My entire life has changed after baby.
Once I was a highly optimized solopreneur,
Now, a dishevelled moosh.
I spent years designing a highly optimized routine like an addiction and now I crave all my daily habits.
Instead of crisps and chocolate I crave some quiet time to sit and read, or a slow lone walk to order my thoughts.
But although my routine may have been chipped away, but it survives and adapts.
Micro-versions of my old habits have emerged in the chaos, and I’m using a cut-down version of my routine to make a 4 hour workday (mostly) stick.
Instead of a 30 min workout in the morning I do 5 mins of rowing at 3am when I’m on babywatch.
Instead of daily reading, I’ll listen to an audiobook whilst cleaning bottles.
When I don’t have time to write, I’ll do a braindump instead.
My new mini-routine is keeping me sane, I think without these small nods to normalcy i’d probably go mad.
The thing about routines though?
It’s easy to ditch them when things are good:
You don’t need the dentist while your teeth are good.
But brushing your teeth everyday means you’ll never need the dentist either.
When the unexpected happens, or when things get tough,
A well-built routine makes the difference between stress and chaos on one hand and keeping your shit together on the other.
You see those people that look like insanos,
the power couple who have 2 kids and still somehow find time to go to the gym?
That’s the payoff of maintaining good habits.
And it’s a self fulfilling loop:
Like anything great it takes time, and effort,
and I know I slip, and I won’t keep up the routine everyday.
But I also know when you set out to design your lifestyle,
A good routine takes a long time to take root.
Routine,
becomes habit,
becomes a lifestyle,
becomes part of your identity .
So start building up your dam, one day at a time.
How to spot the difference between fake leisure and real leisure
Do you have less energy or more energy after doing it?
Your daily routine is a multiplier.
Bad habits = chaotic life
A good day = a good life
Your “life” is the foundation you build you business on
So design your routine,
Stick to it every day.
A good routine is how you live a good life
I spend all day manipulating myself
“do x1 press up then you can stop
“work for 10mins, then you can play games
“You don’t even like crisps
“You’ll deal with this
Mental gymnastics get you through,
When willpower fails.
Good (or bad) habits
=
A good (or bad) life
This week I hit a major crisis of clarity.
I’ve made some quick wins, but my momentum has halted as I hit the hump.
I was feeling like I’d lost my way.
All week I sat at my computer, distracting myself with busiwork,
but not knowing what to work on.
Listening to a chapter of Dan Koe’s Art of Focus brought me clarity.
I opened it at random and just so happened to land on a chapter specifically about hitting the hump in any endeavour.
I realised the problem I was struggling with was not having too many tasks, the problem was I had no clarity.
I didn’t have anything to guide my focus and so my efforts all felt random.
Without clarity, I was trying to work on everything that came my way.
I was struggling mentally because my skills hadn’t yet developed to the point where I’m ready.
Which means I’m not getting the results I want.
Which is normal.
My anxiety was coming from the fact I was resorting to seeking new activities,
cramming my day with admin and busiwork,
Instead of just recommitting to the things that work.
I just need to stay the course and keep doing the right things every day.
As soon as I realised this I felt a wave of relief and joy washing over me.
I was already in the right place doing the right things.
I just need to keep doing it for a few more years haha.
Most stress is not caused by a lack of time or lack of skills, stress is caused by lack of clarity.
Now the path was clear.
I had moved away from my schedule so I was opening myself to choices.
Which was allowing lots of random non-needle moving tasks into my day.
So I set aside an hour,
I sat down and redesigned my schedule a bit as I have to get back to doing the same things every day.
My schedule gives me clarity on what I *should* be doing instead of what I *could* be doing. Follow the process.
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