Routines & Ruts

Madeleine Dore returns with a brand new podcast, A SOCIAL LIFE, WITH FRIENDS. Coming soon, conversations will explore what it's like being a person in the world with other people—all the joys, all the tensions, all the misunderstandings and the miracles. Stay in the loop: Visit asociallifewithfriends.com Sign up to the newsletter Be sure to subscriber to the podcast wherever you like to listen Created, produced and hosted by Madeleine Dore with support from DM PodcastsArtwork by Rachel DerumSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

To end the podcast, host Madeleine Dore takes us back to the beginning and shares a free sample from the audio version of I Didn't Do The Thing Today. — GET THE BOOK:  I Didn't Do The Thing Today— STAY IN TOUCH: Subscribe the the newsletter Madeleine Dore—On Things.

Host Madeleine Dore shares reflections on ending her labour of love, and introduces a new beginning.— GET THE FREE NEWSLETTER: Receive a monthly round up by signing up to Madeleine Dore—On Things.— BECOME A PAID SUBSCRIBER: To access everything the newsletter has to offer as well as support new writing, the best thing you can do is become a paid subscriber.— READ THE BOOK:  I Didn't Do The Thing Today

In this final episode of season three, Madeleine explores the fear behind perfectionism — and how often the only antidote to being afraid of the work, is to do the work. Explored in this episode:​Routine of the week: Lessons from runningRut of the week: Allowing for the fallowThe two traps of perfectionismHow we mislabel lazinessThe fear behind procrastinationCollecting failures and mistakesWorthy v worthwhileThe gap between taste and abilityHow we are never completeBUY THE BOOK: I Didn't Do The Thing TodaySTAY IN TOUCH: Sign up to the newsletter and follow @extraordinary_routines on Instagram

In this special episode, Madeleine answers all your questions on writing and publishing a book — with answers exploring themes such as courage, process, and patience that are relevant to any project or endeavour.  Explored in this episode:​Routine of the week: Delightful-disciplineRut of the week: Pretend holidayProcrastination v self-sabotageReaching your potentialCourageFeeling worthyKnowing when an idea is readyHow to find support to writeGetting an agent and book dealOrganising ideas and themesStartingSUBMIT YOUR PRODUCTIVITY QUANDARY:  madeleinedore.com/askBUY THE BOOK: I Didn't Do The Thing Today

In this week's quandary, Madeleine answers her own quandary! With her first book I Didn't Do The Thing Today now in book stores, Madeleine offers herself some timely advice for addressing self-doubt when putting something into the world—which is advice that also doubles as advice for living.Explored in this episode:​Routine of the week: choosing a word for the yearRut of the week: the power of a declarationSelf-doubtComparisonDefining successBuilding a ballastExpectationsSUBMIT YOUR PRODUCTIVITY QUANDARY:  madeleinedore.com/askBUY THE BOOK: I Didn't Do The Thing Today

This week's quandary is all about making and sticking to resolutions—and why it might be more worthwhile to expand ourselves, rather than fixate on changing ourselves.Explored in this episode:​Routine of the week: keeping a spiral diaryRut of the week: the antidote to worryThe freedom that comes with asking "What if nothing changes?"Swapping  promises for actionDeciphering between shoulds and wantsMaking a let go and a let in listNot adding more to your listThe power of patienceHolding intentions lightly with a word of the yearPRE-ORDER THE BOOK: I Didn't Do The Thing Today and receive your gentle manifesto for the days you didn't do the thingSUBMIT YOUR PRODUCTIVITY QUANDARY:  madeleinedore.com/ask— Look at the circumstances

This week's quandary is about how to know when you need to go easy on yourself and rest, and when you need to push through complacency to get things done. Explored in this episode:​Routine of the week: a portable routineRut of the week: putting things in the 'cloak room'How we are set up to fail with the pressure to be doing  moreProductivity 'self-gaslighting'Inspecting the circumstances we're inStepping outside the productivity guilt spiralCultivating acceptance and being kindThe importance of enjoymentPRE-ORDER THE BOOK: I Didn't Do The Thing Today and receive your gentle manifesto for the days you didn't do the thingSUBMIT YOUR PRODUCTIVITY QUANDARY:  madeleinedore.com/ask— Look at the circumstances

This week's quandary is about being inconsistent. Madeleine shares how she embraced one of her biggest productivity-guilt stumbling blocks.Explored in this episode:​Routine of the week: morning pagesRut of the week: people pleasingWhy we are inconsistent ​The cost of consistency Consistency v intensityBeing congruent over consistent PRE-ORDER THE BOOK: I Didn't Do The Thing TodaySUBMIT YOUR PRODUCTIVITY QUANDARY:  madeleinedore.com/ask

This week's quandary is about how to make a decision when you're caught in a yes/no spiral. Madeleine unpacks the standstill of indecision, how to handle the regret we can feel, and mixes many metaphors!Explored in this episode:​Routine of the week: finding your first dominoRut of the week: relearning how to mingleHow indecision is a decisionBuilding your decision making muscle (previously explored in season two)​The myth of the right decisionHandling regret over a decisionPRE-ORDER THE BOOK: I Didn't Do The Thing TodaySUBMIT YOUR PRODUCTIVITY QUANDARY:  madeleinedore.com/ask

This week's quandary is several in one: how to know if something is good enough, how to determine your life purpose, and how to know where to start. Madeleine unpacks the hesitation behind asking how, so you can overcome it and step into the moment in front of you.  Explored in this episode:​How asking how keeps us stuckFiguring out what you want​Knowing if you're any goodFind your purpose​Where to start​Curiosity as the antidote​ to hesitationPRE-ORDER THE BOOK: I Didn't Do The Thing TodaySUBMIT YOUR PRODUCTIVITY QUANDARY:  madeleinedore.com/ask  

