I had a plan. It was a great plan. I would meditate, write and prepare for my day in the morning. In the evening I would exercise. I had time set aside for breakfast, dinner, a shower, down time and some reading. I even had a bedtime.
A few weeks ago I was going to get up in the morning and write. That didn’t work out to well. This week I’m exercising in the morning and writing at night. I still have time set aside for breakfast, dinner, a shower, down time, reading and of course a bed time.
My mornings have always been quiet. I thought I needed it to be that way so that I would be better prepared for the day. Quiet time was going to be inspirational for me and I was going to be able to write and edit with no problem.
Problem was, and I’m glad I found it out quickly, I can’t write in the morning. I have lazy morning brain – it’s not working before 9:30am.
So I’ve switched my exercising to the morning. Exercising was one of the last things on my morning list to do. After a few days it’s now the second thing I do. I meditate for 20 minutes, and then I exercise for 30. I then shower, have breakfast and set my timer for 30 minutes and I read. After all of this I start to get ready for work.
In the evening I come home and cook (I’ve been ordering from Blue Apron. I save time by not having to buy groceries, but I get the chance to cook). I’m finding cooking starts to get the juices flowing. While I eat I watch the shows that I have recorded the night before and give myself time to play the games that I have on my iPad. I then sit down to write or edit – depending on how I feel. If I write I can keep the TV on (right now I’m watching The Deadliest Catch) – I don’t write well if it’s too quiet.
If I’m editing though, that’s a different story. It has to be quiet. Editing = concentration for me. It’s not an easy process.
It’s taken some changes and moving around, but I think I have found the schedule that works best for me. My life right now is no longer about a ‘to-do’ list. It’s about a timed schedule. It’s about being focused and being accountable to myself. I keep my schedule in front of me, and I have alarms set on my phone as reminders.
I’m on day five of my 21-day habit forming schedule. I have granted myself permission to continue to make changes if I need too so that I will be as productive as I can.
Right now, my schedule is:
5:40am-6:00am – Meditate
6:00am – 6:40am – Exercise
6:40am-7:00am – Shower
7:00am-7:15am – Breakfast
7:15am-7:45am – Read
7:45am-8:15am – Get ready for work
6:30pm-7:30pm – Dinner
7:30pm-9:00pm – Down time (TV, reading, social media, etc)
9:00pm-11:00pm – Writing / Editing
11:00pm – Bedtime (and probably some more reading)
And since it’s just past 11:00pm – I’m going to start closing out my productive day and tonight I will watch the TV show Zoo from bed.
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