📙 Part 2: Describe your daily routine that you enjoy

This episode's vocabulary

Structured (adj.) - organized so that the parts relate well to each other; having a clear structure.

Refreshed (adj.) - less hot or tired.

To-do list (noun) - a list of the tasks that you have to do, or things that you want to do.

Multitasking (noun) - a person's or product's ability to do more than one thing at a time.

To lay something out (phrasal verb) - to arrange something on a flat surface.

Mains (phrase) - the system of pipes or wires that carry water or electricity into a house, or the pipes that carry sewage away from a house.

To be good to go (idiom) - to be prepared and ready to do something.

To sort something/someone out (phrasal verb) - to deal successfully with a problem, a situation, or a person who is having difficulties.

Solitary (adj.) - done alone.

At length (phrase) - for a long time.

Questions and Answers

M: Rory, give us your story.

R: I think the most structured part of my day is probably the mornings. Especially during the weekdays. I'm always at home then and by myself, but I never tire of it since it leaves me feeling refreshed and ready to start the day. To describe it in greater detail, I get up rather early and immediately start working my way down the to-do list I have ready for the day. First, I make my bed since it's a small win to start things off and show that the day is, well, started for lack of a better word. Then I get to work with my morning workout. The first part pretty much runs itself. So I can usually do things like check my emails while I'm working out. I don't think this is for everyone as multitasking isn't very healthy, but I've become used to it. After I do my revision and check my emails and notifications, I progress to the second part of my workout. So during breaks between sets, I lay my clothes out for going to the gym. And then for outside of it. And I make everything ready for classes if I have classes that day. And this goes on until I finish my workout and head for the kitchen and make a shake and hook my laptop up to the mains. Then I shower and refill all my glasses of water for the day and I'm good to go. To say more about where and when I do it. This takes place entirely in my room, though, well, almost entirely in my room. At the end, I start work in my office. This is usually between six and eight in the morning, so I have a lot of time to get stuff sorted out. As I said when it comes to who I do it with, I'm physically by myself, though sometimes I message my friends and people who have messaged me during the night and maybe have a few online conversations with them. That means it isn't quite as solitary as it sounds. In terms of why I enjoy it, I think the big reasons are that it gives me a series of successes to start the day from making my bed to finishing my workout to doing a few small tasks for work and cleaning my inbox. If I didn't have this routine, I'm not sure I'd be able to function well in the mornings. I really like the structure and hope it continues in some way, shape or form into the future.

M: And what do your friends say about it?

R: I don't really talk to them at great length about it.

Discussion

M: So, dear listener, describe your daily routine that you enjoy. So Rory talked about his mornings and his daily routine in the morning, which is fine. You can describe your daily routine, like your regular exercises or your walks. Maybe you do it every week, you take a walk in the park, or you work out in the gym. What else can we talk about?

R: Go for a walk, go to the gym, make breakfast, get ready for work, wake the kids up.

M: Cooking, making meals or making your morning coffee. But pick something easy. Alright? I think like our morning routine is the easiest option. Right? But also if you kind of talk about sports or something else, that's fine. And yeah, even if you don't have any morning routine, you can just talk about it. Like imagine that you do have a set routine, like Rory does. And Rory told us the truth. For example, I don't have any routine whatsoever.

R: You don't have a routine?

M: No, no. Absolutely not. Every morning is different.

R: Do you not have things that you frequently do when you get up?

M: You see? No.

R: Okay...

M: Well, yeah, breakfast. I have some food usually, but sometimes I don't see. You see? So it's not kind of regular. It changes all the time.

R: Well, it doesn't have to be about your mornings, it could be about what you do to get ready for bed in the evening, for example.

M: No.

R: Oh, my God, Maria, you're just like, embrace the chaos.

M: I know, I know. I'm so messy, you guys. I'm just like, sometimes I'm surprised at myself how messy it always... Wow. Yeah, I think the only routine that I have is just like put on some clothes, Maria, take them off. Put on clothes, take them off. Do makeup, clean the makeup. And Rory started it off with "I think the most structured part of my day is probably the mornings". So daily routine is about structure, right? So the most structured part of my week are the weekends, for example, or weekdays. I'm by myself, I'm at home, and I never tire of it. Tire? To get tired of it. So Rory is never tired of his morning routine. And routine is uncountable. So can I say like my daily routines? Or no?

R: You can say routines. Why not? You have the routine for like the morning and for when you go to bed, maybe.

M: So it could be countable or uncountable. For example, I don't have any set routine, right? Or an exercise routine, like a dance routine. So I never tire of my morning routine. And it leaves me feeling refreshed. Yeah? So this routine leaves me feeling refreshed. I'm fresh, I'm ready for the day. And ready to start the day. Then, to go in more detail or to describe it in greater detail. And then you tell the examiner, what exactly you do every morning. I get up rather early at an ungodly hour. Freaking 6 am in the morning. Crazy.

R: There's nothing wrong with waking up at six o'clock in the morning. It works for me.

M: Oh... Well, thank God it's like six o'clock, it used to be 5:30 or 4:30. I don't know, do you ever sleep, vampire?