It's been a minute! To introduce season three, host Madeleine Dore reflects on disappearing for a while to write her first book, I Didn't Do The Thing Today.Also, to delve further into the lessons on letting go of productivity guilt, this season Madeleine will be dishing up counterintuitive lessons in the hope that it can lead you to figuring out your own needs, patterns, and way of doing thingsPRE-ORDER THE BOOK: I Didn't Do The Thing TodaySUBMIT YOUR PRODUCTIVITY QUANDARY:  madeleinedore.com/ask  

Thank you for listening to the second season of Routines & Ruts! To stay tuned for season three, please subscribe or follow the podcast on your preferred listening platform.You can also stay in the loop by signing up to the free Extraordinary Routines newsletter, or follow along at @extraordinary_routines on Instagram.Episodes mentioned:Period preacher' Lucy Peach talked about the connection, creativity and truth in the menstrual cycleAcademic and author of Sand Talk Tyson Yunkaporta shared thoughts on how time, routine and patternsSelf-taught astronemer Greg Quicke on the cycles of the universeWriter Kylie Maslen on  likening living with invisible illness to watching the stormAuthor and psychotherapist Hilary Jacobs Hendel on the ebb and flow of emotionsWriter and activist Sarah Wilson spoke about on tilting and modulating over finding balance

The final episode for season three asks, how do we find the beauty in the break and determine our preference for rest? Mentioned:Explore the DIY workbook mentioned: TIME, SPACE & QUIET Re- by designer Molly Grover * * *Thank you for listening to Routines & Ruts, a labour of love fuelled by time and curiosity. If you'd like to support the podcast, please share with a friend, or say thanks with a coffee!To stay tuned, please subscribe to the show wherever you hear your podcasts and sign up to the semi-regular Extraordinary Routines newsletter. 

“Frugal hedonism is partly about noticing when less is more, and that applies to activity just as much as in the realm of consumption.” – Annie Raser RowlandArtist, horticulturalist and co-author of The Art of Frugal Hedonism: A Guide to Spending Less While Enjoying Everything More talks about  creating a life less dependent on the comforts of consumption and more focussed on extracting maximum pleasure from the most essential parts of being human.In this conversation, we speak about the routines of a frugal hedonist, limiting the burden of choice in our days, working on the things that might never be seen, recalibrating, relishing, the pleasure of experiences, how we can have the “Getting Feeling” from learning things, not just buying things, busyness as an obsession, and how comparison shapes our ideas of wealth and consumerism.* * *Thank you for listening to Routines & Ruts, a labour of love fuelled by time and curiosity. If you'd like to support the podcast, please share with a friend, or say thanks with a coffee!To stay tuned, please subscribe to the show wherever you hear your podcasts and sign up to the semi-regular Extraordinary Routines newsletter.

In this mini episode, Madeleine shares her trusted "puddle theory" from the DIY workbook, TIME, SPACE & QUIET.Download the puddle priority list and the DIY workbook at sideprojectessions.com and make time, space and quiet for the things you're putting off.  * * *Thank you for listening to Routines & Ruts, a labour of love fuelled by time and curiosity. If you'd like to support the podcast, please share with a friend, or say thanks with a coffee!To stay tuned, please subscribe to the show wherever you hear your podcasts and sign up to the semi-regular Extraordinary Routines newsletter.

 “Ultimately the goal is to communicate our wants, needs, fears and boundaries confidently and effectively.” – Hilary Jacobs HendelPsychotherapist and author of It's Not Always Depression: Working the change triangle to listen to the body, Discover Core Emotions and Reconnect with Your Authentic Self  talks about the importance of emotional education to help us connect to each other and ourselves. In this conversation, we talk about how emotions live in the body, why we avoid feelings and how to judging them, slowing down, the power of feeling, dealing and relating, the different types of shame, guilt and boundaries, moving through small traumas, how we are made up of parts, and how something as simple as learning to take a compliment can help us sit with emotions.Find more resources at www.hilaryjacobshendel.com* * *Support this podcast on Patreon  with a monthly pledge, or join for virtual Momentum Mornings deep work sessions. To stay tuned, please subscribe to the show wherever you hear your podcasts and sign up to the semi-regular Extraordinary Routines newsletter.This podcast is produced and edited by Madeleine Dore. Special thanks to Nelson Dore for the theme music and Ellen Porteus for the cover art.

This week's mini episode asks, how do we spend less time ruminating and worrying about what other think? * * *Support this podcast on Patreon  with a monthly pledge, where you can also join for virtual Momentum Mornings deep work sessions to make time for the things that replenish you. To stay tuned, please subscribe to the show wherever you hear your podcasts and sign up to the semi-regular Extraordinary Routines newsletter.This podcast is produced and edited by Madeleine Dore. Special thanks to Nelson Dore for the theme music and Ellen Porteus for the cover art.

 “Often we think within our 10-foot radius that everything is happening to us. Step outside of that 10-foot radius and you’ll frequently see that the same things are happening to others around you at the same time. Perhaps that can make it easier if we’re able to see that it is not just all about us.” – Greg QuickeSelf-taught bush astronomer and author of Is The Moon Upside Down? Greg Quicke talks about the powerful lessons for everyday life we can find in the cosmos. In this conversation, we delve the awe-inspiring ways astronomy can stretch our minds and hearts—how it can be a reminder that we’ve got nothing to lose, and the relationship between order and chaos. We talk about meeting challenges with joy, how to find and follow your flow, cultivating patience, and choosing to see beauty in the ordinary and extraordinary.* * *Support this podcast on Patreon  with a monthly pledge, or join for virtual Momentum Mornings deep work sessions. To stay tuned, please subscribe to the show wherever you hear your podcasts and sign up to the semi-regular Extraordinary Routines newsletter.This podcast is produced and edited by Madeleine Dore. Special thanks to Nelson Dore for the theme music and Ellen Porteus for the cover art.

This week's mini episode asks, how do we learn to ask generously and say no kindly? * * *Support this podcast on Patreon  with a monthly pledge, where you can also join for virtual Momentum Mornings deep work sessions to make time for the things that replenish you. To stay tuned, please subscribe to the show wherever you hear your podcasts and sign up to the semi-regular Extraordinary Routines newsletter.This podcast is produced and edited by Madeleine Dore. Special thanks to Nelson Dore for the theme music and Ellen Porteus for the cover art.

