I have start of the day and end of the day routines. At the beginning of each day I look at what I’ve planned the night before to see if the priorities are still the same and adjust if something happened overnight that would be cause for adjustment. At the end of the day, I review what I did and compare it to what I had planned. Then, I look at what needs to get done the next day and set that down to review and execute the next day. These routines allow me to know what was done & set myself up for success for the next day. It also provides me a time for reflection, planning, and adjustment as I work towards my goals.

Reasons I have a beginning and end of the day routine:

Beginning of the day

• Gets my mind into a “ready for the day” state.
• I know what to expect and can better respond to incoming request that might adjust my schedule and plans.
• I have direction.
• I can ensure I’m working towards my goals.

End of the day

• It frees my mind – I don’t continually return to those things that need to be done in my head.
• It transitions my day from “working” to “family time” so I can be more present.
• Overnight my subconscious can work on the tasks I’ve scheduled for the next day.
• I have direction.
• I can ensure I’m working towards my goals.

My end of the day routine is pretty simple. I review what I had planned and compare it to what actually got done. My task management process exists as a combination of handwritten tasks and notes similar to the Bullet Journal, Todoist to keep track of everything I need to do, and a couple digital calendars. My notebook is the source of what I review each day because it contains any tasks that need to be created, notes I need to process, and thoughts I need to follow up on. So, the process:

1. I review the tasks that were completed and update Todoist to match. Any task that wasn’t completed just stays in Todoist to be evaluated later.
2. Then I create any new tasks that came out of the day.
3. Review any notes that I had made and enter my time in my “time” digital calendar if I hadn’t already entered it.
4. I review my tasks in Todoist, prioritizing any new tasks and picking out the tasks that need to get done the next day.
5. Review my work and personal calendar for any events for the next few days making note of the next days events in the notebook. 
6. The tasks that I choose to do the next day are written into my notebook under the next day’s heading and I block out time in my calendar for these tasks based on their type. See my “Scheduling Your Day” post for more on that.

That’s it! Six steps and it usually takes me anywhere from 10 – 20 minutes depending on the kind of day I’ve had.

The start of day routine is much simpler. I have my tasks and priorities set from the night before, so all I really do is check if something happened over night to change those priorities and/or tasks. If that does happen, then I see what task “gets bumped” for the new, incoming thing. It may sound like things are all over the place, but it works out well for me. This is for working weekday, my days off are much more relaxed and less structured.

This is becoming a habit for me, it’s not one yet, but I think I’m almost there. I’ve added in some ritual to help strengthen the habit. Something I’d strongly suggest for you to do too if you’re going to start a routine like this. In the morning, I make coffee, grab a cup and sit down with my tools and begin my day. The end of day process doesn’t happen until later in the day. My wife and I have to get our son to one of his many sports practices, so I use that to “end” my day. This has also chopped up the end of day routine a bit. I’ll usually review the things I did that day, and fire off any emails or follow-ups that came from my notes before heading out (basically steps 1-3). Then usually before bed I’ll take 10 minutes to plan the next day ( steps 4-6).

This has been working well for me for the last few weeks.

Do you have a daily routine? If so, what’s your favorite part? 

We all have the same 24 hours in a day, what you do with them determines where you end up in life. So what do you want to do? What do you want to be? You need to make sure you’re planning your day accordingly so you can do and be what you really want. The important word here is “plan”. You must take the time to plan.

Don’t let the hours control you. You control the hours.

I can’t tell you what is going to work best for you. I can tell you what has been working for me. I say “working for me” because everything changes based on needs and goals. So for now the following is my process for planning.

First I need to know what needs to get done. That is based on a few broad categories:

• Family
• Mental
• Physical
• Spiritual
• Financial
• Career
• Social

The goals I have fall into one of these categories. Tasks come from those goals, so keeping these in mind while planning your day is important. I try to keep things balanced. Not easy to do when work tasks seem to take over most of my day. It is good practice to keep these categories in mind though. I keep track of my tasks using a combination of Todoist and a notebook, but use whatever system works for you.

The following in a simple process I use to plan my day. I try to keep it simple and only spend 10-15 minutes at the beginning and end of each day – you’ll see “Start of day process” and “End of day process” below – planning my day. I also only plan 1 day at a time. For me planning more than that worked out.

