No, I didn’t ever think I would crave it either. I like to think I’m a free spirit and that the combination of being creative and a multipod means I can just wing it on a daily basis.

(“It” being, you know, life, food, work, self-care, all the things.)

I genuinely believed that I didn’t have a routine. Right up until the last 18 months, during which I haven’t been able to have one.

Buying and renovating a house, converting the garage, sorting out the garden, all while trying to stay on top of my beloved businesses and my day job, along with a horrific run of bad luck with my kitties which saw us in the vet or emergency vet every fortnight for almost eight months. It turns out this is not compatible with routine.

Add in family illness and personal anxiety levels soaring, and you have a recipe for a Carla disaster.

The build finishes this week, and the cats have been to the vet today and been pronounced healthy. The cat flap with the built-in curfew function arrives tomorrow. I am starting to accept there’s very little I can do about the family illness.

Ready for routine

And oh, I am CRAVING routine and ritual. I want to wake at the same time each morning, and do the same things in the same order to get ready for the day ahead. I want to be able to plan, with flexibility, time to work on my businesses and boost them after the battering they have also taken during this project.

Possibly most of all, though I might also blame it being winter, I am desperate to get back into the routine I used to have. Each month included an epic cooking day. I would put on music and spend the entire day in my kitchen. By making soups, stews, curries, pasta sauces and other freezable delights so that for most of the month I had homemade ready meals to hand.

I’m starting by planning each week on a Sunday. This lovely purrmaids meal planner a friend bought me earlier this year:

It’s nothing like as detailed as my beloved bullet journal! But it does give me an overview and immediately marks out any days which will disrupt my routine. Vet visits and any trades being due to turn up are usually good indications!

This lives in my kitchen, propped up against the biscuit tin, where I see it several times a day.

My daily plan

I am also:

• Filling the kettle before I go to bed, ready for my morning cuppa
• Measuring the cats’ food out in the evening, ready for the next day
• Making time with my BuJo the last thing on each day’s list, so I sleep without worrying I’ll forget something
• Stocking up on Tupperware containers so I can do the epic cooking day
• Ensuring I put the dishwasher on every other day and do at least one load of washing each week, so it all fits into my daily life.

Do you have any other tips for establishing and keeping a routine? I’m not fussed about having a yoga-and-juice type one, but just having time to greet the day in the mornings, stay focused in the day and relax and plan in the evenings is my current goal.