"If we’re going to get serious about talking about disability and mental health, then we need to talk about what that really looks like for everyone involved.” –Kylie MaslenAuthor of  Show Me Where It Hurts: Living with Invisible Illness Kylie Maslen discusses how creating a shared understanding of someone’s day to day can help break down the barriers between the well and unwell. In this conversation,  we discuss the importance of routine to reduce decision fatigue, but also the flip side of this constant vigilance. We also delve into burnout, the ableist idea of equating output with our worth, the Pomodoro technique, isolation and loneliness, community, and Kylie introduces me to spoon theory as a way to create boundaries but also be generous with other people’s energy. * * *Support this podcast on Patreon  with a monthly pledge, or join for virtual Momentum Mornings deep work sessions. To stay tuned, please subscribe to the show wherever you hear your podcasts and sign up to the semi-regular Extraordinary Routines newsletter.This podcast is produced and edited by Madeleine Dore. Special thanks to Nelson Dore for the theme music and Ellen Porteus for the cover art.

This week's mini episode asks, how do allow both attention and  distraction into our days? * * *Support this podcast on Patreon  with a monthly pledge, where you can also join for virtual Momentum Mornings deep work sessions to make time for the things that replenish you. To stay tuned, please subscribe to the show wherever you hear your podcasts and sign up to the semi-regular Extraordinary Routines newsletter.This podcast is produced and edited by Madeleine Dore. Special thanks to Nelson Dore for the theme music and Ellen Porteus for the cover art.

Author of Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World Tyson Yunkaporta speaks to how when we reduce creativity to a marketplace, we overlook how we are all creative. “Creativity is now widely regarded as a vaguely defined skill-set falling randomly on individual geniuses. Deep engagement encompassing mind, body, heart and spirit has been replaced by a dogged ethic of commitment to labour, enthusiastic compliance with discipline imposed by authority," writes Tyson. In this conversation, we meander through topics including routine as the death of relation to people and place, the involuntary ruts we experience from being entangled in a system, allowing flow in your environment, not being a brand, checks and balances, and how ambition can be directed towards leaving tools for generations to come – and the most powerful of those tools being story. * * *Support this podcast on Patreon  with a monthly pledge, or join for virtual Momentum Mornings deep work sessions. To stay tuned, please subscribe to the show wherever you hear your podcasts and sign up to the semi-regular Extraordinary Routines newsletter.This podcast is produced and edited by Madeleine Dore. Special thanks to Nelson Dore for the theme music and Ellen Porteus for the cover art.

This week's mini episode asks, how do we let go of what we think we 'should' be doing? * * *Support this podcast on Patreon  with a monthly pledge, where you can also join for virtual Momentum Mornings deep work sessions to make time for the things that replenish you. To stay tuned, please subscribe to the show wherever you hear your podcasts and sign up to the semi-regular Extraordinary Routines newsletter.This podcast is produced and edited by Madeleine Dore. Special thanks to Nelson Dore for the theme music and Ellen Porteus for the cover art.

Pandora Sykes is a writer, journalist and broadcaster—but as she shares in this conversation, she’s a gatherer. In the book, How Do We Know We're Doing It Right?, her writing and columns and in the acclaimed weekly podcast The High Low she co-hosts with Dolly Alderton — Pandora is constantly collecting, exploring and dissecting the work of writers, psychologists, culture critics, philosophers, scientists on everything from life’s trivialities to the political—and how the two are interconnected.In this conversation, we speak about how smaller worries can sometimes feel the biggest, how we can be driven by feelings like guilt and envy rather than feel stifled, satisficing, arrival fallacy, healthy boredom, tick-boxing and finding our own version of what what is rightful, rather than right. * * *Support this podcast on Patreon  with a monthly pledge, or join for virtual Momentum Mornings deep work sessions. To stay tuned, please subscribe to the show wherever you hear your podcasts and sign up to the semi-regular Extraordinary Routines newsletter.This podcast is produced and edited by Madeleine Dore. Special thanks to Nelson Dore for the theme music and Ellen Porteus for the cover art.

This week's mini episode asks, how can we get out of the indecision spiral? * * *Support this podcast on Patreon  with a monthly pledge, where you can also join for virtual Momentum Mornings deep work sessions to make time for the things that replenish you. To stay tuned, please subscribe to the show wherever you hear your podcasts and sign up to the semi-regular Extraordinary Routines newsletter.This podcast is produced and edited by Madeleine Dore. Special thanks to Nelson Dore for the theme music and Ellen Porteus for the cover art.

Sarah Wilson is a former journalist and TV presenter, best-selling author and activist, whose latest book This One Wild and Precious Life explores how vital individual change is in a world demanding more of usIn this conversation, we speak about using routine to bookend your days, tilting rather than abiding by strict rules, cool aloneness as an antidote to loneliness, how you can always add an AND, the concept of creative fending, reframing a rut as going to your edge, soul-nerding, and showing up to our appointment in life – in our own way.  For details on the 2021 This One Wild and Precious Life book tour, visit sarahwilson.com* * *Support this podcast on Patreon  with a monthly pledge, or join for virtual Momentum Mornings deep work sessions. To stay tuned, please subscribe to the show wherever you hear your podcasts and sign up to the semi-regular Extraordinary Routines newsletter.This podcast is produced and edited by Madeleine Dore. Special thanks to Nelson Dore for the theme music and Ellen Porteus for the cover art.

This week's mini episode asks, can empty time be a gift—and can we find it in a crammed life?  * * *Support this podcast on Patreon  with a monthly pledge, where you can also join for virtual Momentum Mornings deep work sessions to make time for the things that replenish you. To stay tuned, please subscribe to the show wherever you hear your podcasts and sign up to the semi-regular Extraordinary Routines newsletter.This podcast is produced and edited by Madeleine Dore. Special thanks to Nelson Dore for the theme music and Ellen Porteus for the cover art.

