“Your life is the by-product of your lifestyle. By life I mean your experience of the human condition, and by lifestyle I mean the rhythms and routines that make up your day-to-day existence. The way you organize your time. Spend your money.
There is a saying in business literature that I love: “Every system is perfectly designed to get the results it gets”. Usually this is applied to widgets and the bottom line, but I love it for life as a whole.“
John Mark Comer, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry
Does your schedule look anything like this?
6:30- Wake up
6:40-6:55- Catch up on news/social media
6:55-7:30- Frantically get yourself and kids ready for work and school/daycare/ or the day at home.
7:30-8:00- Drive to work/drop off kids/kids in car, check text message during red lights
8:00-12:00 Work or activities with kids
12:00-1:00- Lunch at work or at home- catch up on e-mails and texts
1:00-5:00- Work/activities with kids/chores at home
5:30- Drive home, check phone during red lights
5:30-6:00-Run through a drive through, didn’t have time to make a healthy dinner
6:00-7:00 -Quickly finish chores
7:00-7:45- Social Media, e-mails, news, get kids to bed
8:00-10:00-Netflix your favorite show or watch the news
Wake up and Repeat
We are all living our lives at a million miles a minute and I would wager that the majority of us aren’t taking much, if any, time for ourselves.
Our lives are ran by our phones, we are constantly connected! We are conditioned to be perpetually checking for beeps, rings, and dings, nonstop throughout the day.
Because we live extremely distracted lives it causes us to miss out on the simple things in life, which in turn causes us to be irritable, burnt out, and stressed.
A prime example is sitting at a red light. So many people immediately take out their phones and start catching up on text messages. What about taking a minute to take a deep breath, a moment of quiet, and look at your surroundings.
For many of us, any down time we have is spent on our phones or watching TV.
I am constantly working on minimizing how much time I spend on my phone. But once you become aware of the addiction, and you are focused on how much you are checking your phone, you can make changes for the better and begin focusing more on habits that are fulfilling to you.
I know some of you may be stay-at-home moms, some of you might going into the office, some working from home, but the schedule above is a little example of a “typical” day for many people.
The major thing I want you to reflect on is what you do during your “down time”.
Moments where you can take a deep breath, moments where you can have a moment to yourself. Many times, that little device you hold in your hand is the center of your focus, and your sweet-self that needs some real self-care time is not getting it because of constant dings, beeps, buzz’s, and rings.
I Don’t Have Time For Myself
“I don’t have time to workout”, “I don’t have time to journal”, or “I don’t have time to pray”.
I know you are busy! I certainly am not trying to take away from that. But here is the thing, everyone is busy.
There is not one person in this world who will tell you they are not busy. That’s the problem, everyone is too busy to even take care of themselves. That’s why you are feeling irritable, stressed, and distressed!
But what is a major problem of why people feel SO overwhelmed? Phones are a major cause of our busyness! “A 2019 survey by global tech care company Asurion found that on average, Americans check their phones 96 times a day, meaning once every 10 minutes” (dailyvoice).
You guys, this is not good for us!
Often times, people who try to spend time in quiet, or take a relaxing bath, or spend some time in prayer, can’t ever relax because they are worried about a missed message on their phone. No wonder we are irritable!
A majority of people spend very minimal time in quiet(if any), whether its journaling, taking a quiet bath, taking a quiet walk in nature, or reading a book.
Sometimes I Purposefully Lose my Phone
I like to leave my phone in my car for hours on end, sometimes for an evening, sometimes longer. It works much better for me than just putting in on silent. Because often, if it’s in the same room as me, I will check it, sometimes without even thinking.
Whoever is trying to message you, call you, those social media updates, or the news updates, it can wait. Because taking care of yourself is what is most important.
I often try to only allow myself to use the phone if I am needing to do something productive on it, like paying a bill, messaging or calling family/friends, or working on my website.
I get it, you’re going to need to have the phone around, but this is all about being aware of how often you check your phone and planning time around your schedule for you.
Less Stress, More Rest
In my opinion, the amount of time for yourself all stems back to your phone, or TV, or other distractions and how can you rearrange your schedule to make time for what matters most like family time, sleep, and you time.
If you can limit the amount of time spend on your phone or watching TV, replace that usual time spent on technology with you time and family time, you will find yourself feeling less stressed and irritable. I promise!
Focus on Your Morning Routine and Evening Routine
Ok, no excuses saying you are not a morning person. I am the queen of sleep. I used to sleep till noon on the weekends before kids.
Now, because I was committed and consistent, I am a morning person!
You can make it happen. Just make sure you go to bed early enough the night before to get up early.
And another huge tip, be consistent! No matter what day of the week it is, get up at the same time. Before you know it, you won’t even need an alarm clock, you will just wake up.
The other tip that has helped me is to allow myself 20-30 minutes to look at social media or the news or whatever I want to look at but keep it at a minimum. That way I don’t find myself unconsciously scrolling through my phone.
So Let’s Look at a Revised Schedule:
5:30-6:15- Quiet time, prayer time, meditation time; This is for YOU! No phones allowed in the same room.
6:15-6:45- Work out, move, take a walk, with no phones
6:45-7:30- Get ready for the day, eat a healthy breakfast, check out my morning smoothie recipe here. This recipe takes about 5 minutes to make.
7:30-8:00- Drive to work, focus on being present in the car, even during red lights!
8:00-12:00-Work or activities with kids
12:00-1:00- Lunch at work or at home- catch up on e-mails, texts, calls
1:00-5:00- Work/activities with kids/chores at home
5:30- Drive home, again focus on being present and aware in the car
5:30-6:00-Make a healthy dinner, hey do you check out my meal plans under my motherhood tab? They are all under 30 minutes! Click the link to check one out!
6:00-7:00 -Eat with your family, being present and aware, chores etc…
7:00-7:20- Catch up on messages, calls, social media etc…
7:20-8:00- Get kids ready for bed, books, special time together
8:00-9:00- Take a bath, read a book, journal, screens off at least an hour before bed
9:30- Lights out
Obviously you will have change parts of this schedule to make sure this works for you. The biggest thing is to utilize the early morning and the late evenings to dedicate to you and your family.
Awareness is a key ingredient in success. If you have it, teach it, if you lack it, seek it.”
Michael Kitson
Let’s Wrap It Up!
I promise you, this will be life changing. You will feel like a new person after testing at this schedule. Just give it a try, even if it’s just for a few days a week. You will have more energy and you will be the furthest thing from stressed and irritable. You will feel as if you truly did, seize the day!
It’s all about being fully aware in what you are doing, enjoying the present moment, and utilizing your time in ways that are fulfilling to you.
Hey guys, you’ve only got one life to live, let’s do this!
Hope this helps you implement fulfilling habits into your everyday schedule to help you feel your very best!
Talk soon,
Merrick
Check out my post, 4 Christian Books + Devotionals I’m Loving, for some reading material ideas.
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