For me, having a daily routine is a good thing as it has many benefits; it gets my day off to a good start, my day is pretty much planned for me, I know what to expect and when to expect it, a routine forms a pattern of behaviour.
Unfortunately, there are down sides to a routine; there is no unpredictability in my day and if the unpredictable does come along I get frustrated at the interference. Additionally, there is no excitement about a routine which can lead to feelings of being stuck in a rut.
I find that I enjoy a pattern of work when I am not travelling – I get up at 6:00, write a post, take a shower, have breakfast, check my emails, make some phone calls, have lunch, attend meetings, make some more calls, check my emails (again), go to the gym, eat dinner, check my emails (yep, again), take a shower, watch a bit of television and go to bed.
Sometimes it can seem like 'ground hog' day doing the same thing the same way. The way that I have found to gain the benefits of having a routine and introducing unpredictability in my day is to change how I do things.
So, to keep to a routine yet make each day different I will break the routine by doing whatever pops into my mind at the time of each task. The routine tasks remain in the same order, I simply introduce impulse to each task – I will post on whatever comes to mind when I sit down, I will eat something different at each meal, I never workout the same way across the week, I do something different to break the habitual cycle.
By doing this, when the unpredictable does come along and break my routine I embrace it for what it is, excitement in my day.
If you can't change what you do, change the way that you do it.