Have you ever noticed how tough it is to make decisions the closer you get to the end of the day?
You’re too tired to decide what you want for dinner, never mind making something healthy. That’s because we all have a finite number of decisions that we’re capable of making in any one given day.
That’s where making a list and prioritizing becomes the backbone of your life. Personally, I can cut out a lot of decision making by making sure that I have sound habits and routines in play in my daily life.
I’m the Queen of List Building! And I’m not talking in a spammy way ;-)
My daily list makes sure that all the important stuff gets done and it also frees up valuable brain space for the creative and productive thinking I have to attend to during the day. Routines are the backbone of my life and cut out a large portion of my daily stress.
“But I hate routine…” you whine at me.
Really?
I’ll bet you already have a morning routine--or I hope that you do. If you don’t, you need to get one ASAP.
Let’s pretend that you do have one--humour me!
Every morning you:
Get out of bed,
Get your coffee (or herbal tea if you’re feeling sanctimonious),
Check the internet and your email (or read the paper if you’re “old school”),
Make something healthy to get you going for the day,
Have a shower,
Put on your “daily uniform”--you probably don’t even think about dressing or putting on your makeup--it’s a routine that you do every morning.
See. You do have a daily routine.
But how about implementing that in other areas of your life--to free up the old brain cells?
Some examples:
How can you streamline your work day?
Meal planning helps with the end of the day, “what shall we eat?” dilemma
A cleaning schedule is immensely helpful in keeping the household chores under control. And that comes with a bonus--you can allocate cleaning chores to other members of the household.
What about your bedtime routine? A bedtime routine is one of my personal favourites. Done properly a good bedtime routines sets you up for a stress-free tomorrow and you sleep so well knowing that there’s nothing to worry about the next day.
Before I go to bed, every night I make sure that the kitchen is clean. There’s nothing more demoralizing than walking into a kitchen that’s full of the chaos of the night before.
A sparkling and clear benchtop is a blissful sight first thing in the morning--especially if you’re not the best first thing in the morning--like me.
Sit down and make a list. I love lists--you can see a theme here, right?
Map out those parts of your day that you can turn into routines. Write them down and then create daily to-do lists until you’ve established these permanent routines and habits for yourself.
It seems counter-intuitive, but I can assure you that taking the time up front to create habits and routines for yourself will simplify your day and drastically reduce your stress levels.
It’s my experience that “having a little list” means that I’m radically more productive during my day than I’ve ever been before.
Whether it’s a daily planner, or a simple Bullet Journal, make sure that you’re putting down on paper what you need to achieve. Once it’s out of your head and on the page, you don’t need to worry about forgetting it.
That leaves your head free for all the other fun stuff like working out who to visit, or where to take the kids to play, or even what little thing you’re going to do this week for self-care.
But that’s a whole different blog post.
Lots of Love,
Toni x