Building Blocks of Success

Habits and routines are the building blocks of long-term success. That’s why I’m so obsessed with them.

At work, I live by and love my daily routine. It’s simple, flexible, and trusted. It’s not perfect. But my self-created work routine allows me to effectively move the story forward each and every day.

At home however, I have a tendency to overshoot with my planned habits and routines. I do get a lot done. But at the same time, a lot of things don’t get done regularly, especially with an on-the-move toddler. I get distracted. Also, housekeeping isn’t my strong suit. I usually plan way more than I can realistically finish in one day. This leads to me feeling disappointed and out of control. With this in mind, I’m simplifying my morning and evening daily routines dramatically as my 30-day personal challenge. I started my new simplified routines several days ago. So far, it’s going well. I feel fresh, potent, and more in control of my time.

I’m sharing my daily routine revamp with you, because I hope to inspire you to take a closer look at your own daily routine. The little habits you repeat every day have a way of snowballing to produce big results. You can design your daily routine any way you choose. Or maybe you already have good one, and that’s wonderful.

Simple & Focused

Right now, I’m going to experiment by lowering the bar on my morning and evening routines. I’ll focus only on what I can realistically accomplish. I want to make things simple. My days are already full of well-established patterns of activities that I can rely on. My husband and I do plenty of chores that are not listed here. But for my new morning and evening daily routines, I’ve carefully chosen just 10 weaknesses I deeply want to master. These are 10 habits I think about often. If I can get control of these 10 habits, I have a hunch it’ll free up my mind to focus more fully on my strengths, the people I love, my creative projects, and the more rewarding spoils of life. That’s the whole point.

Moving forward, here are the 10 habits I will focus my daily routines on:

1. Be ON TIME: I’ll create a defined structure to the beginnings and ends of my day by being on time, if not early, for a few key things. By hitting carefully-chosen time marks, I’ll give myself enough time, in all the right spots, to complete my routines. I’ll be disciplined about this. But I’ll maintain some flexibility too, so I can roll with the moment, my desires, and my duties whenever I choose to. Here are the gritty details. I’ll wake up at 5am and get right out of bed. I’ll go downstairs for breakfast by 6:45am. I’ll leave the house by 7:15am. I’ll begin work by 8:00am. I’ll finish work at 5:00pm. I’ll go upstairs with my son to get ready for bed by 7:00pm. I’ll get in bed to read with my son by 8:30pm. I’ll go to sleep by 9:00pm. Then I’ll have 8 hours to sleep, before I wake up at 5:00am. On the weekends, I’ll allow more flexibility with bedtimes and wakeup times, and possibly sleep an extra hour, but I’ll keep the same basic structure. I like this kind of time-based structure, because I tend to linger wherever I am. Having a preset plan helps me stay on track and go on autopilot when I’m too tired to make in-the-moment decisions.
2. Keep GARBAGE Current: This is dirty chore that’s nice to have done. So immediately upon awakening, I’ll empty any and all full trashes throughout the house. I like the idea of doing this kind of dirty work before I shower.
3. Clean the LOO: This chore is the worst of the worst. So I’ll clean both toilets early in the morning. Done and done. Plus I’ll scoop the cat litter boxes. I’ll allow myself to skip this chore if everything is reasonably clean. It’ll be nice to have all the loos consistently clean and presentable for any surprise guests we have.
4. Keep LAUNDRY Current: I’ll rotate the laundry early in the morning. Then I’ll rotate the laundry again right when I get home from work. Later in the evening, I’ll sort, fold, and put away all the clean laundry. I’ll attempt to keep the laundry consistently current. I’d consider this a huge accomplishment if I can do this.
5. SHOWER Really Early: I’m the kind of person who only feels fully ready to face the day once I’m showered, dressed to shoes, and dolled up a little. I consider the whole “getting ready” process a bit of a chore. So I plan to shower really early, even on the weekends. That way I won’t spend an entire Saturday or Sunday in my raggedy PJs with bits of yesterday’s makeup on my face. I’ll be ready take on any exciting opportunities as they present themselves. On weekdays, I’m used to having long breakfasts while I procrastinate about getting in the shower. Not anymore. I’ll now be showering before breakfast 7 days a week. Every evening, I’ll set clothes out for the next day.
6. Natural ALLERGY Treatment: I have severe grass pollen allergies, which I used to treat with over-the-counter drugs. I’ve switched 100% natural allergy remedies, which I will be consistent about using four times a day.
7. Brush Toddler TEETH: I’ll consistently brush my son’s teeth twice a day every day. I’ll give him fluoride too. My son hates having his teeth brushed, so this is the toughest thing I do all day. But I so want to keep his teeth healthy.
8. Keep DISHES Current: I’ll fully clean up the dishes after every meal at home. I’ll clean the counters and sink. I’ll run the dishwasher and put the dishes away, right away, whenever necessary.
9. WATER the Garden: Every evening when I come home I’ll water the garden by hose, as needed. I’ll excuse myself from this activity whenever the ground is moist due to rain or cool weather. My husband will run the sprinkler systems. This year, we planted huge quantities of vegetables and flowers, and I want them to continue to flourish. I’ll water the indoor plants too as needed.
10. Limit SOCIAL MEDIA: I’ll limit myself to thoroughly checking each social media platform once per day. I’m currently on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Pinterest. I’m also going to limit personal email and text messages to a degree too. I love social media and connecting with people. But it’s easy for me to spend too much time in the social media vortex. Once a day per platform seems like the perfect amount to stay current but protect my limited time.

Here’s how these 10 habits will come together to form my new morning and evening daily routines:

New Morning Routine

• 5am Wake – Be ON TIME
• Keep GARBAGE Current
• Keep LAUNDRY Current (Rotate)
• Clean the LOO
• SHOWER Really Early
• Limit SOCIAL MEDIA
• Natural ALLERGY Treatment
• Brush Toddler TEETH
• 6:45am Go Downstairs – Be ON TIME
• Keep DISHES Current
• 7:15am Leave Home – Be ON TIME
• 8am – Be ON TIME

New Evening Routine

• 5pm Leave Work – Be ON TIME
• Keep LAUNDRY Current (Rotate)
• WATER the Garden
• Limit SOCIAL MEDIA
• Keep DISHES Current
• 7pm Go Upstairs – Be ON TIME
• Natural ALLERGY Treatment
• Keep LAUNDRY Current (Put Away)
• Set Clothes Out (So I Can SHOWER Really Early)
• Brush Toddler TEETH
• 8:30pm Get in Bed – Be ON TIME
• 9pm Sleep – Be ON TIME

Joyfully Nurturing Excellence

These are my self-imposed marching orders for the next month. I’ll do my best. I plan to accomplish the whole list on most days. But I’ll readily forgive myself when my execution isn’t perfect. Then I’ll reliably return to my carefully-chosen routines. But I’ll give myself the freedom to rearrange and refine my habits at any time. I’ll be joyfully nurturing excellence. I hope that by mastering the 10 habits in my daily routine, I’ll gain greater mastery over myself. I’ll share my results at the end of the month.

I encourage you to maximize your daily routines too. If you already have a powerful daily routine that supports your consistent success, please consider sharing your best tips with me. I’m all ears.

To see my overly-complicated former daily routines, and my trusted-and-effective work routine, see my past blog article Taming the Beast.

Thank you for reading. I wish you a beautiful week!

Next Week: 10 Personal Development Books That’ll Change Your Life in All the Right Ways