This week the plan was to blog about the new routines that I have been working to put into place for a few of my requirements. I was going to talk about how wonderfully they are starting to work. Doesn't that sound like a fantastic blog!
Well..... That blog was meant to be written on Sunday. It is now Tuesday night. It appears that my routines are still a work in progress. Not exactly the message I was hoping to bring forward but the lesson is still ongoing.
One of the routines that I have consistently had in place for several years is still serving me well. I have a reading goal that I use to centre myself on a daily basis. This is one of the first things that I do each morning (after I brew my hubbie his pot of coffee). I curl up with a blanket in a comfy chair with the ipad and I read my Bible. I have had to refine things over the years to help this habit work. I use an online app most days so the family ipad is the go to device. The biggest bonus is that I can't access any of my own texts, emails or social media on this device. No distractions, just quiet focus where my mind needs to be first thing in the morning.
Another goal that has served me well over the years has been keeping a personal journal. I have dabbled with the timing on this over the years. I started out with it as a way to sum up my day. I found that my journals were often filled with should have/could have negative self talk. I switched it up to writing in the morning. This worked well to focus my day and I found that it turned into quite a pep talk. As awesome as this is, I found it hard to maintain because as good as my intentions are, life seems to happen and it seems to happen early. If the first part of the morning would get away on me, then I had that sweet quiet moment once hubbie left for work and the kids caught the bus. That is not my reality any longer with one at home full time so an adjustment was needed. The past couple weeks I have been writing right after lunch most days. My sweet girl settles down into a 1/2 hour of quiet reading. This has proven to be a great time to write and then read with her.
That covers off a few of my goals but there are many more where consistency is proving to be a struggle. I have discovered the value of get things done earlier in the day as it is very difficult to accomplish everything that has been missed once you are in your fuzzy jammies settling down for the night. Nights in our home are busy and I am not really a night person. Early is much better than later.
I find that I also struggle with this time of day called "later". It is not that I don't think of the things that I need to do throughout the day, I just tell myself that this moment is not a good time and that I will conquer that "later". Then I find myself reviewing my day in fuzzy jammies trying to figure out why my numbers are not where I'd like them to be.
I am blessed with a great deal of flexibility in how I spend my day. I am sure many people covet that flexibility. What I have discovered though is that this flexibility also means my days often lack imposed structure. To succeed in mastery, there must be a degree of structure. Since my life lacks imposed structure, it is up to me to develop self imposed structure or simply put routines. Although I understand this and it really sounds simple, it has proven to be a struggle for me to fully implement. This is a key focus that I will continue working on this year. Why? I want to achieve my goals and the only way that will happen is if I put in the work.
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