Something for Yourself: Daily Routine

It's amazing how quickly things can change, isn't it?  Sometimes it almost happens without us even realizing a change has occurred.  And other times the change is so significant that you can't remember what life felt like before it happened. 

I've definitely experienced my fair share of change, especially in the last year.  In December the company I had been at for almost six years announced that they had been acquired and we would be moving over to a competitor.  It was completely unexpected and at first a little scary, but in the long run it has turned out to be a good change.  Now I love the company I work for and appreciate how much they invest in each employee's growth and development, much more so than my last company.

I feel like I've also changed my mind a lot in the past year.  One day I'm completely certain I know what I want to do with my life and then the next moment I'm questioning everything and letting go of something that recently felt so certain.  

The biggest thing I can think of is my decision to move to California.  Once I decided that's what I wanted to do, I was hard set on making it happen.  I even flew to San Diego with a friend and went apartment hunting!  Now, I realize that moving to California was my attempt at making change happen in my life for the wrong reason.  I was trying to change the outside of my life instead of looking inward and changing on the inside.   

Ultimately, I would still love to move to California sometime in the future, but I just don't think now is the right time for me to make that change.  I guess that's a lesson you have to learn the hard way; figuring out that something you think you want isn't the right thing at that moment.  

So although I am not pursuing a move to California anytime soon, I am working on some other changes that I think will really make me a better, happier person.  Self-improvement has been on my mind a lot lately and is actually one of the main reasons why I started the Something for Yourself series.  I had been spending a lot of time working on improving myself and wanted to share what I had learned.  I would like to let you follow along as I continue on my journey towards being a happier, healthier person.  So, stay tuned for more Something for Yourself posts and a bunch of other content I've got in the works for you.

And now, let's get into the main purpose of this post.  We've already talked about setting a morning routine and a night routine for yourself, but we haven't focused on a daytime routine.  This is something that may seem obvious and somewhat unnecessary, but since creating my own daytime routine I have felt much more focused and centered.  It's nice to feel like you have a set plan for the day, especially when you work from home like I do and need some extra structure to your day.

Here's the routine I set for myself a few weeks ago, including my morning and night routine:

7:00am

• Wake up
• Feed cats
• Put on workout clothes
• Make bed
• Write in gratitude journal
• Take pills

7:30am

• Workout
• Stretch
• Shower
• Skin care
• Get dressed
• Have breakfast
• Make coffee/tea

9:00am

• Start working
• Morning break (snack & sparking water)
• Keep working

12:30pm

• Make lunch
• Eat at table (no TV)

1:00pm

• Back to work
• Afternoon break (snack & tea)
• Keep working
• Make to-do list for tomorrow

5:30pm

• Done working
• Make dinner
• Eat at table (no TV)
• Relax (read, watch TV)

7:00pm

• Feed cats
• Take pills & vitamins
• Put on pajamas
• Skin care routine

9:00pm

• Get in bed
• Bible study
• Pray
• Meditate
• Sleep

It may seem silly to put some things on the list, like putting on pajamas or actually sleeping, but for me it's just nice to see everything laid out and to have placeholder for each part of my day.  

There are some things on my list that I've intentionally included in order to spend time on them and not forget about doing them.  Some of these are things like writing in my gratitude journal, bible study, or eating without watching TV.  These are things that I used to only do if and when I remembered to do them, so now I've got a nice reminder to make sure I make them a priority in my day.

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So that was a look at what my daily routine looks like.  Again, you may not need to write down certain things that you're already going to remember to do each day, but it might be a nice place to start by just writing down everything you do and then adding in those bonus items that you sometimes forget to do.

I hope this was helpful.  Let me know in the comments if you have any questions on easy ways to structure your day.