Art of Routine: Discover How Routineology Can Transform Your Life

by Angel Iscovich MD, Joe Garner (Contributor), Michael Ashley (Contributor)

This is not a "How to."

Th ere is no “one size fits all” when it comes to routine. Dr. Iscovich shares his original study of routine—learn through his observations how routine can improve longevity, performance, and adaptability. You will be better equipped to construct a routine that works best for you!
 
Conventional wisdom suggests that the best way to navigate our noisy new world is to accept change. Open up to novelty. Go with the flow. Live in the moment. Embrace the relentless pelting of content minute by minute. But routine experts Angel Iscovich, MD, Joe Garner, and Michael Ashley are here to say that’s a bad idea. Humans don’t just benefit from structure; they require it.
 
Years of observation and practice led to their breakthrough concept of routineology , the key to optimize your life and the cure for crisis. Routineology’s fundamental prescriptive is to look inside and live your life in a “time bubble” to find purpose, meaning, and joy. Offering insights from top performers and stories of triumph over adversity, this book demonstrates that routine isn’t just a good idea—it’s imperative for surviving and thriving today.
 
Live a life of deeper meaning and navigate toward a better world with  The Art of Routine .

Genres: Self Help, Psychology, Nonfiction

192 pages, Hardcover

Published June 1, 2021

Reviews

[Alicia Bayer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Parts of this book were interesting but I felt that it could have been a lot better. The author did a pretty good job of convincing me that routines were important for mental and physical health, though I wasn't completely convinced by the stories of super-elderly people who did things like routinely drank alcohol or smoked cigarettes (I'm pretty sure other factors led to their long lives despite their small unhealthy routines). The author switches gears halfway and then proposes that routines can be terrible for us if they are influenced by technology and the way it limits our choices. For instance, he talks about how our apps suggest music, routes, venues, etc. based on our previous decisions and it makes our worlds more and more narrow. He talks about one guy who created an app to give him totally random suggestions for music, places to go, etc. and how much better his life got. And then it goes into something about the workplace that didn't really seem relevant to the book or routines.

Nowhere in the book does it actually tell you how to establish routines, which I think would have been the most useful aspect of the book.

There were little points in here that I'll take with me, but on the whole I think it would have benefited from some ruthless editing and reworking. I enjoyed it but I don't think I'll remember most of it in a few weeks.

I read a digital ARC of this book via NetGalley

[Chrystopher’s Archive]

I'm going to be totally honest and admit that my eyes glazed over when the author started recounting the details of the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic. Aside from anything else I really wasn't sure what purpose this served and didn't seem to segue smoothly into the topic the book was supposed to be covering and frankly was starting to trigger flashback anxiety. Even before this, the opening vignette, of comparing life to an emergency c-section and repeatedly being born was somewhat self-serving and...off-putting? Skimming past the opening, I found the book's lack of organization distressing, and saw no profit in continuing.

[GONZA · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually agree with the author about the importance of routines and the need of structure of the human being. I just do not think we should avoid novelties because boredom is also a risk. Anyway an interesting reading even if I didn't like all the examples used to prove a point.

Sono d'accordo con l'autore sull'importanza delle routine e sul bisogno di struttura dell'essere umano, sono meno d'Accordo sull'Evitare le novitá anche perché la noia é anche un fattore di rischio. Comunque una lettura interessante anche se non tutti gli esempi mi sembravano poi cosí utili a provare un certo tipo di affermazioni.

I received a complimentary digital copy of the book in exchange for a honest review.

[Dora Okeyo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book does not make the case for routine or explain how to develop and stick to a routine to achieve results. It is not a how-to book, rather it is a collection of stories/case studies that tell how people lived by routines and when I was reading that was insufficient for me because I had expected it to reveal how-to.

It's good for reading to acquire knowledge and bear in mind experiences from other people and maybe that does serve the purpose the authors intended.

Thanks Netgalley for the eARC.

[Kaitlyn · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review. I had such high hopes for this book. The topic really interested me and the cover is eye-catching, however the book missed the mark by a lot. This book is highly unorganized. The author starts by discussing routine as an unborn baby, then as a toddler then jumps to adulthood in a matter of a few pages. The remainder of the book is filled with stories that only loosely tie back to the topic of the art of routine. This book also gave itself a short shelf life by referencing COVID19 and policies regarding COVID19 that will be null and void within a few years time.

[Candy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book, but the author’s arguments were all over the place. First a convincing stand on the importance of routine...then stressing the importance of the unexpected...huh?

[Alan Hornbecker · Rating 5 out of 5]

wanna do some thinking???

If so, you’ve got to read this book. I mean it’s overall a great book but the last chapter, especially, had me really reflecting on life juxtaposed with the life yet to come. We are in an era of great social and technological change. Those boomers that are still around could not even fathom how vastly different the life of someone born today will be. For better or worse. The author does a good job making the argument that establishing routines will be beneficial to someone of any era no matter how different those routines will actually look. Again though I really am blown away by that last chapter and particularly the last few pages. Like I said the book was very good to that point it was turned up a notch at the end. Well done…definitely made me a smarter person.

[Haley Stern · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Art of Routine a truly eye-opening look at the power of how we spend our days! With compelling and actionable insights, this is a must-read for anyone who wants to uplevel their personal and professional lives.

[Meghan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Yikes- not worth finishing. Some of the historical stories were interesting but over all this is a big pass.

[Rev. Ed · Rating 5 out of 5]

In life's transitional chapters

I read this book in one of life's transitional chapters. It was very helpful for reflection, evaluation and decision making. I recommend it.

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have zero clue what this book wanted to be, but whatever it was I'm going to suggest it failed. There's nothing here in helping you to decide on or set up routines - it's not a self-help book at all. It's not even a good essay on routines as a concept, but a hugely meandering waffle through disparate topics, often contradictory, with no effort to draw any real conclusions. Half of them don't really seem very related to routine, quite honestly. If there is a point, I'd suggest it's the author's self-aggrandisement, as the one thing that does repeatedly come through is "I'm an amazing doctor - listen to how I saved this guy's life cos I'm amazing - and I ran companies and I write books and..." bleh.

Also throws in repeated mentions of COVID-19 in an effort to be super-relevant but it doesn't *do* anything with the references! Routine and lockdown - such a goldmine topic, but, nope. How?!

Urgh. More ranting in the full review on my blog.