I’ve been recording what I did each day on post-it notes since lockdown started, in order to prevent my time ‘vanishing’ into thin air… in the process, I’ve been learning which routines make me feel good at the end of the day.
These are my top 5:
- Starting slow. Believe it or not, I have been doing yoga most mornings! I make a drink, put on some music and wake my mind + body up with yoga. The time allows my mind to do a little processing before work, and helps me feel prepared and purposeful for the rest of the day.
- Tackle tough stuff. Some tasks and responsibilities feel really big and cause me a lot of anxiety. I tend to procrastinate them as much as possible. But recently I have made sure to do those things first, when I have the most energy. With all of the necessary stressful and anxious tasks done by lunchtime, the afternoon is an easy downhill slope!
- Bookending the day. Until recently I would often work into the night because I wanted to finish the tasks I had started. It is really frustrating to leave things half-finished! So now, around 5/6pm, I ‘put a pin in it’: writing down which tasks I’m in the middle of and what I need to do next. This allows my mind to rest for the evening, and makes it easy to pick up again tomorrow.
- Burning excess energy. When I have been sitting at a desk all day, my body still has unspent energy left at night. This makes me restless, and often means I end up working more in the evening. So now, after bookending the day, I will go for a run or do floor exercises to burn up the last of my energy. After a shower, I feel suuuuper relaxed and have a great night’s sleep!
- Refuelling for tomorrow. Now that work is done and my energy is spent, my evenings have a purpose: fuelling myself with energy for the next day. This might mean reading, watching, playing games, having conversations – all things that fuel me with ideas and inspiration for the next day. This means I go to bed excited for tomorrow!
Please bear in mind that I still have rubbish days – it is unavoidable. I’m still learning how to forgive myself when they happen! All of this is just an attempt to make good days more common, and prevent me from falling into bad routines! Perhaps something here can help you too. Lots of love!
[I talk about this in more detail on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InFBjRJep4k]