Routines are not for everyone. There’s nothing inherently better about being someone who can stick to a routine. It doesn’t make you smarter, more likable, more fulfilled, more generous. Besides, as musician Ella Hooper reminded me, a routine isn’t always filled with “good” habits: “I do have some things that I do every day—and they are mainly my foibles.” By that logic, there’s nothing inferior about being someone who doesn’t have a routine. In fact, as I’ve observed, we can fold our own version of joy, discipline, and contentment into our days without one.
