Here’s the Daily Routine that Keeps Me on the Path to Success

My ability to maintain mindfulness has improved by leaps and bounds by sticking to a plan.

Photo by Renáta-Adrienn on Unsplash

My life has become fairly predictable these days.

I used to give myself way too much flexibility with my time, and most of it went to waste or was used in a self-destructive manner.

Now, I’ve removed nearly all of the wiggle room, and it’s served me well to stay on track. It keeps my mind busy as well so I don’t get distracted by thoughts and emotions as often as before.

Here’s my daily routine:

Mon/Wed/Friday

• 6:30-Hit Snooze.
• 6:45-Make sure the bigs are awake, then sit on the couch and reflect on the previous day.
• 7:15 — Take bigs to school and pick up anything Jess or the littles might need from the store.
• 8:00 — Wake up the littles, get them dressed, feed them, brush hair, brush teeth.
• 8:35 — Wish Jess a good day at work and take littles to school.
• 9:00–10:00 — Flex time. Lately, I’ve spent this time reading and writing, but this is where I would typically schedule any appointments, clean up the house a bit, or catch up on some news.
• 10:00–11:00 — This is my sacred hour. It’s reserved every day to get some coffee, sit, think, write, polish, and publish. Every Day. No matter what.
• 11:00 — Shower, get dressed, ready for work.
• 11:30 — Hit the door and drive to work. Listen to a podcast, audiobook, or music. Call a brother, dad, or uncle to catch up.
• 12:15 pm — Punch that time clock. I no longer own this time. I’ve sold it!
• 10:00 pm — Check out what’s new on JRE and make the drive home.
• 10:30 pm — Get a bite to eat and catch up with Jess.
• 11:30 pm — Put on some Cosmos and lay my head down to sleep.

Tues/Thurs

• 6:30 — Hit Snooze
• 6:45 — Brush teeth, get dressed, check gym bag, hit the door.

***Jess takes the kids to school for me these days.

• 7:30 — Arrive at the gym, make sure mats are arranged, and begin stretching for Jiu-Jitsu.
• 8:00–9:30 — BJJ Class. Sometimes learning wisdom, sometimes learning technique, sometimes brains not working and learn nothing, sometimes kicking ass, sometimes getting ass kicked. Always satisfying, and always the remedy for any tension built up over the last couple of days.
• 9:30 — Head home. Alan Watts time.
• 10:00–11:00 — This is my sacred hour. It’s reserved every day to get some coffee, sit, think, write, polish, and publish. Every Day. No matter what.
• 11:00 — Shower, get dressed, ready for work.
• 11:30 — Hit the door and drive to work. Listen to a podcast, audiobook, or music. Call a brother, dad, or uncle to catch up.
• 12:15 pm — Punch that time clock. I no longer own this time. I’ve sold it!
• 10:00 pm — Check out what’s new on JRE and make the drive home.
• 10:30 pm — Get a bite to eat and catch up with Jess.
• 11:30 pm — Put on some Cosmos and lay my head down to sleep.

Saturday

Typically, any parties, road trips, or other plans we have together happen on Saturdays. Days that we don’t have anything look about like this:

• Wake up at some point.
• 10:00–11:00 — This is my sacred hour. It’s reserved every day to get some coffee, sit, think, write, polish, and publish. Every Day. No matter what.
• Lately, I’ve been writing a bit earlier and a bit longer on Saturdays. The family typically likes to catch up on sleep unless they already have plans.
• After I hit publish, catch up with Jess, see what’s on the weekend agenda.
• Afternoon-Evening — Flex time depending on what the girls have planned. Read a book, watch youtube, play games, take girls to the park, make a big dinner, clean up around the house.

Sunday

• 6:30 — Wake up and head to Jiu-Jitsu.
• 7:30–9:30 — Tap out a lot. Call Jess on the way home and recap the weekend so far, discuss plans for the rest of the day
• 10:00 — 11:00 — This is my sacred hour. It’s reserved every day to get some coffee, sit, think, write, polish, and publish. Every Day. No matter what.
• Afternoon-Evening — Flex time normally angled toward getting ready for the week, i.e. cleaning, laundry, a good nutrient-rich dinner. Spend time with the girls drawing, painting, playing cards, park trips, or watching tv. Pretty much whatever they want to do.
• 10:00 pm — Usually ready for bed a bit earlier on Sundays. Excited to start the week and do it all over again.

To sum it up:

There are curveballs that come in all the time. For the most part, these are addressed in an appropriate amount of time to maintain the integrity of the schedule.

Every day from 10:00–11:00 I write. No matter what.

Some things are unavoidable or deserve more time and attention. Once they have been worked through I fall back into the routine and keep it moving forward.

Recently I’ve created a checklist at work to ensure I get all my daily tasks done by the end of each shift. I found success in that process and adapted it to my daily life. By budgeting my hours each day, I have developed a solid plan to stick to.

At times when I feel like my mind is about to spin out of control, having a solid process to fall back on has limited my ability to self-destruct. I just always have something else to do.

It’s improved my relationships, my performance at work, and most recently, my daily writing habit.

What’s your routine and how has it improved your life?