Our very own Blake Overstreet, LPC unlocks the paradox of routine and how structure sets us free.
There’s a particular kind of morning anxiety that many people know well. You wake up, and instead of clarity, there’s a fog of possibilities. Should you check your phone? Make coffee? Exercise? The day stretches ahead with too many choices and not enough direction. That unstructured feeling doesn’t feel freeing. It feels suffocating.
For some people, especially those prone to depression, mornings are the hardest part of the day. The weight of an unstructured day can make even getting out of bed feel monumental. This is when routine stops being about productivity and becomes something more basic: a lifeline.
David Lynch’s Strange Discipline
The late filmmaker David Lynch had a peculiar habit. For lunch, he ate the same thing every single day: tomatoes, tuna fish, feta cheese, and olive oil. For dinner? Chicken, broccoli, and a little soy sauce. Every day. Same meal. No variation, except when he traveled.
When asked about this in an interview, he said something simple but profound: “When there’s some sort of order there, then you’re free to mentally go off any place. You’ve got a safe sort of foundation and a place to spring off from.”
Lynch, who made surrealist, wildly creative films, said much of his creative freedom came from doing the same things daily. The purer the external environment, he explained, the more fantastic the interior world can be.
This is the paradox of routine. Structure doesn’t trap us. It frees us.
The Problem with Too Much Openness
We live in a culture that celebrates freedom and spontaneity. Eating the same lunch every day sounds boring, maybe even sad. But what Lynch understood is that unlimited choice creates its own kind of prison.
Every decision we make, no matter how small, uses mental energy. Should I have eggs or cereal? Should I exercise now or later? Should I check email first or work on that project? These aren’t big decisions, but they add up. Decision fatigue is real, and it hits hardest in the morning when you’re at the start of a new day.
When we don’t have structure, the day doesn’t flow into creativity or meaningful work. It disperses into anxiety. It becomes a constant hum of “what should I be doing?” that keeps us from doing anything well.
This is especially true for people struggling with depression or anxiety. Those first hours without structure can feel impossibly heavy. The absence of a clear path forward leads to paralysis.
Routine as Foundation, Not Prison
Here’s what gets misunderstood about routine. We think of it as rigid, as limiting. But routine isn’t about restriction. It’s about creating a foundation solid enough to build on.
Your morning sets the tone for everything that follows. When you wake up to chaos and decisions, you’re telling your nervous system, “We’re not safe. Stay alert. Everything is uncertain.” That’s exhausting.
But when you have a routine, even a simple one, you’re creating a secure base. You’re telling yourself, “This part is handled. I don’t need to think about it. I can use my energy for what matters.”
This is why something as simple as making your bed can matter more than it should. It’s not really about the bed. It’s about creating one small pocket of order in the morning, one completed task that says, “I can affect my environment. I’m capable. The day has started with intention.”
Tilting Morning Energy
If you start your day scrolling through your phone, taking in other people’s thoughts and reactions, you’re giving away the direction of your morning. You’re passive. You’re reactive. And that tends to continue.
But if you start with something concrete and meaningful, like making coffee deliberately, working on a small project, or tidying a space, you’re actively directing your energy. You’re choosing agency over reactivity.
For people prone to depression, this matters even more. Depression feeds on ambiguity and passivity. It tells you nothing matters, that you’re powerless, that the day stretches ahead empty. A meaningful morning routine pushes back against that. It says, “Here’s something small I can do. Here’s something I can take care of.”
The specific details matter less than the principle. What matters is having some structure that creates safety and points your energy toward action rather than anxiety.
The Creative Paradox
You don’t get mental space when your brain is cluttered with a thousand small decisions and worries about how to structure your day.
When Lynch ate the same lunch every day, he wasn’t being uncreative. He was saving his energy for what mattered: his films, his art, his inner life. He made one part of his life automatic so other parts could be wild and experimental.
This is true whether you think of yourself as creative or not. We all have an inner life that needs space to grow. Our thoughts, our relationships, our sense of meaning. Routine creates that space.
Where Therapy Comes In
If you find yourself stuck in morning anxiety or unable to keep a routine, that’s worth looking at. Sometimes the problem isn’t just about willpower or discipline. Sometimes there are deeper patterns. An anxious attachment to chaos. Fear of structure as control. Depression that makes everything feel pointless.
Therapy is partly about recognizing these patterns and understanding where they come from. It’s about creating the conditions where routine becomes possible, where you can accept the stable foundation that lets the rest of your life work.
Blake Overstreet, LPC, is a licensed professional therapist at Vervewell Counseling in Fort Worth, TX, specializing in therapy for teenagers (13+), young adults, adults, and couples. Blake empowers clients to deepen emotional resilience, cultivate meaningful relationships, foster personal growth, uncover purpose and meaning, and overcome self-imposed barriers.While operating primarily from a psychodynamic perspective, Blake also offers EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) for individuals dealing with post-traumatic stress. He sees clients in person and via telehealth across Texas.
