#57 How I stay sane when routine goes to shit

So 1 month ago, little Fin came along and took a massive sht on my routine,
then he spewed on it,
then peed on it,
then I cleaned it off,
and he sht on it again…

This has been the biggest challenge for me,
As an introvert I don’t do well with chaos.

I no longer have predictability.
Every day is different,
There’s random strangers turning up at the door, stuff you have to do everyday, unexpected hospital visits etc.

Trying to force a schedule around a baby would be absurd.
So instead I focus on just x3 key habits for self-care

• Exercise
• Order my consciousness
• Sleep

So here’s how I’m staying on top of these x3 things,
when I only working have 3 hours of work a day.

A lot of people say the hardest bit is that your life changes so dramatically.
I can handle lack of sleep, stress, and bodily fluids is all good
but lack of routine is something I struggle with,
As I find myself switching between tasks constantly and context switching every 5 mins.

So instead I try to do the same things every day,
Even if I can’t do them at the same time every day.

In practice, consistency is about being adaptable. Don’t have much time? Scale it down. Don’t have much energy? Do the easy version. Find different ways to show up depending on the circumstances. Let your habits change shape to meet the demands of the day. Adaptability is the way of consistency.”
James clear

Routine is very important to me.
For the last 3 years I’ve been carefully honing and perfecting my ideal schedule design for solopreneuring
And cultivating powerful morning routines
For consistent focus and productivity

I boil any little success I’ve had down to repeating these x6 activities every.

• ‍ Exercise
• Walk + Think
• Deep work when energised
• Shallow work when tired
• Rest
• Reflection
• Education instead of entertainment

I’d optimized my workweek down which was pretty dialed in, averaging 20k/m across a 24hr workweek
But no more!

My daily deep Work timeblock used to contain lofty todos such as:

• “Rewrite sales page lead magnet”
• “Automate enquiry form => sales funnel”
• “Hire someone for out of hours web support”

This week, it’s a little more modest:

• catch up on emails
• Shower
• Poo

I just don’t have time anymore for my highly optimized solopreneur routine.
In fact, the only part of my day I have reasonable control over now, is the 30 mins before I go to bed.
So every night (or morning) from 2am I row for 5 minutes on max difficulty,
I meditate for 10minutes (I use Headspace app)
and journal for 5 minutes (this could be another articles my journal template)

Then I crawl into bed, pull the covers over my bed and try to catch some shuteye before I embrace the chaos of the next day.
This is my 3 most important self-care activities, condensed into a half hour block.

Fallback Habits

If you no longer have the time for the ideal routine,
tick off the smallest version of that habit you can do.

Making a choice that is 1 percent better or 1 percent worse seems insignificant in the moment, but over the span of moments that make up a lifetime these choices determine the difference between who you are and who you could be. Success is the product of daily habits—not once-in-a-lifetime transformations.
– James Clear

Certainly, my finely honed routine and schedule is kapoot.

When things go to shit, bend your schedule rather than break it
Checking them off is more important than doing it perfect

The full version of the habit can be “cheated” into the smallest version of itself:
Instead of a 30 min workout I do a 5min row while baby naps.
Instead of a leisurely walk with doggo I’ll blast a sprint around the field between feeds.
Instead of reading I listen to my backlog of audio books whilst watching him

Let go of getting it all done

Being a dad is tough, but manageable.
It’s all the other life stuff that gets in the way.
The other day we were leaving for a clinic appointment then a window pane in the lean-to collapses and let’s in water
When am I supposed to fix it, between hourly feeding sessions, sleep, healthcare visits and a yellow weather warning?

In the age of convenience, automation, AI and delivered-to-door apps, somehow we’re all so busy
That we don’t have time to look after ourselves, nevermind kids

That’s the stressful bit.
I don’t mind saying it worries me a bit.
I think there’s this expectation that your supposed to just fit a baby in around all your other stuff.

But these days 24hrs is hardly enough to even fit in your life admin.
The rest of your life basically goes on it’s arse indefinitely.

It seems ok at first but then
All that housework starts to mount up,
The lack of maintenance means things starts to decay and fester.

The only way I find to deal with this is to let all those
minor admin tasks become truly unimportant and fall away.
What’s the worst that will happen if they don’t get done?

The only true productivity hack is doing less
So I try to use the 80\20 rule
To only do stuff that will move the needle
It’s naturally harder to prioritize when you have lots of free time.
Once your hand is forced,
Your options narrowed
You have to choose what to do

Ticking off the habit is more important than nailing it

The thing about setting goals and targets…
Targets are just something you aim at.
It’s the target practice that counts

Graphic from Wisdom Made Easy

A good routine should be consistent.
Consistency is predictable, which gives us a measure of calm, and a sense of achievement in our lives.
But consistency can be flexible.
Habits are more important than a perfect schedule
The important thing is ticking the habit off every day.

If you want to start getting more consistent, here’s the system I use:

Steal my complete template for daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual reviews

Subscribe for instant access to my x5 part solopreneur checkin system..

Email

Join