backstory: I used to be a teacher. and then I took my business full time, working for myself at home. by losing the school day, I completely lost all structure and my days were free to spend as I pleased. which I loved, but slowly but surely, without the accountability and limitations of “I have to be at school from this time to this time monday through friday,” I let go of every single one of the routines and habits that had once brought me so much peace, accomplishment, and contentment.
a year and a half into this, my productivity was at an all time low, and both my weight and anxiety were at at all time high. at this time my business had taken off to an amazing level I never dreamed possible, but my self doubt was absolutely crippling.
long story short, everything came to a head and I had an epic, ugly meltdown that lasted the duration of two flights, a layover, the car ride home, and the rest of the evening on the kitchen floor.
I needed to bring back my routines.
many, many kind requests on instagram asked how I break it all down: how I choose/start/implement/keep routines. let’s do this!
what are my priorities?
full post on how I pinpoint my/our priorities here.
TLDR: what makes me feel my best? and, alternatively: what makes me not feel my best? (also important to note.)
based on these priorities, let’s think through a few things to create specific routines:
what do I need to feel my best? what’s my end goal?
a clean house? daily movement/journaling/meditation/smoothies? better hydration? less dinner stress? more control over finances?
how can I break that up into a manageable routine? how often does the routine need to realistically be?
multiple times a day? every morning and evening? daily? three times a week? three to six times a week? weekly? write it down! in just a bit we’ll choose one teeeeny one to try first.
monthly? quarterly? yearly routines? write those down, too! these specific routines I just keep in a to-do list in my Google Keep - more on that later.
a super easy example would be my hair is so dry from swimming - I would love to have it feel healthier - so I’m hoping to start a Mask Monday routine where I apply a hydrating hair mask every week. and I should really prioritize regular hair trims.
here’s a list of my current routines if you’re wanting more ideas! Some things like “I like a clean, clutter-free house” and “I want less dinner stress” can have multiple upon multiple routines. :)
choose one teeeeny, tiny new routine to try
now here’s the fun part. I know it can seem suuuuper tempting to implement a ton of new daily/weekly routines at once, but we don’t want to do that. that’s how routines fizzle and die.
we’ve identified our priorities and what makes us feel good - YAY! but now, be patient. we’re going to pick just one teeeeeeny, tiny daily or weekly routine. AND ONLY DO THAT. and we will ONLY do that first routine until it becomes a mindless habit. then AND ONLY THEN will we choose a second teeeeny, tiny routine to add-on. and we will do those two tiny routines until they are both mindless habits. AND SO ON.
for example, at one point, my only focus was to fill up 96 ounces of water every single morning. once that became a mindless habit, I moved my focus to drinking and finishing all 96 ounces every day.
or one month my entire focus was to walk at night. and if I missed a night, I didn’t say, “OH MY GOSH THE WORLD IS ENDING IM SUCH A FAILURE.” I just tried again the next night, and realized that maybe we’d benefit from setting a phone alarm as a reminder? so we tweaked and regrouped. but more on this below.
reevaluate regularly
can anything be done to improve or tweak the routine? Is there anything else you can change in your home to help implement your new routine(s)? what’s not working in this season? is the routine no longer serving you in general at all?
for example, once this baby is born, I’m going to definitelyyyy be looking around and seeing what routines need to be tweaked, what new routines need to be created, and what routines are no longer working. it’s all a fluid process!
or, I was strugglinggggg with smoothies. and once I tried to pinpoint the reason why, I realized that I hated having to get alllll the things out. the bags of smoothie fruit, the blender, everything. so I moved my blender to become a permanent fixture on the kitchen counter (and put my toaster away), and I made a bunch of premade smoothie packs so that I would just have to dump the contents into the blender. the smoothie routine became muuuuuch more successful after those two teeny tiny tweaks.
When I’m not “feeling” a routine: I get asked this a lot. Sometimes I just don’t feel like doing a routine. And that’s okay! When this happens, I don’t force the routine. If I’m not feeling like a routine, I will skip it. Because one of two things happens: I either really miss the routine and am reminded of how beneficial it is. And I jump back into it with a newfound appreciation. Or, I notice that, for whatever reason, I didn’t miss it and I need to evaluate if it needs to be tweaked - or completely eliminated - in this season. A win win!