From working as a baker and a chef, to an actor and yoga teacher across the globe, Kemi Nekvapil has lived many lives. Now as a credentialed life coach, a speaker and author of The Gift of Asking and host of The Shift Series short form podcast, she credits exploring various career paths as helping draw her own definition of success and how she spends her time.In this conversation, we speak about letting go of shoulds, how you connect the dots looking back, not giving advice, parenting, having a weekly routine, writing, and defining your own relationship to productivity. * * *Support this podcast on Patreon  with a monthly pledge, or join for virtual Momentum Mornings deep work sessions. To stay tuned, please subscribe to the show wherever you hear your podcasts and sign up to the semi-regular Extraordinary Routines newsletter.This podcast is produced and edited by Madeleine Dore. Special thanks to Nelson Dore for the theme music and Ellen Porteus for the cover art.

This week's mini episode asks, can a small good thing help with overwhelm?* * *Support this podcast on Patreon  with a monthly pledge, where you can also join for virtual Momentum Mornings deep work sessions to make time for the things that replenish you. To stay tuned, please subscribe to the show wherever you hear your podcasts and sign up to the semi-regular Extraordinary Routines newsletter.This podcast is produced and edited by Madeleine Dore. Special thanks to Nelson Dore for the theme music and Ellen Porteus for the cover art.

We live in a linear world – with linear schedules, and linear expectations of our energy, or our time, our bodies. But what if we don’t move throughout our days in straight lines, but rather ebb and flow in cycles?In this conversation, author of Period Queen: Life hack your cycle and own your power all month long Lucy Peach delves into cycle amnesia, period shame, truth bombs, post-project blues, freelancing, and giving yourself permission to both finish and begin.* * *Support this podcast on Patreon  with a monthly pledge, or join for virtual Momentum Mornings deep work sessions. To stay tuned, please subscribe to the show wherever you hear your podcasts and sign up to the semi-regular Extraordinary Routines newsletter.This podcast is produced and edited by Madeleine Dore. Special thanks to Nelson Dore for the theme music and Ellen Porteus for the cover art.

This week's mini episode explores the different types of doing – and what gets in the way of doing our thing. * * *Support this podcast on Patreon  with a monthly pledge, where you can also join for virtual Momentum Mornings deep work sessions to make time for the things that replenish you. To stay tuned, please subscribe to the show wherever you hear your podcasts and sign up to the semi-regular Extraordinary Routines newsletter.This podcast is produced and edited by Madeleine Dore. Special thanks to Nelson Dore for the theme music and Ellen Porteus for the cover art.

Why do we sometimes hide from our selves, and where are we hiding?In his latest book The Inner Self: The joy of discovering who we really are, social researcher Hugh Mackay explores our top twenty hiding places, including busyness, perfectionism, guilt, ambition, work and even the pursuit of happiness. In this conversation, we talk about how creativity can narrow the gap between who we pretend to be or hide, and who we really are. We talk about compassionate love as a daily discipline, writing, walking as a crucial part of the work day, being a night owl, and delve into our common hiding places such as work busyness, projection, ambition, and perfection – and how we can find our common humanity inside ourselves. * * *Support this podcast on Patreon  with a monthly pledge, where you can also join for virtual Momentum Mornings deep work sessions to make time for the things that replenish you. To stay tuned, please subscribe to the show wherever you hear your podcasts and sign up to the semi-regular Extraordinary Routines newsletter.This podcast is produced and edited by Madeleine Dore. Special thanks to Nelson Dore for the theme music and Ellen Porteus for the cover art.

Ever feel like you're not doing enough, or doing too much?In the break between podcast seasons, I’ve been inspecting the space between the doing and not-doing and asking what it means to replenish.So I’m delighted to introduce Rest & Recreation. It's a weekly mini-episode that gives you a moment of R&R, but also a reminder that we aren’t just what we do or don’t do, but also what we see in the spaces in between. As well as the new mini-episodes, I’ll be speaking the usual interviews with inspiring people. This seasons is not just about their creative lives, but their entire lives – how they see the world and what brings them extra-alive. Looking forward to sharing with you very soon!* * *Support this podcast on Patreon  with a monthly pledge, or join for virtual Momentum Mornings deep work sessions. Stay tuned, please subscribe to the show wherever you hear your podcasts and sign up to the semi-regular Extraordinary Routines newsletter.This podcast is produced and edited by Madeleine Dore. Special thanks to Nelson Dore for the theme music and Ellen Porteus for the cover art.

Throughout this season I’ve reflected with my guests on various topics relating to our creatives lives, including process, productivity-shame, mistakes, money, vulnerability, self-compassion, uncertainty, self-sabotage, self-growth, joy, setbacks, privilege, letting go, solitude, resilience, busyness, heartbreak, patience, mental health, limitations, and learning.To wrap this first season, I wanted to share some lessons on the thing that almost prevented it from ever getting started – perfectionism. Perfectionism tells us that in order to make progress, to put what we have created into the world, it must be perfect. My intention was to wrap this first season by sharing the lessons I had accumulated specifically about the creative process and perfectionism. But as I wrote and as the days unfolded, I realised these lessons pertain to much more than our creative lives – they pertain to our entire lives.  In the same way perfectionism stalls progress in our creative lives, it can stall progress in our societies. This non-exhaustive list of parallel lessons might apply to your ongoing engagement with being anti-racist or an activist, or they might apply to your creative process, or your career, or your life, your relationships, or your environmental efforts, your scrutiny of yourself, your need for rest, your showing up in the world. Most of all, I hope they are helpful in highlighting that anything we want to do or change, begins with sidestepping perfectionism, fear, denial and shame. It begins with us taking responsibility for ourselves and our actions.Mentioned linksHow To Be Anti-Racist by Ibram X KendiAkilah Hughes piano metaphor and What A Day podcastArtist Sir John Instagram story by author, podcaster, and CEO of Hello Seven Rachel Rodgers Me and White Supremacy book by Layla F SaadAnti-racism work is supposed to be hard by Scott WoodsIbram X Kendi on Unlocking Us with Brene Brown Interview with Dom Roberts on Mood with Lauren Elizabeth“The internal work, the integrating and rearranging and and re-educating our psyches and hearts, that’s the hard work, that’s the work nobody will hold you accountable for. Do that too. Do that the most…” – Kendra AustinInterview with Luke Currie Richardson on Routines & Ruts Additional links:A Small Needful Fact poem by Ross Gay How do you measure a life? School of Visual Arts 2016 commencement address by Carrie Mae WeemsWhite Debt essay by by Eula BissRemember, no one is coming to save us essay by Roxanne Gay‘There cannot be 432 victims and no perpetrators…’ essay by Amy McQuire Always was, Always Will be with Marlee Silva podcastInclude Aboriginal culture as a subject in schools change.org petition* * *Thank you for listening to the first season of Routines & Ruts, to stay tuned for season two, please subscribe or follow the podcast on your preferred listening platform.You can also stay in the loop by signing up to the free Extraordinary Routines newsletter, or follow along at @extraordinary_routines on Instagram.This podcast is produced and edited by Madeleine Dore using Hindenburg. Special thanks to Nelson Dore for the theme music and Ellen Porteus for the cover art.