R: I go to bed at nine, it's fine.

M: And then I start working my way down the to-do list I have ready for the day. So Rory has his to-do lists. And every day he's got a different list. So I start working my way down something. To work your way down something - like to start working on it. To-do list, I make my bed, you make your bed, you don't do your bed, no, make my bed. Then I get to work with my morning workout. I get to work with something. Yeah? Or I do my morning workout, my morning exercise. I can usually do things like check my emails. So I also check my emails while I'm working out. Or while I'm doing the situps I check my emails and I prefer multitasking, yeah? Then I progress to the second part of my workout. So kind of I move to the second part, I lay out my clothes for the gym. Lay out? You just take them out. So you take out your clothes and put them on the bed.

R: Yeah. Well, and probably organize them in some order as well.

M: When I finish my workout, I head for the kitchen. Head for the kitchen? I go to the kitchen. And make a shake. Hook my laptop up to the mains. To the mains? What did you mean? The power?

R: The mains power? Yes, mains electricity.

M: So I hook up my laptop to the mains.

R: So I switch on my laptop and connect it to the power, electricity. I shower or I take a shower. I refill all my glasses of water. Glasses like plastic glasses? Like plastic bottles or like glasses?

R: Oh, no, I have crystal glasses... That sounds really posh. But yes, I have a crystal glass next to my bed and one next to my computer when I'm working in the office.

M: Sweet. You see? Rory surrounds himself with beautiful objects. Nice.

R: Well, no, I just like the glasses, to be honest, with you. That sounds so posh and pretentious. But the glasses are very nice. So I don't care.

M: I totally understand that. I love glasses and I have, you know, beautiful glasses of different colours. So yeah, yeah, yeah.

R: I can't drink bourbon out of anything other than a crystal glass.

M: Yeah, nice, nice.

R: This is horrendous.

M: Yeah, that's our Rory. You see? So cheap T-shirts. So there is some refinement about me. Cheap T-shirts, expensive liqueur and glosses.

M: Expensive liqueur and glasses, you see? Yeah, he doesn't care about jewellery and fashion, but he prefers his drinks out of crystal glasses. Beautiful. So to say more about where and when I do it, I do my routine. You do your daily routine?

R: You can do a routine. Yes.

M: It takes place, so it happens entirely in my room.

R: Or almost entirely.

M: So I'm by myself, but sometimes I message my friends. I have a few online conversations with them. So it isn't quite as solitary as it sounds. Solitary? Like alone. Like solitary something, something you do on your own, by yourself or alone. In terms of why I enjoyed, the big reasons are that it gives me a series of successes, like a series of successes, some successes. Yeah? Like I feel successful to start the day from making my bed to finishing my workout, like from and you name the first thing you do, two and you can name the last thing you do. Then Rory also clears his inbox, clear your inbox.

R: Or clean.

M: In your Gmail, for example. Clean or clear. Yeah? Your mails. And we finish off with the second conditional, because the story is in the present. So in the present or about the past, if I didn't have this routine, but Rory does have this routine. So we are imagining it. But if I didn't have this routine, I'm not sure I'd be able to function well. So if I didn't have it, I wouldn't be able to live my life normally. In the morning, yeah?

R: Well, I'm starting to question that now, because you seem to function just fine without a routine.

M: Yeah, I am so cool, you know, I just get up and like what do I want to do, and I do what I want to do. I don't do what I don't want to do.

R: Nice,

M: And it kind of it depends, you know, like, and sometimes I just can't have breakfast. I want to have breakfast, but I can't do it. Yeah? That's why I have to be without food. And if I kind of establish this routine, like okay, I get up, I do something and then I have breakfast, I'm going to be kind of used to it. And then I would be really disappointed. Like, oh, I can't have my breakfast today. You see? So it will not be nice. But I do love to have some breakfast in the morning, though, yeah. Like before 12.

R: It is the most important meal of the day.

M: It is the most important meal of the day, breakfast. Yum, yum, yum. Oh, I need breakfast now. It's dinner time, but I need some breakfast. The second breakfast.

R: Yes.

M: Yeah... Freedom, dear listener. But still, kind of sometimes I wish I had routine, really. Because I see how important it is and how useful it might be. But routine is not for me.

R: Oh, well, to late to change now.

M: No, no, it's never late to change stuff in your life, Rory. So I really like this structure. And I hope it continues in some way. Yeah? So if you are the person like me without any routine, you can talk about your morning routine. And I, if I were to have this question in the exam, I would talk about morning routine. And I would actually steal Rory's ideas. Yeah? I would add breakfast and making myself beautiful. Choosing shoes and, you know... For ladies, we can talk about how we beautify ourselves like our rituals, maybe some meditations you know, how we put some creams and scrubs on our faces.

R: I have no idea what any of those words mean.

M: Girls, girls stuff. You can make it up. Okay? So just imagine your ideal routine in the morning. Like you get up. You just like smell fresh roses. And then you go and have a bath with fresh rose petals. You know, why not? You know.

R: Why not?

M: Yeah, it's cool. Thank you very much for listening! We'll get back to you in our next episode about daily routine! Bye!

R: Bye!

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