Bonus:
Specific tools that help me:
Google Keep lists (see my “Google Keep” highlight on my Instagram for visuals of this, too!)
weekly to do template
what are things you do every week? what are things you would love to prioritize every week? either because they bring you joy or they simplify some area of your life?
list out all seven days. fill in your answers from the above questions.
for example, what are your things you’d love to or need to do every day that you’d love a reminder? like on my list, under every day of the week I write “smoothie,” “fill water cups,” “check budget and bank account, “ and “dog walk with brett.”
now what are the things you’d love to do (or need to do) on certain days? like on my template, on sundays I like to meal prep. on Tuesdays the house cleaners come and I wash towels. on fridays I wash sheets, tweak the meal plan, and order groceries. if I have certain days I like to swim, I add that in - put it all on your template! dump out that entire brain! my shoulders feel lighter already.
now what do I do when I need a to do list for the upcoming week? I’ll make a copy of my template, rename the copy to “week of (insert date of the Sunday of that week here) to dos,” and will add items specific to that upcoming week to the new to do list. (for example, right now I’m referencing my “week of 1/5 to dos.”) I’ll peek at my google calendar (more on that in a second) and my “monthly to dos” Google Keep list to see what I have or what I should do that upcoming week, and will add it to the to do list. work projects, appointments, meetings, family things, specific things I need to do that week (send out a certain email, contact a wholesaler, deliver a calligraphy piece, order something, call so-and-so, update such-and-such, ask so-and-so something, schedule an appointment, etc) whatever. It all gets brain-dumped into the list!
(see my “Google Keep” highlight on my Instagram for visuals of this, too!)
Google Calendar
first and foremost, text your loved ones or go on facebook. add any and every important birthday to your calendar. set each birthday to repeat annually on that day.
go in and add things you’d really like to prioritize in your life. for example, on my calendar, I scheduled my swim practices for 6:30AM on Saturday mornings, to remind myself to not schedule anything else during these times, if at all possible. I also have “grill and chill” listed on Sundays, Brett’s weekly COD date with his BFF on Wednesdays, and “family dinner” on Saturdays. the point is here to prioritize these things first, and schedule other things around them.
add all appointments/meetings/plane rides/trips/dates/shows/family things, etc when you schedule them. duh.
have a significant other that would benefit from seeing your schedule? or that the both of you have events that involve the two of you? create a shared calendar. this cuts down on so many “where are you?” texts and “do we have any plans this weekend?” questions - brett just hops on and peeks at our calendar. or, similarly, when I schedule things for brett (his haircuts, for instance), I easily add it to our shared calendar.
have a certain thing you need to remind yourself to do on a certain day? create a task. like, I have tasks set to 45 and 30 days before a wedding to remind myself to send off certain emails to brides. or, if I know I need to talk to my wholesaler on a certain day, I’ll set a reminder. that way when it comes time to adding things to this week’s weekly to do list, I just need to see what tasks I previously wrote on my calendar to jog my memory.
Google Sheets
addresses - a running list of loved ones and their mailing addresses. it was originally made for sending out our wedding invites, but it has proven handy over the years.
dates + adventures - this is where we keep all the restaurants/dates we’d like to try someday. so whenever we do find ourselves with the opportunity for a little outing or adventure, we peek at this list. I also make a note on here if someone has a good happy hour or special on a particular day.
if haley dies - a spreadsheet for if Brett needs to know how access little, non-bank things like contact our pest control guy or look at HOA documents or change our Dollar Shave Club shipment, for example.
contact numbers for go-to professionals, links to log in pages, etc
and TO BE CLEAR: it’s not actually our log in info. it’s a spreadsheet with different categorical tabs, the name of whatever website (mainly because I don’t even think Brett could tell you the name of our vision insurance company, for example) and perhaps a link to the log-in page, and a code for the password that only Brett and I know. for example, when I have “s!” written down as our password for our phone bill log-in, you have no idea what that means, but Brett and I know exactly what twelve-letter password we should use.
read more about this - and all the other things we do to make our home more streamlined and more prepared - in this post.
I created this and automated all our bills in preparation for baby - read more about that here
Keep/Calendar/Sheets apps
now add all three apps to your phone to update/reference to as needed. GAME CHANGER.
A consistent spot for a menu plan
i love using a simple blog template because I wanted to be able to see my past menu plans, I wanted to be able to easily link all recipes, and I wanted so that Brett (or whomever) could easily go to the blog link to see what we were eating.