We often hear that emotions such as joy are cultivated within, but for designer Ingrid Fetell Lee, there is a strong possibility that it can be found in our surroundings. For over a decade, Ingrid has been devoted to answering the question: "How do tangible things create intangible joy?" both through her blog, The Aesthetics of Joy and her incredibly insightful book, Joyful: The Surprising Power Of Ordinary Things To Create Extraordinary Happiness.Ingrid's ongoing investigation explores the powerful connection between our surroundings and our emotions, and shares how we can find more joy in daily life – even in difficult times. In this conversation, we talk about the aspects of joy that are challenged now but why it’s more valuable than ever, finding ways to zoom out, the relationship between joy and resilience, planning what’s important but giving yourself permission to be flexible, why sometimes we just aren’t ready yet, surprise, and allowing for the rise and fall of joy and sorrow. Read Joyful: The Surprising Power Of Ordinary Things To Create Extraordinary HappinessWatch Where Joy Hides and How To Find It on TED TalksFollow @aestheticsofjoy on Instagram* * *For behind the scenes transcripts, show notes, inspiring quotes and more, explore A Routines & Ruts Companion, a paid weekly newsletter exploring gentler ways to connect to our routines and creativity. * * *To stay tuned, please subscribe or follow the podcast on your preferred listening platform.You can also sign up to the Extraordinary Routines newsletter, or follow along at @extraordinary_routines on Instagram.This podcast is produced and edited by Madeleine Dore using Hindenburg. Special thanks to Nelson Dore for the theme music and Ellen Porteus for the cover art.

Matthew Evans is a former chef and food critic, turned Tasmanian smallholder, restaurateur, food activist and star of the SBS television series Gourmet Farmer alongside his family.As the author of over a dozen books including On Eating Meat: The truth about its production and the ethics of eating it, Matthew also has a lot to share on the writing process, but what struck me in this conversation is the wonderful overlaps between life on the farm and the creative process.We talk about what happens when productive work loses its meaning, daily life on the farm and how there is always more to do, accepting your limitations, how being behind is inevitable and mostly a good sign, the beauty of boredom, and how sometimes you have to launch in to avoid getting stuck in a research phase or perfectionism. * * *For behind the scenes transcripts, show notes, inspiring quotes and more, explore A Routines & Ruts Companion, a paid weekly newsletter exploring gentler ways to connect to our routines and creativity. * * *To stay tuned, please subscribe or follow the podcast on your preferred listening platform.You can also sign up to the Extraordinary Routines newsletter, or follow along at @extraordinary_routines on Instagram.This podcast is produced and edited by Madeleine Dore using Hindenburg. Special thanks to Nelson Dore for the theme music and Ellen Porteus for the cover art.

There is no one way to navigate a pandemic. This routine-collage and slice of creative life during COVID-19 showcases these differences as well as unifying reflections.Bringing together over 60 difference perspectives – from dozens of listeners and  more than thirty artists and creatives I’ve previously interviewed – you can hear how other people are coping, their routines and their ruts, and maybe feel less alone in your own. * * *For behind the scenes transcripts, show notes, inspiring quotes and more, explore A Routines & Ruts Companion, a paid weekly newsletter exploring gentler ways to connect to our routines and creativity. * * *To stay tuned, please subscribe or follow the podcast on your preferred listening platform.You can also sign up to the Extraordinary Routines newsletter, or follow along at @extraordinary_routines on Instagram.This podcast is produced and edited by Madeleine Dore using Hindenburg. Special thanks to Nelson Dore for the theme music and Ellen Porteus for the cover art.* * *A very special thank you to each of you who shared your experiences and advice in the survey – you made this slice of creative life possible. Alongside your written responses, featured in this episode in order of appearance: Jeffrey Phillips – illustrator @jeff_the_peffMari Andrew – writer, artist and speaker @bymariandrewStavroula Adameitis – artist and designer @fridalasvegasBethany Simons – writer, performer and director @bethsimstagramAnu Kumar – documentary photographer @kumar_anuShannyn Higgins – photographer @shannynhigginsSarah Nargorcka – artist and cartoonist @gorkiegorkGabrielle Tozer – writer @gabrielletozerJulia Busuttil Nishimura – cook and author @juliaostroMatthew Henry – designer and photographer @oakandinkNeha Kale – writer and critic @nehakaleJudith Lucy – comedian and host of Overwhelmed & Dying podcastFrankie Ratford – designer and founder of @thedesignkidsTai Snaith – artist and host of A World of One’s Own podcast @taisnaith_booksCarly Findlay OAM – writer @carlyfindlayMark Lobo – photographer @markloboEbony Bižys – craft artist, designer and blogger @hellosandwichHonor Eastly – writer and podcaster @honor_eastlySpencer Harrison – artist @spenceroniMama Alto – performer @mama.altoFrankie Valentine – stripper, performance artist, costumier and writer @frankievalentineMelanie Stapleton – florist @ceciliafoxChaz Hutton – illustrator @instachaazFrances Haysey – writer @lovedbyfrancesTess McCabe – designer and publisher @tessmccabeAmrita Hepi – dancer and choreographer @amrita_movesJuliet Sulejmani– illustrator @thejulietreportMelanie Knight – artist, producer, and art therapist @dead_letter_clubLorelei Vashti – writer @loreleivashtiJames Lemon – ceramic artist and teacher @jameslemonSarah Firth – comic artist, author and graphic recorder @sarahthefirthPrue Aja – photographer @prue_aja_photographerPeter Drew – artist @peterdrewarts and Together Soon Enough posters

