Setting Yourself Up for Success – Day 5 #10DBC

This blog post is in response to Natalie’s 10 Day Freedom Plan Blog Challenge Day 5

This challenge, to come up with a 15-20 minute daily routine to get me closer to my dreams, was a bit tricky for me. I’m always trying new things and fiddling with my routine. Mostly because “routine” itself is a struggle for me. I’m not always productive at the same times each day and I’ve always beaten myself up for not following everyone’s advice to “get into a routine.”

Since returning to work a couple months ago, I’ve tried to just go for it when I am getting things done, and to not be too hard on myself when I’m struggling to be productive.

There are certain things that I do find helpful.

• I plan my weeks on Sunday and my days the night before so that I have direction. And I’ve learned not to get too overzealous with my daily goals. I used to pile way more things on my daily To Do lists than I could ever possibly accomplish, which just served to set me up for failure… or at least feeling like a failure… every day.

• I try to get my most important thing for the day finished before doing any other work, and definitely before checking email or social media.

• I’ve been trying to limit my time on social media and in email to only certain times of the day. And all dings, bings and other interrupting notifications are off. Always.

• I keep my WHY and long-term vision in mind every day.

• I practice gratitude every night.

I’ll need to establish some better routines once I get home with the new puppy because I’m not going to have as much freedom to do what I want when I want.

This is a work in progress. More trial and error to come.

Your Turn…

Do you have routines or things you do that you find helpful?