The Pleasure of a Well-Oiled Routine
A simple pleasure of mine is having a good routine. Expecting what’s coming next, the structure, and planning your week. Knowing today you might work until late, but tomorrow you’ll undoubtedly meet with your family for dinner, as you do every Tuesday night, or meeting your friends at the pub every Friday after work.
Let me paint you a picture.
It’s Friday morning. You wake up, get dressed, make yourself the first of many hot coffees you’ll have during the day, and take it outside to the veranda. After all, it’s a sunny day and those are rare in Sydney at the moment.
You go through your messages and make sure you didn’t miss out on anything important. You check in with your family, make sure they’re okay, maybe send a photo of said coffee on the group chat or a funny TikTok you’ve found while scrolling. You read a couple of chapters of the book you picked up last night before you went to bed.
It’s already time to go to work, you pick up your bag with the lunch you prepared last night, walk to the train station, and spend the day working on something you really feel passionate about. You realise on your break that you’re already halfway through your book, and things were just starting to get interesting right before you had to clock back in.
It’s already five o’clock. You get a message from your friends’ group chat that everyone’s getting drinks at the pub after work, so you head there. You spend a blissful evening talking about nothing and everything with the people you love most.
Anne got a raise, John is talking about how he’s ready to be in a serious relationship with someone and settle, Rita is complaining about her final assessments, and how she can’t wait for the break. You tell them how you’re taking up more responsibility at work, and how you hope it won’t be long until they recognise your effort and you get a promotion.
After a couple more drinks, everybody calls it a night. You get home, play one of your favourite episodes from the show you’ve been rewatching – yet again – while you get ready for bed. You don’t have to get your lunch ready for the next day since it’ll be Saturday. The last thing you think before closing your eyes is that you’ll be able to sleep in until late.
The submissions deadline for the 2022 USYD Anthology has been extended until August 31st! Now there’s even more time to get writing, get edited, get published, and get creative! Just stay on theme!
