Hello cuties!
It's been a while since my last update. In regular fashion, my blog activity waxes and wanes depending on how much clutter I've had in my life, and lately there's been a LOT of clutter! The end of the year is supposed to be a time for relaxing and resting, but somehow I always end up cramming all the stuff I was leaving off until later into the last few weeks of the year. I've got a lot to update on, but I'm going to keep today's blog entry brief!
With the new year coming up, I'm dusting off my (very VERY dusty) bullet journal and doing some journaling exercises to get me set up for next year on the right foot. Today's entry is all about routines! Morning and bedtime routines can really make or break my executive functioning. I've done a horrible job of keeping up with them over 2021, and it really shows. Having a consistent sleep schedule and having time to take care of myself in the mornings is a huge goal of mine for 2022, but it's been so long since I kept up with those things that I've totally forgotten what a healthy routine even looks like anymore. So, I decided to start at the very very beginning, and I thought I'd share my methods with you!
Free PDF Kit
First things first, you can download the PDF kit here. It includes all the materials that this blog post covers! You can annotate it digitally, or print it out and fill it out on pen and paper. I printed mine on A5 paper to put into my binder, but A4 is also fine.
Brainstorm Habits
Start on the first page brain dumping all the habits you can think of that might make your day a little bit better. For now there's no need to stay rooted in reality, think about what the person you most aspire to be like would do every day. It can be helpful to think about them in terms of categories: Physical health, mental and emotional health, self care habits (personal hygiene, confidence boosters, and things that make you feel in tune with yourself), and organizational (journaling, cleaning, and other things that make focusing easier).
You can focus on the following questions for inspiration:
- How would you like to feel?
- How will you tend to your physical health?
- How will you tend to your mental health?
- What self care rituals are most energizing?
- How will you organize for the day?
Don't worry too much about whether it's a morning or evening habit just yet. For now just get the ideas on the page! Later, you can go through the categories and eliminate the habits that don't serve much of a purpose, make you happy, or just aren't realistic to expect to be done every single day. (Sorry, 12 step korean skincare routine...). Ask yourself:
- Will it make me happy in the long run?
- Do I want to do it every day?
- Is it realistic?
Crafting Your Morning
Equipped with your narrowed down list of habits, start filling in the next table with all the things you want to happen in the mornings. You'll have a chance to reorder them later, so don't worry too much about that yet! Fill in each morning item along with a brief explanation of "why", or what value you think that habit is going to bring to your day.
Once you've filled out all the habits you want to try to fit into your morning, then you can write down about how long each habit takes, and estimate how much time your morning routine is going to take. Take the opportunity to par down if your routine isn't realistic at this point! It's better to have a simpler routine that you actually stick to rather than an overly elaborate one that you abandon outright after a few days.
If you need to par down, look for:
- Anything that can be shortened/simplified (5min bujo check-in instead of 30min journaling session)
- Anything that can be done at the same time together (eating breakfast & checking email)
- Anything that can be done another time (evening or afternoon workouts rather than morning workouts)
- Anything that doesn't have to be done every day (once weekly yoga classes that you have time for are better than daily yoga classes you never have time for)
- Anything that doesn't have to be done at all (I know billionaires supposedly go for a jog, take a cold shower, and read an entire book before 7am, but are those things going to make you successful or just grouchy??)
Once you have it scaled back reasonably, think through what order you might do things in and then look at what time you'll need to wake up to accommodate your routine.
Crafting Your Evening
It's kind of cliche to say it, but your morning and evening are very much connected to one another! Without a solid bedtime routine to support it, your morning routine is pretty likely to fall apart before too long. Personally, I need a lot of self care in the morning to get myself out the door on the right foot, but I always have more time at night than I do in the morning. So, most of my bedtime routine is focused on making it easier to get myself ready the next day.- What might prevent me from doing these tomorrow?
- What can I reasonably do tonight that will make doing those things a little easier?
- Turning off all electronics past a certain hour
- Doing something soothing (take a bath, light reading, meditating, etc) right before you go to sleep
- etc
Whatever helps you to sleep, add it to the list!
Finally, return to the initial brainstorm and look for any other habits that you feel would compliment your bedtime routine.
Fill out duration and evaluate just like you did for the morning routine, and you're all set!
Making It Stick
Writing it down is one thing, but actually sticking to it is entirely different. Consistency is key, so my first advice is to try to keep up a constant bedtime and routine even on weekends as much as possible. Brains don't really understand the difference between weekends and weekdays, so it can be very confusing for your poor brain when you keep doing different things every day! Especially true when you first start out, because those neural pathways associated with your routine is still pretty weak for a while.
It's also fine to admit defeat! If it's been a few weeks and your routine just isn't happening, really ask yourself why and get to the bottom of where it's falling apart. It's tempting to plead with your brain to just do everything "right", but it's probably not going to happen. When you do that you're setting yourself up for failure. Instead it's better to bribe yourself with easy wins. Keep making your routine simpler and simpler until you reach a version that you're actually doing consistently. Find out what parts are challenging and try doing it differently until you find an easier path. If your routine derails because you hate showering in the morning, officially change your routine to whatever time it is you're actually showering at. If you know you're always going to end up showering after work, then planning for a morning shower is not serving you in the slightest.
Another thing I'll be doing while I'm getting back into the groove of things is putting up my routine list in places where I'll see it! I have a really bad memory, so a morning routine with more than 1 step is most certainly going to be forgotten. I'll also waste a lot of effort trying to remember what I wrote down. By the time I figure it out, I'm halfway through my spoons for the day! Instead I'll pin my routine to my headboard, or stick it on my bathroom mirror for easy access. That way I can access all this pre-planning without wasting effort thinking about it!
I want to say that I'll be more active in 2022, but I know that's an unrealistic expectation. Instead I'll set myself up for success by promising to post completely randomly depending on when inspiration strikes!
What's your morning and evening routine like? Do you have one? Are you going to try one in the new year? Let me know in the comments!
Until next time!
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment