop systems so that I am better able to relax. Being able to think out a process for a task so completely before you begin makes it so each movement is mechanized and pieces fall into place without significant thought about that task along the way... it frees the mind for other thoughts.

Hm. Yeah. Perhaps I am wired differently than you, but I wouldn't be able to do these things if I were to drop my systematic way of living. Especially the "Follow your thoughts" and "Enjoy Life" aspects.