Every strength we perceive in ourselves or others perceive in us, has a flipside that feels like a weakness.Often it’s our traits that make us extraordinary that can make us feel most ordinary – and vice versa –creating an internal contradiction.Figuring out our contradictions and squaring off those sides of ourselves can take years, decades, but often when we do accept or even reveal them, that’s really when we connect with ourselves and others. Isn’t that what we’re looking for? In ours we are most fascinated by their flaws, maybe most comforted. This week’s guests certainly makes it easy to connect and adore her wonderful contractions – and puts them front row and centre in her Twitter bio. Performer, photographer, visual artist, DJ and vocal powerhouse Kira Puru describes herself as an “opinionated imposter” – in it exploring the fickleness of confidence but also the humbleness of learning to be wrong. Ahead of her latest single launch, Idiot,  in this conversation Kira Puru discusses mental health, navigating the logistics of living through a pandemic and sometimes curling up like an armadillo, giving yourself leeway to be overwhelmed, balancing the artistic and the political, frugality, mistakes and that tension between leaning towards chaos and leaning into routine. Follow @kirapuru on Twitter and Instagram * * *For behind the scenes transcripts, show notes, inspiring quotes and more, explore A Routines & Ruts Companion, a paid weekly newsletter exploring gentler ways to connect to our routines and creativity. * * *To stay tuned, please subscribe or follow the podcast on your preferred listening platform.You can also sign up to the Extraordinary Routines newsletter, or follow along at @extraordinary_routines on Instagram.This podcast is produced, edited and mixed by Madeleine Dore using Hindenburg. Special thanks to Nelson Dore for the theme music and Ellen Porteus for the cover art.

Newsletter launch: A Routines & Ruts Companion will be launching 1 May and to celebrate, if you sign up now you will get 50% off ($5US/month instead of $10US/month). Sign up here for behind the scenes transcripts, show notes, inspiring quotes and more. * * *There’s something to enjoy in everything, and this week’s guest appears to have  a knack for finding it.Jen Gotch is an optimist, a visionary, the creative powerhouse behind the beloved brand ban.do and the now best-selling author of The Upside of Being Down.The memoir is a manifestation of the fact that our struggles can lead to our greatest successes, and it shares the many lessons Jen has learned in her life, from navigating a winding career-path, to tackling the stigmas associated with mental health challenges.In this conversation, we talk about mental health, solitude, the book writing process, self-doubt, how we don’t have to feel bad about inconsistency, being actively not busy, giving ourselves grace, the myth of perfectionism and how enjoyment can be found in the most unlikely places and times. Follow @jengotch on Instagram * * *To stay tuned, please subscribe or follow the podcast on your preferred listening platform and leave a review on iTunes.You can also sign up to the Extraordinary Routines newsletter, or follow along at @extraordinary_routines on Instagram.This podcast is produced, edited and mixed by Madeleine Dore using Hindenburg. Special thanks to Nelson Dore for the theme music and Ellen Porteus for the cover art.

Newsletter launch: A Routines & Ruts Companion will be launching 1 May and to celebrate, if you sign up now you will get 50% off ($5US/month instead of $10US/month). Sign up here for behind the scenes transcripts, show notes, inspiring quotes and more. * * *For this week’s guest,  knowing we are enough permeates everything she does. Kylie Lewis is a coach, consultant, and Certified Dare to Lead™ and Certified Daring Way™ Facilitator, based on the research of Brené Brown.. Her interview series turned book, The Leap Stories explores how there’s no single path to success and no formulaic way to conjure the courage to take a first or next step toward a fulfilling work life. In this conversation, we talk about navigating our days imperfectly, how it’s normal to have ‘horizontal days, taking it one moment at a time, self-compassion, collective vulnerability, boundaries during this time, comparison, and aiming for enough. Follow @ofkin on Instagram * * *To stay tuned, please subscribe or follow the podcast on your preferred listening platform and leave a review on iTunes.You can also sign up to the Extraordinary Routines newsletter, or follow along at @extraordinary_routines on Instagram.This podcast is produced, edited and mixed by Madeleine Dore using Hindenburg. Special thanks to Nelson Dore for the theme music and Ellen Porteus for the cover art.

In Luke Currie-Richardson's own words, he may not know what he does for a living, but he knows why he wake up in the morning.Luke is a descendant of the Kuku Yalanji and Djabugay peoples, the Munaldjali Clan of South East QLD and the Meriam people of the Eastern Torres Strait Islands. His younger years were spent as a basketball player, and from 2012 to 2018, he was a company dancer in Bangarra Dance Theatre.Recently, Luke has hosted a short Buzzfeed documentary Pay the Rent. He has also worked as a model, sessional teacher, poet, photographer and mentor. But all of this falls under the umbrella of a storyteller. For Luke, irrespective of the medium, the why remains the same: to be the best ancestor he can be for all generations. This approach proves that 'being the best' is a term of your own making, your own measure. In this conversation, Luke delves further into this idea of it’s not what you do it’s the way that you do it, navigating the loss of work during this time, his thoughts on routine being more about priority than rigid structures, the toxicity of sayings like “the show must go on” and “fake it till you make it,” the power of asking for help and taking care of your mental health, and knowing when to walk away from something. Follow @balaluke on Instagram * * *In a special episode of this very podcast, I’ll be sharing your reflections and challenges, routines or ruts in these extraordinary times. If you’d like to share your reflections, routines and ruts, start the survey here or visit  www.extraordinaryroutines.com/surveyTo stay tuned, please subscribe or follow the podcast on your preferred listening platform and leave a review on iTunes.You can also sign up to the Extraordinary Routines newsletter, or follow along at @extraordinary_routines on Instagram.This podcast is produced, edited and mixed by Madeleine Dore using Hindenburg. Special thanks to Nelson Dore for the theme music and Ellen Porteus for the cover art.