I know there are lots of other ways to do this, so find what works for you! Some love specific websites or apps, some love good ol pencil and paper.
want to read more about how I menu plan? click here!
Grocery delivery
i used to think grocery delivery was an indulgent luxury that I didn’t deserve…and then I realized how much time and energy it saved me. I started this in my first trimester and I’ll never go back.
it also keeps us wayyy under budget since I have a running account of how much my cart is and I can get just the amount of whatever I need. whereas at the actualy grocery store, I’m so bad about being like, “oh, the recipe calls for two of such and such? let’s get six just in case I want to make more!” or, “oh, wait. such and such is on sale for how much? let’s grab it!” these little decisions would cause some serious sticker shock at the check out. (or I somehow manage to always spend wayyyyy more than I need on produce. specifically on grapes and cherries. online grocery ordering keeps this in CHECK.)
you also need to know I hate copious amounts of driving and I hate crowds. So this really brings me allllll the happiness.
Budgeting software
we love Every Dollar Plus for budgeting
(see my “budget” highlight on my Instagram for visuals of this, too!)
part of my monthly routine is to check the Yearly Tasks + Expenses Google Keep List to see if anything is coming up, then I create our monthly budget
part of my morning routine is to check our budget
I swear by this book, this book, and this podcast - I keep them around for motivation, but they’re also perfect for getting started
The same laundry day(s) week after week
right now I do one day a week - every Friday - but will probably tweak to a small load every morning, or whatever. the point here is to pick a day (or dayS) and stick with it. it eliminates SO much drama and stress that I didn’t even realize was there. no more, “the laundry is overflowing! we’re out of clothes! when are we doing laundry???”
The same morning/evening routine day after day
Setting an alarm
is there something you do that can sometimes fall by the wayside, simply because you get caught up with whatever else? set an alarm or reminder on your phone.
on my phone, I have a alarm go off in the evenings to remind us it’s abouttttt time to go on a walk. aka “wrap whatever else you’re working on up, folks!”
i also have a phone alarm that goes off everyyyyy Saturday morning to remind me it’s time to get up for swim team. just seeing that alarm reminds me how much happier I’ll be if I go swim and see my teammates. when I was left to manually set the alarm every Friday night, I’d often talk myself out of it. like, “Oh, but you’re so tired. let’s just skip this once.” and that “let’s just skip this once,” turned into a weekly thing. so having it automatically set has helped SO much.
true life: I’m about to put an alarm on Brett’s phone to feed the dogs. Jesus take the wheel.
Rearrange my house/schedule
Is there anything else you can change in your home or schedule to help implement your new routine(s)?
like, we really wanted to go to the farmers market on a weekly basis, but could never keep that routine when we tried to go to one on a saturday morning - that’s Brett’s big gardening morning, I’m justttt getting home from swimming, and I either go work a wedding or go to lunch with my family after. so it just wasn’t a realistic thing to squeeze in. then, we were like, “what if we could find one that’s on Sundays?” and we did!
similarly, I realized I’m awfulllll about swimming if I put it off until the evening. I need to do it before noon, or it doesn’t happen at all.
WATER. if I have one cup of water with the intention of filling and refilling it all day, it never happens. so I bought three tumblers, filled them all up in the morning with the intention of finishing them by bed time, and just like that with that one small tweak I was successfully drinking an adequate amount of water.
and like I mentioned before, I moved the toaster off the counter to make space for my blender. I hung four hooks in my garage to hang alllll my dog walking goodies near the garage exit. I started storing my swim equipment in my car. I hung stain spray on our laundry hamper to help us pretreat stains. I put a jar of thickkkkk moisturizer near my sock drawer so I’d remember to moisturize my poor heels. I placed books in the three places I normally sit in my house, as well as added a book in both my car and purse.
speaking of books, people ask me how i find time to read - and that’s my answer. keep a book with you. keep books where you naturally sit. I rarely read for more than 15 minutes at a time, and it’s usually in those pockets of “dead time” - time I’m waiting anyway. waiting on brett, waiting in the car, waiting at an appointment, waiting for the dryer to finish, waiting for whatever.
check out my ever growing list of favorite books here.
(see my “books” highlight on my Instagram for visuals of this, too!)
Again, I’m sure I’ll tweak things as we go through different seasons of life - but for now, this is what is reallyyyy working for us! Peek through my Instagram stories and highlights for more. I love all things organizing, simplifying, and routine-ing.
Big hugs to you all for such a fun blogpost request!
