Daily Integrity or How I Have a Gr-r-reat Day
This post originally appeared on my now-defunct personal blog It’s Only 365 Days in November 2015. The concept is still 100% true while the actions and behaviors have changed. I will call these routines 1.0 and share the 2.0 routines soon!
While I worked in WA, my program closed and I spend 10 months being a homemaker. I found that I was busy all day long while home and could fill my time quite productively. Following that season, I transitioned to an in-home supervision position and was creating a program from scratch. Any work not face-to-face with a client was done from my home. The transition away from working primarily out of or from home would be an adjustment.
When I transitioned back to the external workforce, there were days our home life suffered greatly and other days where it simply excelled. I couldn’t figure out what was the difference until there were several great days in a row. Finally, I wrote down all the things that happened or I got done that I credited to it being a great day. What do you know, those things were the same as the previous several days.
When I wrote these all out, it seemed that getting these bare minimum tasks completed helped the day go smoother and kept our house in line.
Morning Routine 1.0
In the morning, since I typically start later than C but wake up earlier, I am up to make coffee and smoothie breakfast. While I am preparing those, I am unloading the dishwasher and putting away dishes. In this same half-hour, I pick up our living room and check on any laundry. This is when I will put a load into the washer set to finish right when I will be getting home.
Daily Work Routine
As soon as I sit down to work (sometimes beforehand) I will make a to-do list for the day. While making my to-do list, a recent intervention included adding time limits to my tasks. This has helped with getting more done throughout the day, working smarter, and I complete more varied tasks.
After the list, I check my email – this is a recent addition to my list. I had been absentmindedly checking email – and respond to critical items such as returning a signed document, etc. Following this, I simply read and respond to my emails, keeping a tally as I do, including writing any necessary emails.
While working through my list I may keep a running list on the back of things I want to blog about, talk to C about or get done later. These are items that may interfere with my productivity at the moment and don’t need to be attended to right then. I also keep a running prep of tomorrow’s list of To-Do’s
At the end of the workday or work period, I complete a timesheet. While I also log my time in my planner in semi-real time, I also need to keep my timesheets up to date daily. They are due at the end of the week – or by 8 am Monday at the latest and it is so much more relaxing to have them all together and ready to scan and send as soon as I can.
Ending on-time is something that is really a critical feature of my day going smoothly. Sometimes this is as easy as setting a realistic time to be done for the day – maybe I have a lot to do that afternoon and I need to work at the office until 5:30. Knowing how late I’m staying helps give the day a discrete period. In addition, if I am at a client’s home for a session, I need to plan accordingly to how long the parent and I will talk as well as the commute time. These homes are often 45 or more minutes away without traffic. Over quoting myself on how long the drive or traffic will be often keeps me much calmer on the drive home and I am far more pleasant when I get home.
Evening Routine 1.0
In the evening, I try to have time to make dinner, clean-up, work on a quilting project or two as well as spend some time blogging. This means I need to streamline my structured time as much as possible. Currently, my only critical evening tasks are to set out my clothes, check my schedule for the next day, pack my bag and figure out our meal plan for the next day.
Once I was able to figure out what made the days successful through an ABC analysis, I was able to set my household up for success with antecedent modifications. This also helped everyone with accountability!