Poet May Sarton once wrote, "People who have regular jobs can have no idea of just this problem of ordering a day that has no pattern imposed on it from without."This week’s guest has never had a problem with ordering her own day, in fact, the fashion icon has long resisted the structures often imposed from without. Sarah Jane Adams is a self-made antique jewellery dealer, designer and became an international model in her sixties, responsible for the #mywrinklesaremystripes social media movement celebrating the beauty in ageing. Her new book, Life In A Box: An Unorthodox Memoir illustrates the deeply personal connection that we have with our belongings and our lives. But, as you’ll soon hear, Sarah Jane Adams lives her life very much outside the box. We talk about how her daily life resembles a sliding tile puzzle toy, how there is no such thing as certainty, being a misfit, living with openness and joy, solitude, self-sabotage and pressing the reset button.* * *In a special episode of this very podcast, I’ll be sharing your reflections and challenges, routines or ruts in these extraordinary times. If you’d like to share your reflections, routines and ruts, start the survey here or visit  www.extraordinaryroutines.com/surveyTo stay tuned, please subscribe or follow the podcast on your preferred listening platform and leave a review on iTunes.You can also sign up to the Extraordinary Routines newsletter, or follow along at @extraordinary_routines on Instagram.This podcast is produced, edited and mixed by Madeleine Dore using Hindenburg. Special thanks to Nelson Dore for the theme music and Ellen Porteus for the cover art.

We’re navigating a truly extraordinary time – a collective rut. While we will all have varying degrees of change and challenges, and there is no right or wrong way to navigate this time, there is always the possibility of learning. I learn so much from the people I interview, as hope you do too. But I’d also like to learn from you. In a special episode of this very podcast, I’ll be sharing your reflections and challenges, routines or ruts in these extraordinary times. If you’d like to share your reflections, routines and ruts, start the survey here.Hopefully we can share what comforts and what helps, and maybe feel a little less alone and more resilient.For this week’s guest, resilience is what has helped him navigate the highest of the highs, and lowest of the lows, many times over. Jai Long is a photographer, educator and creative entrepreneur. Most recently, he has been at the helm of three successful businesses – including Free the Bird wedding photography Heartbreak Booth, workshops for creatives navigating business, complemented by his incredible podcast, Make Your Break.But it wasn't always this way. In this conversation, Jai shares the story behind his success, confidence and drive – and the times he has been forced to press the reset button, or simply chosen to let go. We talk about being impactful rather than busy, how we are all wired differently, not putting your spark out for other people, the complicated relationship between money and the idea of designing your life, failure, fear, and so much more. * * *Share your refections, routines and ruts at www.extraordinaryroutines.com/surveyTo stay tuned, please subscribe or follow the podcast on your preferred listening platform and leave a review on iTunes.You can also sign up to the Extraordinary Routines newsletter, or follow along at @extraordinary_routines on Instagram.This podcast is produced, edited and mixed by Madeleine Dore using Hindenburg. Special thanks to Nelson Dore for the theme music and Ellen Porteus for the cover art.

There’s a quote going around on from Glennon Melton’s book, Carry On, Warrior: Thoughts on Life Unarmed and it reads: “You have been offered the gift of crisis. As Kathleen Norris reminds us, the Greek root of the word crisis is "to sift", as in, to shake out the excesses and leave only what's important. That's what crises do. They shake things up until we are forced to hold on to only what matters most. The rest falls away.”What’s left, as this week’s guest points out, can actually be joy in the slowness. Gold coast based artist Samuel Leighton-Dore is a satirical cartoonist, a painter, ceramic artist, filmmaker, a regular contributor for SBS Sexuality and author of the graphic novel 'How to be a big strong man'.Samuel has rare ability to be both light-hearted and joyful, and deep and reflective – proving that laughter can be balm for uncertain times. In this conversation, Samuel share his three-tiered approach to balancing various projects, the little things you can do to feel more disciplined working from home, toxic masculinity, the connection between ambition and depression, failure,   untangling your identity from creative success. * * *Share your refections, routines and ruts at www.extraordinaryroutines.com/surveyTo stay tuned, please subscribe or follow the podcast on your preferred listening platform and leave a review on iTunes.You can also sign up to the Extraordinary Routines newsletter, or follow along at @extraordinary_routines on Instagram.This podcast is produced, edited and mixed by Madeleine Dore using Hindenburg. Special thanks to Nelson Dore for the theme music and Ellen Porteus for the cover art.

Beci Orpin does her best work when she is busy,With a creative career spanning more than twenty years, the Melbourne designer, artist, and illustrator has left her colourful fingerprint on countless projects, from books and homewares, to regular art exhibitions, and collaborations with celebrated brands. While she reflects on the busyness of her day to day and how it has laid the foundations for her impressive career, she hesitates to prescribe to the cult of busyness, and instead sees the important of sleep, downtime, and developing close relationships with friends and family. What Beci teaches us is that instead of being busy as a means of escape or a form of pride, our time should be filled wherever possible with the things we enjoy in order to flourish.In this interview, we talk about how she gets so much done, personal projects, the precarious nature of freelancing, money, emailing, family, criticism and resilience. Extraordinary Findings:– Grief Awards Chart– Take Heart Take Action book– Article on comparison and redefining success– Jacky Winter Group– Read the archive: Beci Orpin and Raph Rasid– Follow Beci Orpin on Instagram or visit beciorpin.com* * *To stay tuned, please subscribe or follow the podcast on your preferred listening platform and leave a review on iTunes.You can also sign up to the Extraordinary Routines newsletter, or follow along at @extraordinary_routines on Instagram.Special thanks to: Nelson Dore for the theme music and Ellen Porteus for the cover art.

