I spend a lot of time criticizing myself over not doing enough, not being consistent enough or organized enough. But a couple days ago, the question “What is your daily routine?” was asked of me through a social media site and I decided to answer. What I discovered was that I actually do a lot. I think it’s important for me to write this out and share it so that I can be reminded that while I do have a lot of things to improve on, I am actually doing a lot on a daily basis.
This is my routine during the week, since the weekends tend to be a little more unpredictable.
I wake up in the morning using the Sleep Cycle app. It has a series of intelligent alarms that goes off for 20 minutes to ease me out of dreamland. It has greatly helped me get up in the morning when I used to be really groggy waking immediately out of a dream. After I wake up, I get dressed, brush my teeth, wipe down my face, feed and water my cat and then I pack a lunch and head to work.
When I get to work, I usually do some early work stuff and then I make some tea and eat a small snack. On this break, I open up the Evernote app and write down something that I’m grateful for, a quick affirmation and my intentions for the day. After that, I update my monthly schedule and look over what activities I’ve agreed to do the next few days. After that, I review and update a list of projects and priorities I am working on to stay on track and know what I will work on that day. These take about 10 minutes.
On my next break I will do a Spanish lesson in the Duolingo app and then look up the “English word of the day’ and the ‘Spanish word of the day’ writing a sentence in both. Which combined, also take about 10 to 15 minutes.
At my lunch, I will answer a series of questions that I created assessing my mood, the weather and a host of other things that could be affecting my mental state. I assess these answers in excel once a month in an attempt to understand myself better and what may be affecting me without even realizing it. I then update my budget and check to make sure all of my bills are paid and if I have time I will read from a fiction book.
On my last break of the day at work, I will read either from a nonfiction book or a news article and then take a few moment to enter a journal entry detailing what happened the day before, how I’m feeling now, any drama I’m dealing with and what I want to work towards in the future. I’ve been journaling since I was 12 years old, I have to credit it with why I have been able to cope with so many traumas in my life.
When I get home, I will do some cleaning and other chores around the house. Followed by 45 minutes to an hour of pulling out my yoga mat and doing some exercises, stretches and dance drills. I have only made this a habit for the past two weeks so hopefully it sticks.
Then I will usually make some tea and a snack and sit down to work on one of my longer projects. Which could be anything from my course in Autocad, writing for my novel, writing a blog, painting, drawing, or playing a video game. If I’m staying home, I will likely do at least two of these. If I’m not, I’ll just get one done and then get ready to go out or to go see the boyfriend.
I do not always do everything in that precise order, as I have a visual task manager that I follow which let’s me do things in the order that I choose. This gives me some flexibility but most weekdays; I will get most of that done.
I think the key to me being able to have time for all of this is that I limit my time on social media to 30 to 40 minutes a day and when I’m home, I do not really watch a lot of television. I prefer to spend my free time writing, painting, drawing or working on something that will help my career. Of course, I hit mental blocks all of the time and I have to continuously remind myself that I’m capable of doing anything I want to do. But I think we should take the time to credit ourselves with everything that we are working towards, a little at a time, every single day.
So, what is your routine? What would you like to take away or add to your routine? Comment below!! I would love to hear!
Thank you for reading!!
Lynnette
Closed System 