Do You Have Structure and Strategy in Your Life?
Get up at 5am, meditate, hit the gym, be ready to start work at 8.30am. Carry this type of structure into your working day and I can assure you, you’ll be productive.
Stick with me for a minute...
No screen time after 8pm, have a soothing shower, read, meditate and then head to bed at the same time each night, to ensure you get the full seven to eight hours of prerequisite sleep one needs.
Still with me...?
You should be, because I know what works and what doesn’t. Facts are facts. Having Structure and Strategy in your life produces better results - fact!
I know this shit. I preach this shit. So why the fuck am I NOT DOING THIS SHIT??
Do as I say, not as I do...
So, my Monday morning looked more like this - Woke up 7.38am, made a coffee and headed back to bed, pissed about answering emails, bit of social media, made another coffee and headed back to bed, started writing a blog post, bit more social media and then attempted to drag my arse out of my warm bed at about 10.23am. I did a bit more work for another hour and then hit the gym by lunchtime. Exactly the time I normally try to avoid. My afternoon was a blur of jumping from one thing to another, making phone calls, getting distracted and becoming more and more accustomed to an early dinner. I blame working from home and the cold weather.
My evenings are no better. The enormity of everything I am juggling at the moment, what with my forthcoming adventure to India, existing commitments and all the training I am doing at the gym. I do find myself at times staring into the abyss. Not for lack of planning, far from it. That's part of what makes the scale of this expedition so daunting at times. I have everything planned out meticulously and it's clear how much work is needed.
Walking 2,500 miles has to be easier than all this planning?
What I'm finding is just how out of sync my daily routine is. In fact, at points over this last month or so, my routine has been completely non existent. Getting to bed in the early hours, only switching off from social media moments before, and failing to clear my head with meditation as I normally would. I have started and failed to finish the last 4 out of 5 books I have attempted to read. I wake up during the night and have a headful of ideas. Yes, I have a notepad to jot my ideas down. However, by the time I've finished I'm often wide awake.
At times I feel a shadow of my former self...or do I?
Well...no, I don't!
Because I'm still getting shit done. At least I think I am. In fact, I'm certain I am, because I have had so much traction with Create Your Own Adventure: India. I am getting things done but in a way that is a very alien to me. Different from how I’m used to working. I allow myself to write when I feel the urge to, not when I'm scheduled to. Sometimes I train first thing, and other times it's later in the day. I'm not a fan to be fair, but if I am training later in the day it's because I am being productive and getting shit done.
I think I have always maintained the corporate mentality when it comes to working form home. Start work as you would a normal office job, take a lunch break and keep a healthy work/life balance. At the time it worked for me. But I realise that maybe it doesn't work for me now. Without a doubt, I need to tighten up my regime. But more importantly it's about finding the balance. The penultimate sweet spot.
Times change, people change, but do you change?
My work has changed these days. I do much more writing and content creation, as opposed to coaching and consultancy. My creative prowess comes to me at different times of the day. When it comes I need to harness it with all my might and do, as I do. What serves us at one point in our lives might not serve us now. I'm not saying working in bed until half past ten on a Monday is acceptable, far from it. But I need to cut myself a little slack, as I’m still getting things, albeit in a different way to I’m used to.
I suppose the point I'm trying to get across is give something a go first and see how you get on. Try it out, get a feel for it and then look to incorporate into your daily routine as best as you can. More often or not, it’s the journey you end up learning from and not the arrival at the destination.
Remember done is better than perfect.