Prioritsing yourself isn't selfish, says writer, crafter and blogger behind Meet Me At Mikes, Pip Lincolne – but it sure can be difficult.  In this conversation, Pip opens up about the difficult period she faced after the end of a 23-year-relationship – and the book it has since inspired, When Life Is Not Peachy. We delve into winding and twisting path Pip took to a creative career and writing books after she left high school in year eleven, but also  feeling like an outsider, parenting and creativity, falling back into yourself, wobbly routines, social media and success, fitting in writing around a day job, solitude and resilience.Extraordinary Findings:– Read When Life Is Not Peachy by Pip Lincolne– Illustrator Gorkie– Sign up to Pip's 'Something good for the weekend' newsletter– Find Pip Lincolne on Facebook and Instagram or meetmeatmikes.com* * *To stay tuned, please subscribe or follow the podcast on your preferred listening platform and leave a review on iTunes.You can also sign up to the Extraordinary Routines newsletter, or follow along at @extraordinary_routines on Instagram.Special thanks to: Nelson Dore for the theme music, Scott from Soundmind Editing for the mixing and Ellen Porteus for the cover art. 

Annie Louey is a fresh comedic talent who putting it all into her career and immersing herself in the world of presenting and comedyWhile time is on her side, Annie is well aware of the long road to success – from her own observations, it takes at least ten years to pave a career in comedy, so it’s time to begin now. But what’s refreshing about the 10-year time line, is that it also shows the need for patience. It’s not a moment of spontaneous success, it’s what’s underneath that that counts – it’s about bouncing back from a bad gig, rejection or setback, and putting yourself out there once again. We speak ahead of her upcoming Melbourne Comedy Show, Annie Louey’s Big Break, which is both a hilarious and thoughtful recount of how she was dumped on the opening night of her last Comedy Festival show.In this episode, we talk about how to step into being an artist even when you don’t feel ready, the importance of preparation, setting targets in our career, imposter syndrome freelancing routines, how admin is the key part of creative careers bike riding and how to find motivation within yourself. Extraordinary Findings:– See Annie Louey's Big Break at the Melbourne Comedy  Festival– Interview with fashion designer Jenny Kee on the highlight is always coming – Mari Andrew's illustration  on success– Find Annie Louey on Twitter and Instagram or at annielouey.com* * *To stay tuned, please subscribe or follow the podcast on your preferred listening platform and leave a review on iTunes.You can also sign up to the Extraordinary Routines newsletter, or follow along at @extraordinary_routines on Instagram.Special thanks to: Nelson Dore for the theme music, Scott from Soundmind Editing for the mixing and Ellen Porteus for the cover art.

This week's guest has spent the last few years delving into the topic of limitations through researching and writing his latest book on time.Oliver Burkeman is a British author and journalist living in Brooklyn. He writes a popular weekly column for The Guardian on social psychology, productivity and the science of happiness, called This Column Will Change Your Life and is the author of The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking.In this conversation, we delve into how he has moved through a rut from the book writing process, how goals can become redundant very quickly, the Kanban method, self-control and distraction, parenting, shadow working, insomnia, the difficulty of doing nothing and how we can get out of a rut by breaking our own rules. Extraordinary Findings:– The Summer Day by Mary Oliver– David Cain's newsletter Raptitude– Hofstadter's law– Debbie Millman's ten year plan exercise– Already Free by Bruce Tift – Braintoss app– Kanban method– Self Control app– The Moves That Matter by Jonathan Rowson– Why do we feel so busy? It’s all our hidden ‘shadow work’ article by Oliver Burkeman – Notes from my previous conversation with Oliver Burkeman on not having a routine* * *To stay tuned, please subscribe or follow the podcast on your preferred listening platform and leave a review on iTunes.You can also sign up to the Extraordinary Routines newsletter, or follow along at @extraordinary_routines on Instagram.Special thanks to: Nelson Dore for the theme music, Scott from Soundmind Editing for the mixing and Ellen Porteus for the cover art.

Tina Essmaker is a coach, writer and speaker and in early 2017, she had the opportunity to reimagine career and her four burners when she transitioned out of the The Great Discontent, a publication she started with her former husband and business partner.She took what she describes as a gap year to figure out what she wanted to next and eventually returned to her roots as a social worker, now helping the creative community to navigate uncertainty and take action on their ideas. In this conversation we speak about why we sometimes flail when we don’t have constraints in our days and careers, the dance between scheduling and spontaneity, chunking tasks in your week, finding space for yourself after a divorce and what can help when you’re dealing with a period of change, hurt or uncertainty.Extraordinary Findings:- Freakonomics episode on how to get more grit in your life- Ask Polly advice columns by Heather Havrilesky- Laugh, Kookaburra by David Sedaris - Follow Tina Essmaker on Instagram or visit tinaessmaker.com* * *To stay tuned, please subscribe or follow the podcast on your preferred listening platform and leave a review on iTunes.You can also sign up to the Extraordinary Routines newsletter, or follow along at @extraordinary_routines on Instagram.Special thanks to: Nelson Dore for the theme music, Scott from Soundmind Editing for the mixing and Ellen Porteus for the cover art.

Lauren Martin is a writer and the founder of Words Of Women, a labour of love she started when she was searching for something to help herself and other women who were feeling lost. In this episode, Lauren delves into the intricacies of self-initiated work and the thoughtful process behind writing and curating her popular newsletter, blog and Instagram account. We talk about flat days and good days, social isolation, how routine helps when you’re in a rut, comparison, the tension between being a night-owl but being clearest in the morning, as well as how personal projects can buoy us. * * *Follow Words of Women on Instagram or visit wordsofwomen.comTo stay tuned, please subscribe or follow the podcast on your preferred listening platform and leave a review on iTunes.You can also sign up to the Extraordinary Routines newsletter, or follow along at @extraordinary_routines on Instagram.Special thanks to: Nelson Dore for the theme music, Scott from Soundmind Editing for the mixing and Ellen Porteus for the cover art.