The Good Habit Plan

This post is a little wordy, yes, but its a good update on my journey from a professional procrastinator to being a motivated person...

THE IDEA:

I thought of this crazy Idea one day that I am going to change all my habits to good ones and add some new habits.  What a distraction bad habits can be.  Sometimes you’re so busy being distracted by the things that you should do for yourself that you don’t think of the things you should do for others.  Things like “I really need to eat more fiber”  “I should do some sit ups”  “I should read that book that’s been on my nightstand for 8 months”  can consume the day, so I’m making a plan to get my life on track so that I’m at my best, more focused, and always ready for any new opportunity. 

THE PLAN:

“Fix” my life in a few areas:

• Physically: Nutrition/Exercise
• Mentally: Reading/Creativity/Food
• Organizationally: Home/Finances/”To Dos”/Morning Routine
• Spiritually: Devotional/God Time/Day of Rest

I’ve been doing this a month so far and I have to say it feels amazing!  (see below for what Im actually doing) I’m still struggling with a couple of the habits (cardio exercise of course is a hard one), but I am slowly integrating them all into my life.  Most of the habits weren’t as hard  as I had made them out to be in my mind, I just had to think to myself that my new way of doing things was the only way, not to rationalize with myself why its ok to be lazy, I was just gonna do it.

THE MOTIVATION:

Part of my motivation is my very motivated husband, anything on his “to do list” is done before anything else… always.  Sometimes it’s annoying because I want to be lazy and it’s hard to be around someone as driven as him.  One thing that got me thinking about changing is that when he is done he can truly relax.  Instead of going over and over in his head the things he should do, he has done them.

My other motivation is to do something better with my life, to not be so complacent.  How easy it is to get sucked into a lazy routine of doing the bare minimum.  I want to be more driven and have myself on track so that I can be more motivated to try new things, say “Yes” to a new opportunity, and to make it a goal to serve others.  Mostly, to be intentional about it.

BREAKDOWN OF THE PLAN

These things made such an impact already and I’ve only been doing it for about a month, and have stuck to it!   I figured Id share it since it has made sunch a big impact.  I basically created overly structured times so that all of my other time can be completely free.  I structured my morning, one weekday evening, and a once a month planning session.  This freed up my evenings and weekends (Which is AWESOME!) and I now can say that Im: a cook, I read, Im healthy, Im (getting) fit, Im motivated, Im all caught up and organized, Im growing with God, Im a better wife and a better "me" and Im at peace and happy.

Cleaning/To Do Day (Once a Week):

Cut down on the burden of To Do errands by doing them all in one night.

• Go Food Shopping (One night a week)
• Run any Shopping or Library errands
• Clean the whole house (mop/sweep/vacuum/dust/clean out fridge)
• Do Laundry
• Pick out the entire next work week of clothes

It makes it feel like you have less to do when you have one planned day for it.  I only do this one day a week after work.   This is truly a proactive plan, I plan for my “To Do”s before they are even on my list.  Planning has become freeing.

A Morning Routine:

My Morning is structured so my Evenings never need to be.

• Wake up early (over an hour before I have to leave for work)
• Grab one of the outfits I’ve already picked for the week (huge morning time saver)
• Make the bed (this one is entirely because of my husband)
• Devotional Time
• Prayer Time
• Morning Stretches and Workout: abs/arms or legs
• Straighten up the House
• Sit down for a calming breakfast

This was a BIG BIG life changer: It made me more focused on God, my body feels better, My evenings are more free, and I feel accomplished before I even start my day.

Monthly Planning:

The Food Plan

I now plan out the entire month’s meals, pick out new recipes, make a list of groceries (that will last all month) and a weekly list of more perishable groceries.  I do one huge food shopping trip at the beginning of the month and then I only have to do quick ones once a week for quickly perishable items.  Since I plan the meals ahead of time I’ve been more creative and healthy in cooking new recipes, Im not just going to what is quick and convenient.  It’s so much fun trying out new recipes and it makes me really feel like a cook!

A Healthy Body:

Stretching and Strength: I do this in the Morning Routine (10-15min)

Cardio: This is my only to do for the evenings, since Ive got everything else done I don’t really have an excuse not to do it, but honestly this is where I still struggle.  My goal is to do cardio every other night.  Since I do the morning quick workouts I still feel good even when its an off (Lazy) night.

What I am eating: I eat certain things from Breakfast to Lunch on Weekdays,  this allows me to feel ok about eating whatever on evenings and weekends.  And the truth is that if you strive to eat healthy (and stick to it) for a certain portion of your day you end up naturally gravitating toward eating healthy food at the other times.  I also make sure I: Drink ~60 oz of liquid before dinner, keep my metabolism up, and eat a balanced diet.

Every M-F I eat every 2 hrs:

                Toast/Eggo/or Cereal (carb energy)

                Coffee & Prune (metabolism jumpstart, fiber, and antioxidants)

                Yogurt (Calcium and those active cultures)

                Soup and /or Salad (low carb, veggies, fiber, and vitamins)

                Hot Cocoa (satisfies sugar craving and calcium)

                Snack (carb energy)

                Green Tea with Honey (antioxidants… and whatever good things are in it)

Misc. Other Changes:

Finances: this Russ and I started doing when we got married, we have a monthly budget and a Expenses & Income spreadsheet that gets updated daily.  This has not only given us good visibility on our financial state, but is more so a great motivation, when you are constantly looking at where you are reminded of where you need to be.

Reading: Ive always wanted to be more of a reader.  It is such a fun way to learn without realizing it.  Since Ive been out of college for a few years I feel like… well.. Im getting dumber.  So I started reading on my lunch break.  It is a perfect break to the workday and it never feels like a burden to fit it into my schedule.  and I dont feel quite as "dumb"

Misc. Errands That Pop Up: I do them always on my lunch break, if not then I will do it on my cleaning day.  This way my evenings and weekends are still free!

Being Creative: I want to start drawing, painting, or being crafty.  This is my last habit to work on implementing.  Im working on the cardio then I’ll try to add this one in as the last piece to my plan.  I don’t have any sort of guidelines on how often, just to occasionally do something creative… I can’t remember the last time I’ve been, so anything is a step up from what Im doing now

Day of Rest:

I want to have Sunday be what it should be, a day of rest and reflection.  God knew and said we’d need it, and I do, so I should probably follow that plan.

So that’s my plan… and the journey Ive been on the past month or so... and now Im just trying to be open to whatever opportunities that God throws my way or I stumble into.   I don’t know why I never did any of these things before; the structure has been the most freeing thing… how ironic