The analog version:

Get a piece of paper and number it 1-12 & 1-12 again. Here is an example of week and weekend days:

Weekday

1. Sleep
2. Sleep
3. Sleep
4. Sleep
5. Sleep
6. Sleep/Shower/Breakfast
7. Aidan to school/Start of day process
8. PM/Dev
9. Meetings
10. PM/Dev
11. PM/Dev
12. Lunch

1. PM/Dev
2. PM/Dev
3. PM/Dev
4. Pick up Aidan & Sports
5. Sports
6. Sports
7. Dinner
8. End of day process
9. Relax/Entertainment
10. Relax/Entertainment
11. Sleep
12. Sleep
    

Weekend

1. Sleep
2. Sleep
3. Sleep
4. Sleep
5. Sleep
6. Sleep
7. Sleep
8. Sleep/Shower
9. Read/Write
10. Breakfast/Read/Write
11. Read/Write
12. Read/Write

1. Work (if any)
2. Work (if any)
3. Free Time
4. Free Time
5. Free Time
6. Free Time
7. Dinner
8. Relax/Entertainment
9. Relax/Entertainment
10. Relax/Entertainment
11. Sleep
12. Sleep

Each bullet point is one of the 24 hours you have in the day. Take 5 minutes and fill in each of hour with the things you do each weekday. I also do this for the weekend days, just so I’m consistent with the habit of planning my days. I also create some “Free Time” for anything that pops up or if I just want to do nothing.

You can also use an analog or digital calendar for this, I actually use a Google Calendar so I have it with me at all times on my phone. Don’t try to get too detailed, that is a waste of time and effort. Block out time for general things like “work” or “entertainment”. That way you’re not overthinking your day, but you are leaving room to do the things you need to and want to do. You can narrow the type of work that you need to do though. Something like “Easy Work” or “Hard Work” can help to identify those items that might take more energy or focus to complete. You can then place these in your schedule at the most appropriate time. Also notice the “(if any)” I have in the list above. You can qualify your time blocks of time to allow them to be more flexible. Remember, this is your schedule. It will change, but if you plan, you have more control over those changes and how you spend your time.

Another trick you can use is to track your actual day against your planned day. On your numbered piece of paper, or in your calendar, or even in another digital calendar track what you do each hour of the day. I like doing this for 2 reasons. One, it helps me plan future days, and two, it allows me to account for where my time went. I do have to remind myself to do this. So, I have an hourly alarm on my phone that beeps to remind me to create an entry for the previous hour. The Pomodoro Technique seems like it’d be a good fit here. I’ve never been able to keep to the practice, maybe someday.

At first, time scheduling may not be very accurate. Over time though, you will be become more accurate at scheduling the blocks of time to accomplish all the things you need to get done. So keep at it, plan and track your days, then do regular reviews to see where you’re at. Compare the plan to the actual. Note any discrepancies, unused or misused time, tasks that blew out their time blocks, anything that didn’t “fit” and use that information to plan better next time.

What do you think? What works for you? What doesn’t?

Yesterday I wrote about routine and how it can help you to move forward towards your goals instead of floundering through the day without accomplishing anything. In addition to routine, or action arising from convention or habit, ritual can plan a big part in your success.

Merriam-Webster defines Ritual simply:

Something always done in a particular situation and in the same way each time.

Always doing something in a particular situation is very similar to routine. I brush my teeth morning and night and always in the same place, the bathroom. It doesn’t matter if I’m traveling or at home, the ritual of brushing my teeth happens in the bathroom morning and night. 

Brushing my teeth also happens the same way each time. I put the toothpaste on the brush the same way, in the same amount. I follow the same pattern while brushing. I don’t have to think about it. I don’t have to plan for it. I’ve been doing it for so long my mind if free to think about other things while I do it. This is pretty much the only multi-tasking that I’m able to do well.

The importance of ritual is two-fold:

• Always doing something in a particular situation creates habit.
• Always doing it the same way frees your mind from the mundane to focus on more important things.

Used mindfully ritual alone is a great time and energy saver. Combining routine and ritual can make for automatic success, or automatic mediocrity. A routine of rituals where you complete tasks and create action will feel like automatic success. A routine of rituals where you look for entertainment and non-action will keep you where you are and you will be automatically mediocre. 

What do I mean by used mindfully? How many times have you gotten into the car at a specific time and started heading to the store or school automatically even though your actual destination was the opposite direction? Being mindful is actively understanding the ritual you are about to begin so it is executed in a useful manner. Creating a ritualized habit of watching TV all day won’t build a business or make you a better parent. So be mindful of the rituals and habits you create.

Another powerful aspect of rituals is that they become triggers that set your day up for success. Weather it is laying out the clothes you exercise in or putting those exercise clothes on as soon as you get out of bed. Both of those rituals lead to you making sure you get your exercise in for the day. I’ve come to enjoy the little things like this that I do. My coffee making in the morning, updating my to do list in the evening, and reading a few pages of some book before I go to sleep are all rituals that I’ve added to my day that I enjoy. They are also triggers to accomplish the things I want to:

• Making coffee leads me to review and plan my day.
• Updating my to do list clears my mind for the evening so I can be present with my family.
• Reading a few pages prepares me for a good night’s sleep.

