Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with routines

Your favorite routines from elementary school?

HotPatatta — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 10:13:02 -0800

When you or your kids were in elementary school, what were some of the daily/weekly routines or activities you or your children enjoyed and/or appreciated most? I'll be teaching second grade and I need some new ideas.

When do you floss?

Cordelya — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 13:27:56 -0800

Where does flossing fit in to your routine? I have trouble adding new things to my routine. I'm all about routine, and what routine I have is almost completely concrete - to the point where many of my sub-routines go in the same order every time. It's rather Adrian Monk, really.

I've managed to slip brushing my teeth into my routine by adding it ito my shower sub-routine. It goes after I wash my hair and before I wash my face. In that order, every single time.

I am having problems identifying an ideal place in my routine to add flossing. At least several times a week, preferably once per day. The best place would be within a sub-routine, so I don't abstain unless I drop the entire sub-routine.

But where? When?

My abbreviated weekday routine goes as such:
Get up, take a shower, and get dressed (one hour).
At work or commuting (10 hrs).
Evening is not structured - usually involves food in some form (lots of takeout due to fact that size of kitchen rivals postage stamps) and lots of computer time - spouse contributes to and encourages this behavior. Very difficult to tear self away from computer. Possibly some reading before bed, but not routine (5 hrs).
Sleeping (8 hrs).

Let's not forget that I'm a champion procrastinator...

Where in your routine do you floss? Anybody have flossing creatively placed in a non-standard sub-routine?

How does your brain idle?

argybarg — Wed, 22 Jun 2005 14:50:16 -0800

What does your brain do in the background while it's idling? If I'm doing something half-brained and repetitive, I can notice my brain going through its background routines:

-- I mentally pace out rooms in groups of five steps, with a set routine matching inside/outside steps to convex/concave articulations of furniture, etc.
-- If I'm driving, I count off car length in groups of (again) five, matching them to roadside features (reflectors, or guardrail posts).
-- I assign notes in a melody to different positions of my lower and upper teeth meeting, then click out the melodies on my teeth. If the melody has more than 9 notes, I can't do this.
-- If I'm away from home (let's say at a restaurant), I rehearse driving home, especially the details of getting out of the parking lot.

I had a friend who compulsively spelled words backwards. Other than that, no one has shared their mental screen-savers with me. Consequently, I wonder if I'm normal or if I ought to be lining up to be profiled by Oliver Sacks.