Written by Odd Maile

Setting down the good habits.

A third of the third quarter of the year has come and gone and here we are. Here I am, actually getting some shit done.

I’m on my third week of this workout/burnout program and I feel a lot better – not heavy and achy, sometimes. I’ve also been getting up early, and by that, I mean somewhere between 3:48 am to 7:30 am. Hah. I think I’m averaging around 5 am, which is still pretty awesome. I don’t set an alarm. I just go to bed with the kids and fall asleep with them. I end up waking earlier because of this. I think I’m ok with 6-7 hours of sleep. I do get really sleepy during the day but I’ve been able to avoid napping.

Waking up in the morning has made me write more in my planner to plan what I’m going to do during the day, write my daily affirmations and things I’m thankful. It’s a good time. I also do free-writing of about 3-4 pages in my thoughts notebook.

I also have a notes notebook for anything I want to write down during the day. Then I have the Full Focus Planner where I list all my planned tasks for the day, stuff I’m thankful for, and my affirmations. In this planner, I also have my major goals for the year/quarter and planned weekly projects/tasks that I try to review daily so I get to finish them throughout the week. I fill this one out in the morning when I first wake up.

I can’t make up my mind between a paper planner and an app on my phone. I use Things on my phone where I usually brain dump all the tasks/projects that enter my head during the day or night. It’s a fast way for me to take note of them but I haven’t been good about reviewing the list and scheduling the tasks so I am reminded to do them. It’s tough. My day goes by so fast with the kids that I feel very good when I get a few tasks checked off on my list.

Every week is a chance to improve and I think I’ve crawled a little forward this past month. I think what’s most important is I’ve been able to get up early and stick to my daily workout no matter what time it is during the day. I’ll even workout after eating, I don’t care. I just gotta get my exercise in!