Boy interrupted

The only problem with having a ruthlessly regimented morning routine is that even the slightest outside influence can throw you completely. Having wrestled the routine back to a steady 24 minutes, my mornings have been calm affairs lately.

This morning - turmoil. I woke to the sound of the bathroom door closing. What was this? Surely not - Buzz - at this hour? Can't be? Must be, shit, it is. What to do now?

There seemed to be two options, stay in bed until Buzz was clear of the bathroom and apply the accepted morning methodology then OR get up and improvise. When you have as much confidence in your ability to break 25 minutes in the morning as I do - you don't leave any time in the budget. So - option one was out, I had to improvise to make up this contingent lost ground.

What a disaster. Things that were supposed to help - didn't. I put the boxers, socks, belt and cuff links out on the bed, made and poured the coffee. Still waiting. Suit jacket out of wardrobe, hanging on door - that will pull back a few seconds I thought. Still waiting, phone and wallet put into suit jacket pocket. At last the bathroom door opened.

Shaved, went to pour coffee, got half way out the door and realised I had already done that. Showered, teeth etc as usual. Then it was time to get dressed, pulled a pair of boxers and socks from the customary shelves, put on trousers, left foot then right foot for the shoes, went to bedside shelves - where are my cuff links? Ah, on the bed, that seemed wrong - but OK - I'll ride with the changes.

Go to sit on bed to tie shoe laces and put on cuff links. Halt! Return the pre-prepared but overlooked pair of boxers and socks back to their customary shelves. Proceed. Coffee is only luke warm damn it (poured to early in the piece).

Go to leave, wallet, oh shit, not again, where the hell is my wallet? Brief panic attack. That's right - it's in my damned jacket.

Everything I had done to try to save time outside of the normal routine was spurious; every attempt ended up costing me time. I had made myself alien to my own process - and despite the best of intentions - the experiment failed, badly.

I am not inflexible - I just know what I like and I like what I know! And I know what works for me.