Some thoughts about evening routines
I'm a fan of habit chains. I've developed a reasonable morning routine that - when I work it - it works. It includes Duolingo and Noom, meditation and yoga, tooth brushing and time for exercise (although that last step is where things start to go awry.) It rarely includes time for blogging or writing (unless it's a week-end), though.
I mostly get enough sleep these days. I've set up my life so I don't need to work an evening shift anymore (although I did for nearly 30 years!) The kids are grown. The business has grown to include employees who expect to have nights off.
My free time after 8 pm has been filled with chaff. I'm binge-watching TV, spending time doom-scrolling on social, sometimes doing a class or reading a book.
What I think I'd like to do is to get some structure to my 8 to 10:30 timeframe.
It ends at 10:30 with lights out, so I'm in bed reading something by 10:15.
Working backwards, I want to tie up loose ends for the next day - a "to do" list at my bedside table would be helpful to dump those thoughts onto so I don't ruminate. I could climb into bed at 10:00 and use a clipboard with my weekly calendar printed each week and I use that (and a clipboard) for my nighttime notes (as I need to review my next day's activities when planning my to do list and food.)
I need to unplug at some point, and I also want to fit in more resistance training. I could swap the yoga into the end of the day and do the resistance training in the morning, instead. But what's going to get me to get up and go do yoga? I can do yoga in my nightgown (usually do, in fact.) Could it be at 9:30 that I head upstairs to do take off work clothes and do some yoga? What *TRIGGERS* me getting up at 9:30 to go upstairs?!? Maybe mediating with B, so we have that touchpoint in the day?
I'd like to do more work on my course. I have to figure out where to put filming a youtube channel into my life. Does that go at 8 pm? I get up from dinner and go put on makeup and film in the dark? That doesn't make sense. I'd be better off carving out some Saturday or Sunday noons for that. No, I can use 8 pm to work on my writing.
But what TRIGGERS this? Can I get up from dinner (we tend to eat from 7 to 8) and go write for a while and then stop writing at 9:30? What's the natural rhythm of this?
I need to figure out what triggers to hang this habit chain on.
Anyone have any ideas?
Going in the other direction: dinner is over and I head over to my laptop to dump the thoughts of the day and/or work on course-building / book writing. It's 8 pm. I have an alarm go off?
It's 9:30 pm and the alarm I've had for five years goes off saying it's time to go upstairs to bed. Improbably, I actually obey it for the first time in my life?
Is this a matter of selling myself on this? I want to get more sleep so I bring my full self to the day. (But I get enough sleep.) I want to get upstairs so I can get my yoga in to preserve my ability to move as a human on this planet. Yes, that's compelling. I want to get upstairs so I can read for a bit - I usually but not always do this and it's rewarding to me. Rewarding is an important part of a habit chain, that's good to remember.
I've never gone from dinner to my writing desk before. I've always written in the mornings or after walking the dog. I like 10 am or 4 pm. Why not 8 pm? Am I so bushed that all I can do is binge-watch TV and/or deaden my brain with social media? I think I've still got energy, particularly if I get to bed at a decent hour.
Anyone have any good triggers they use?
I mostly get enough sleep these days. I've set up my life so I don't need to work an evening shift anymore (although I did for nearly 30 years!) The kids are grown. The business has grown to include employees who expect to have nights off.
My free time after 8 pm has been filled with chaff. I'm binge-watching TV, spending time doom-scrolling on social, sometimes doing a class or reading a book.
What I think I'd like to do is to get some structure to my 8 to 10:30 timeframe.
It ends at 10:30 with lights out, so I'm in bed reading something by 10:15.
Working backwards, I want to tie up loose ends for the next day - a "to do" list at my bedside table would be helpful to dump those thoughts onto so I don't ruminate. I could climb into bed at 10:00 and use a clipboard with my weekly calendar printed each week and I use that (and a clipboard) for my nighttime notes (as I need to review my next day's activities when planning my to do list and food.)
I need to unplug at some point, and I also want to fit in more resistance training. I could swap the yoga into the end of the day and do the resistance training in the morning, instead. But what's going to get me to get up and go do yoga? I can do yoga in my nightgown (usually do, in fact.) Could it be at 9:30 that I head upstairs to do take off work clothes and do some yoga? What *TRIGGERS* me getting up at 9:30 to go upstairs?!? Maybe mediating with B, so we have that touchpoint in the day?
I'd like to do more work on my course. I have to figure out where to put filming a youtube channel into my life. Does that go at 8 pm? I get up from dinner and go put on makeup and film in the dark? That doesn't make sense. I'd be better off carving out some Saturday or Sunday noons for that. No, I can use 8 pm to work on my writing.
But what TRIGGERS this? Can I get up from dinner (we tend to eat from 7 to 8) and go write for a while and then stop writing at 9:30? What's the natural rhythm of this?
I need to figure out what triggers to hang this habit chain on.
Anyone have any ideas?
Going in the other direction: dinner is over and I head over to my laptop to dump the thoughts of the day and/or work on course-building / book writing. It's 8 pm. I have an alarm go off?
It's 9:30 pm and the alarm I've had for five years goes off saying it's time to go upstairs to bed. Improbably, I actually obey it for the first time in my life?
Is this a matter of selling myself on this? I want to get more sleep so I bring my full self to the day. (But I get enough sleep.) I want to get upstairs so I can get my yoga in to preserve my ability to move as a human on this planet. Yes, that's compelling. I want to get upstairs so I can read for a bit - I usually but not always do this and it's rewarding to me. Rewarding is an important part of a habit chain, that's good to remember.
I've never gone from dinner to my writing desk before. I've always written in the mornings or after walking the dog. I like 10 am or 4 pm. Why not 8 pm? Am I so bushed that all I can do is binge-watch TV and/or deaden my brain with social media? I think I've still got energy, particularly if I get to bed at a decent hour.
Anyone have any good triggers they use?