Think about the things you do throughout the day that could be turned into a ritual. Weather it’s sitting down at your desk first thing in the AM to write, or making a cup of tea and staring off into the distance as a little meditation. Ritual is something that should improve your day and free up your mind to focus on important things.

What are your rituals? I’d like to hear about them in the comments.

 

(of an action) arising from convention or habit.

Routine is important because it gives structure & direction to your days. When you have work that has to be done, the routine easy and provided for you. What happens in your free time when you don’t have anything pressing to get done? What do you do? Routine is the framework that your days, weeks, months, and years are built upon.

I’m not saying you will only ever have a single routine. Routines change with you as you grow, realize who you are, what you want to do, and what you are meant to do. You add and take away pieces of your routine. Some pieces may stay forever, others only a short time. Your routine drives the things you get done, your goals, your aspirations.

Let’s look at the most basic of routines. All of the things you have to fit into your day create the most basic of routines:

1. Sleeping
2. Eating
3. Working or learning
4. Entertainment

The first 3 items will take up a good block of hours each day. Let’s say you sleep 8 hours a night work 8 hours a day and spend 2 hours total for breakfast (30 min), Lunch (30 min) and dinner (60 min). That leave you 6 hours a day during the week to do the things you want. That doesn’t seem like a whole lot does it. The routine you fit into those 6 hours is very important.

A routine that includes 2 hours of TV leaves you with 4 hours to accomplish your goals.

In addition, a routine with 1 hour of exercise cuts that down to 3 hours.

What are you going to do with those 3 hours? How are you going to spend them?

If you have to think about this, then you’re eating into those 3 hours. A routine is a tool you can use to waste less of this precious time. A routine isn’t necessarily a prescribed set of steps you take or the same tasks you do every day. It certainly can be, and part of it will be – check email, do laundry, brush teeth – it is also the way you go about things. Let me explain.

There are things you have to or want to get done each day. Those things fall into certain categories – work, play, necessities – the way you approach each of these things can be part of your routine. When it comes to work, I work from home, so I have a specified work spot in my house that is for work only. When I’m there, I’m working. When it comes to play, I’m not in my work spot. This kind of “routine” helps me to separate from and not be distracted by the work things. Saving me time from distractions that would be caused by being in the context of work when I wan to play.

Knowing what you need to do, want to do, and their priority should be a part of your routine. Use some sort of system to capture your need tos, want tos, and plans so you can turn them into explicit tasks. The system doesn’t matter, the tools don’t matter, as long as you can trust both of them. When I say trust I mean you are comfortable knowing the things you put into your system will be there for you when you come back to your system. You also know that you’ll be reminded of the high priority things and when they need to get done.

I’m not going to get into the system or I use to keep track of my things. I’m also not going to outline my routine. Partly because I don’t want to prescribe anything, but mostly because I want to hear what your routines are. Routines are so important that I’m sure you have some even if you don’t realize it. Take a minute and let me know in the comments.

Today pretty much sucked. To be honest, the last few days have sucked, but today, I was aimless, people were frustrated with me, I was just in a funk.

Some days are just like that. Maybe it isn’t limited to just a day, maybe it’s an entire week. You’ve got to be okay with that. Let it be. There isn’t anything wrong with days or weeks sucking. You have to realize it isn’t always going to suck. When I get into a funk, I use it. I use it to work towards something. I use it to get back to where I need to be. To make sure I’m on the right track.

It can be frustrating at times, but don’t let that derail where you’re going and how you’re getting there for too long. Yep, I said too long. It is going to derail you and that is okay too. You’re going to have those days, you’re going to be down, frustrated, and annoyed just like anyone else. Heck, maybe more than everyone else. Not forever though, and that is the point. When you get into a funk. Ride the funk for a bit, then move on and use the funk to steer you back to where you need to be. It’s pretty easy – just head directly away from the funk and you’re back on track.

Weather you know where you’re going, you only have a vague idea, or you have no clue at all, use the funk to get  you back on the right path. The following 3 steps have helped me plenty of times before, they should help you too:

1. Identify the funk.
2. Ride the funk, then work through it.
3. Head the opposite direction of the funk.

Then you’re back on track. Just work towards quickly identifying and working through the funk so you’re not spending a whole lot of time in the funk.

How do you deal with your funk and the days that suck?