The truth is, I’ve never been one to thrive within a strict routine. As a true Gemini through and through, I’m at my best when I’m able to cater to the fluctuations that my mind, body, and soul are craving at a given time. Having some sort of structure or general practice, however, is extremely important to my personal wellbeing.
Over the past year during the pandemic, I’ve been given complete free reign to begin and end my workday when I please, and I have not been the best about giving myself any sort of structure in my personal life. Sleeping in until the last minute and staying up on my phone until midnight, and working at a computer in the corner of my house for the 9 hours in between. Consider this post my accountability partner; I’m ready for an upgrade in the habits that I form before and after my 8-5.
My hope is that if I can lay out a variety of approachable, soul-nourishing activities and practices, this will allow some flexibility to customize the morning/evening ritual that makes sense day by day. We’re talking structure as a practice, but flexibility of choice. Some sort of practice is better than none at all.
I’ll start my day by choosing a few practices from the below:
- Read a page or two in my motivational book (currently reading You Are A Badass Everyday)
- Pinterest or Instagram for inspiration… I thrive on visual inspo
- Coffee (always)
- A small bite to eat; maybe a half a bagel, avocado, or some granola/nuts
- A walk around the neighborhood
- Mini yoga or stretch session not in my bedroom… get out of bed
- Meditate on front porch or in sunroom
- Walk/drive up the street to grab coffee and a pastry from local cafe
- Chug a jar of water… then fill up #2 to sip
I’ll close my day by choosing a few practices from the below:
- A walk with Tyler and Tofu
- Plan tomorrow’s outfit(s)
- Read a chapter or two in my fictional novel… (currently a sucker for the Paradise series by Elin Hilderbrand)
- Cook a meal that excites me… boring pasta doesn’t count
- Grab dinner out with a friend
- Garden work… planting, weeding, watering, or just checking up on each plant
- Personal biz work… blog, plan, photograph, schedule, brainstorm how to “level up” this area
- Watch some Youtube to be inspired
- Meditate on front porch or back patio
Maybe I will add to these lists as time goes on, but I think this is nice a starting point to select a few things that light my fire each day. Hopefully this sparks some inspiration for you as well; I don’t want to set unachievable goals and always try to be real, so trying to go from nothing to a full-blown rigorous routine just doesn’t feel approachable or realistic for me. I welcome you to comment if you do any of these things regularly, or if you have advice on how we could continue to evolve these practices. đź’›