Sometimes I find that if I don’t really have any kind of routine I end up falling into bad habits and feeling pretty down in myself. For example I might end up going to bed at a funny time like 3am and then sleeping in until 11 or 12 and then feeling as if I’ve wasted the majority of the day. To try and combat this I try to set myself a bit of a regime or routine to follow, just so that I feel like I’m being constructive despite the Social Anxiety Disorder.
I think I’ve read somewhere before that all humans crave a routine, and without some kind of pattern to follow they end up going a bit crazy. Can’t remember where I heard this but I think it was said by some kind of a psychologist, and it did seem to make sense to me. People need to have a job otherwise they will just get bored and end up doing nothing, and sometimes I think that this feeling can affect people with Social Anxiety Disorder too – you really want to get out and do something, like get a job, but find it hard because you are put off by the whole interview process, or by the thought of failing at your job.
Although my routine is pretty boring and standard I think its still healthy for me to have one. I remember at one point I had a wacky idea that I could actually work during the night and sleep during the day… don’t ask me why lol, I just seemed to think that as I was self employed working from home I could just be different and sleep in the day time. Needless to say I realised this was a dumb idea, and I stuck to the normal 9-5 although its a little varied. Usually I work until about 6 o/clock but I work on bits and pieces during the evening too, just because I usually don’t have anything else to do at the moment. Also I walk the dog during the day, which I find is a nice break from being stuck inside working. I’ve heard that many people have actually overcome their Social Anxiety Disorder simply by getting a dog – you have to care for a dog and so you will need to walk it at least once per day. This gives you a chance to get out of the house and will probably mean that you meet other dog walkers (just as a result of walking your dog). Also you will have to buy food and other things to care for your dog. Your dog will hopefully reward you with love and affection and entertainment too, and I think all of these things help you to become more confident, socially and in other ways too. I believe that if you live on your own or need a reason to get out more then a dog would be perfect, as long as you make sure you do look after it.
Apart from that my daily routine is pretty simple, breakfast, work, lunch, work, walk the dog, work, dinner, bit more of work and then bed! Boring I know. One of the nice things about being at home is that I can break up my day by doing other things (usually loads of stuff around the house that I can entertain myself with) and that I can work anytime I like really.
Sorry if this blog post wasn’t exactly very Social Anxiety Disorder related, but I do genuinely find that by having a daily routine you can help your days living with Social Anxiety become just a little bit more bearable.
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