February 8, 2024
Ridgely’s Routine
After a nice weekend trip to Hampi filled with various adventures, we are back to the grind at UTC working with our organizations and preparing our first draft of our GCIL projects. With things starting to ramp up, stress has begun to build from trying to shape and refine our GCIL project, the personal pressure of trying to generate valuable outputs for Biome, and the challenges of attempting to not get sick. I trust everything will all work out, but in the meantime to deal with my stress, I have been finding myself seeking a routine I would typically have at home.
Each day I set my alarm for 7:45 am, so I have about 15 minutes to see what’s going on back home before I roll out of bed at 8:00 am. I get ready for the day by writing my to-do list in my planner, grabbing a handful of trail mix before taking my vitamins, and then heading downstairs around 8:15 for some breakfast. After our typical morning blog readings, I get to work for the day with my group, working from around 9 am-4 pm with a lunch break in the middle. In the evenings I head down the street to the gym in the partially completed building, which is chalked full with pictures of ripped dudes and motivational quotes. I unfortunately did not plan ahead with enough pictures, but if you google “motivational gym quotes” on Google and imagine those plastered all over with some human-sized images of some strong dudes, you’ll get a pretty good idea of what I am talking about. Some of it’s pretty corny, but it gives me a good chuckle and is weirdly motivating on the days I’m feeling tired. After that, I typically head around the corner to 7 plates, where I am a regular, to up my protein intake for the day. I usually get two wraps, but I’ve been switching up the two I get each time (my favorites so far are the Crispy Chicken and the Arabian). I then head back to UTC to eat, shower, get some more solo work done, and attend mentor meetings on occasion. At this point in the day, I can usually scribble out the last few items on my to-do list like writing in my journal at which point the stress leaves my body, and I am satisfied with my day.
To some, a routine may drive them crazy, but for me, I find comfort. I’ve discussed this with a few other members of GCIL, but I think I could go the rest of my life having my typical eggs, bagel, smoothie, and black coffee combo for breakfast. As well as my sandwich, yogurt, mixed veggies, banana, and two oranges combo for lunch. I will say, I have to mix up dinner though. Having that be repetitive would be going too far (except for in India where I have flipped my breakfast and lunch routine for a dinner one).
As I wrap up this blog, I will jump into my nightly routine of flossing, brushing, putting in my retainer, and puckering up for some chap stick. I’ll plug in my devices, pack for the day to come, chug some water, and scroll through some memes in bed. Inevitably my night will end around 11-12 pm when either Andoni or I have the sudden urge to sleep, in which case we hop up to plug in our phones and turn off the night. I’ll cozy up with my somewhat broken neck pillow from the airport and then crash into a deep sleep.
By Ridgely
Photo of my planner
The gym near UTC
My favorite local eatery, 7 plates