As lovely as vacation is, it always takes a while to get back into the organizational groove once I return.I've been home for two days now & still haven't unpacked, still haven't done laundry, still haven't gone grocery shopping or compiled my to-do list for the week. In a way it's kind of nice not to have the urgency but I know that if I keep procrastinating then urgency will turn into an emergency.
For the last 4 years I've been lucky enough to run my own business that allows me to create my own schedule (for the most part) but with this flexibility of schedule also comes lack of structure. This has proven to be somewhat detrimental to my former Type-A personality.
10 years ago I was a to-do list nerd... daily measuring success by how many items that were crossed off.
My present season couldn't be more different. Thank goodness!
And while I'm ecstatically happy with my career choice & with the freedom that comes with owning my own business, the discipline tends to wane quite drastically. And so does the productivity.
I'm always able to stay on top of my work & I have general structure in my day-to-day life, but I often feel like I'm not working to my fullest potential and that I burn out easily. I've already written about burn out & the revelation that it comes quickly if I don't schedule self-care, so that's already on the agenda during this season of my life.
But today as I was FINALLY filing my taxes (seriously guys, sometimes the procrastination is REALLY BAD) I realized that I could save myself a lot of stress (which in itself is self-care) if I was just a bit more disciplined. I mean, to-do lists aren't evil! It's just the measuring of my self-worth by the size of my to-do list that was silly.
As I think about what a deliciously disciplined day looks like, I envision the following things:
-Starting my day with quiet time, prayer/scripture journaling, or time in The Word.
-Setting aside plenty of time to cook a healthy breakfast... and actually sitting down at the kitchen table to eat it.
-Implementing at least an hour of self-care (reading, going for a stroll, hanging out at my favorite coffee shop)
-Scheduling in specific times for work - enough time each day that allows me to stay on top of my work and makes me feel entirely prepared for each client meeting, interview, & class.
-Setting boundaries in the form of office hours & sticking to them unless a client's call/email is urgent.
-Listening to my body & enjoying the flexibility that my job allows, giving in to the urge to nap, the urge to exercise, the urge to eat, the urge to sit in silence, or whatever else might arise.
-Limiting the time I spend online to work related things, with the exception of 1 hour to blog & 1 hour for social media.
-Going to bed by 11pm.
As I embrace this urge to create more structure & discipline in my life, I recognize that it will take some time. I also recognize that all of these things aren't guaranteed to happen every day... and that's ok. I can handle not experiencing an ideal day every day. That's part of the beauty of the flexibility of my job. But healthy rhythms are also beautiful and are truly what I need at this point in my life. Until now I've been searching for it outside of myself, but I know I have the ability to include these things in my life on a regular basis and that I'll be happier and less stressed because of it.
What is your ideally disciplined day? What changes can you begin to implement to make life more enjoyable and less stressful?
