Even if you work full-time and average 8 hours of sleep each night you have about 6 hours each day to dedicate to your goals and passions. I’m going to share a schedule that I personally use to create a lifestyle I choose, I feel excited about and can help me achieve any goal! I have a lot to share so I will break it down over the next few article posts.
There are several popular articles with great tips on keeping resolutions and setting personal and professional goals. A simple google search will provide several!
First, I want to share my categories that help me stay focused when planning my day. I ‘assign’ a category to each part of my daily schedule to keep me focused. If I can’t find a category to fit it in, then most likely it isn’t necessary. For example, excuses and complaining do not have a category in my life (something I’m working on!). And all four categories are intertwined, so they can and should overlap, but separating them out helps me focus (which is what I personally need!)
My nourishment categories:
- Well-being – Mental and physical health; stretching, walking, meditation, conscious eating, plenty of water. Ask yourself – What are my health goals, what are my limits?
- Spirit – Self-care, gratitude journaling, positive affirmations, create, hobbies. Ask yourself – What brings joy and peace? What nourishes me?
- Circle – Mutual relationships that allow you to give and receive support; family, friends, work friendships, recovery groups, clubs or hobby groups. Ask yourself – Who balances with me? Who supports me and invites my support?
- Productivity – Daily routine; work, volunteering, care giver, budgeting, learning. Ask yourself – What is my current daily schedule (define it). What do I want my future schedule or routine to look like and consist of?
Once your categories are defined you can create a ‘schedule’ and fit it into a category. Seeing your schedule written out helps not only see how time is spent, but also provide accountability opportunities. You are the only one you need to be accountable to. This is your life, your future and remember your passion is worth your time!
Here is my schedule/routine and how my hours are spent. As you can see I have no excuses that should start with ‘but I don’t have time’. It’s right here in writing. Yes, I have time for me and my passions and goals. Excuses have no category!
Typical Monday through Friday:
- 6:00 am – Wake up and shower
- 6:30 am – Coffee in hand, reflection time begins, meditation (just 5 minutes), positive reading and quiet time with hubby
- 7:00 am – Get ready for work (Makeup, hair, dressed, gather work meals to go)
- 7:30 am – Start commute
- 8:00 am – Clock in and begin morning work routine
- 11:30 am – Lunch (eat, reflect, 1 minute breathing exercise via Headspace app)
- 12:00 to 4:30 pm – Afternoon work routine
- 4:30 pm – Start commute back home
- 5:00 to 10:00 pm – Five evening hours. These hours include various activities such as appointments, errands and time with my mom, errands for my aunt, one on one with my husband, dinner/cooking, reading, writing, research, library events, creating lists, reviewing research and outlines, article writing and research, learning and anything unexpected that can pop up
- between my hour or so in the morning before getting ready for work, my 30 minute lunch break and my five hours before bed, I have 6.5 hours a day I can plan just about any way I want
- 10:00 pm (sometimes 10:30) – Bedtime
Typical Saturday (16 hour day, after 8 hours of sleep) :
- 7:30 am – Coffee, reflection, couple time, positive reading
- 8:30 to 10:30 am – Cook breakfast with hubby, conversations, reading
- 10:30 am – Shower, dressed, prepare for day
- 11:30 am – Review and/or create weekend lists, write out outlines for articles
- 12:30 pm – Errands and drive time
- 1:30 pm to 7:30 pm – Family time with my sister and nephew (and 45 minutes driving each way)
- 7:30 to 11:30 pm – Couple dinner/cooking, conversation, reading, writing, research
- 11:30 (ish) pm – Bedtime
Typical Sunday (about 15 hours after 8 hours of sleep):
- 7:30 am – Coffee, reflection, couple time, positive reading
- 8:30 am to 1:30 pm – Cook breakfast together, write outlines, writing research, read
- 1:30 pm – Shower, dressed, etc.
- 2:30 pm to 6:30 pm – Errands, laundry, grocery shopping, etc.
- 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm – Cook dinner together, cleanup, conversations, lists for upcoming week
- 8:00 to 10:30 pm – prepare work lunches/snacks, read, write, outlines, research, learn
I can easily fit each item into a category. For example reading and writing are spirit and productivity for me since my writing is a main focus and will continue to be (I like owning my future and goals..writing it out helps me a lot!)
Obviously, some hours are not as flexible as others. If you work and have set hours to work or care for someone those hours are typically always the same, but several hours a day are flexible for me once I’m done at work and on the weekends. Seeing this written out helps me focus on accomplishments, not just goal setting!
I have a lot more to share, but this post is long enough! I appreciate your time reading it and I hope this encourages you to write out your current schedule/routine, so we can travel this journey together.
I encourage you to document how your spend your hours and think about how you want to spend them…If you have any questions please ask! Any additional tips? Please share!
Thanks again for reading!
success encourager 