My Daily Rituals
One thing that I am hyper aware of is my ability to both overthink things and overextend myself. Once I would have called myself a recovering perfectionist, but after reading Katherine Morgan Schafler’s The Perfectionist's Guide to Losing Control I now know that my perfectionism is actually one of my superpowers. I have high standards. I want to accomplish big things. On the outside I know it often looks like I do not know how to relax, but I do, just in my own way.
This is what my perfect weekday looks like. Does this happen all of the time, definitely not, and it also shifts based on the seasons, but when I have these elements in my day, I’m less stress and more fulfilled.
Morning Coffee and Book
A few chapters of my book and a homemade latte are the best way to start the day.
On the best work days, I do not have to get up really early, which means I enjoy a cup of coffee at home and time reading my book. This can be anywhere from twenty minutes to an hour, but starting my day with my book just makes the whole day go better. When I am really on my game, I do not look at my phone until after I have had my coffee and read. I read in a book once that starting your day with something that is just for you can make a huge difference in your mental health. For me, that is reading a book. I read A LOT. I read every day. It’s a form of meditation for me and it is honestly one of the few times that my brain is not thinking about something else. Once my brain starts to wander, I usually start my day. Reading in the morning doesn’t always happen (sometimes I am dragging my butt out of bed to get to the climbing gym), but the times I do get to ease into the day are that much better.
Exercise
6 a.m. Climbing sessions.
Everybody says you should exercise regularly and I believe it. How I organize my day changes a lot based on when and how I am exercising. If I am climbing, I am up at 5:20am so that I can be at the gym by 6am. If I am riding my bike after work, then I get to sleep in a bit longer. Post-Covid, I also love an at home workout and sometimes I need something like yoga or a walk to the library on a rest day. My exercise routine also changes drastically with the seasons. In the winter, I spend more time in the gym, in summer, I am often commuting to work on my bike.
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Work Work
I have a day job, so work is usually 8-4pm or 7-4 if I am in the middle of summer-camp-organized-chaos. Things that make my work life easier:
Planning and packing my food. I bring all my own food. I am boring when it comes to breakfast and I pack oatmeal every single day. I no longer think about it and I try to prep my breakfasts for the whole week on Sunday.
Packing lunch and snacks. This is harder and usually depends on how organized I am with my grocery shopping. I have protein powder and probars at work for when I forget lunch, but ideally I’m packing an actual meal every day. I wish I was better at lunch meal prep, but I’m really not.
Packing my gym bag. I am 99% more likely to workout if I pack my clothes and choose my activity in advance. Before bed Jesse is always more motivated than leaving work Jesse. I will very rarely get home and then leave to go workout (bike ride, climb, etc.), so as much as possible, I try and pack my bag so I can workout before work or on my way home, unless I am looking forward to a home workout, like yoga.
Transition to Home
I try to have a way to transition to being home. Sometimes I am exercising after work and that transition time is easy. On days where I worked out in the morning, I’ll try to do things like walk to the library, read a book for 15 minutes, or even meditate if I am feeling really ambitious. Even ten minutes can help my brain and my body transition from the work day to being home. I also try to do this before diving into home tasks like cooking dinner, doing laundry, etc. If I am planning to do Art-Work after getting home, I try to take a break before jumping in. If I really need to decompress, I might watch an episode of a show or a movie.
Art-Work
I try to work on something art related every day, even if it is only fifteen minutes. I also try to have my shorter days when my schedule aligns with Vas’s. Working efficiently after working at my day job is an ongoing learning experience. The rhythm that I am trying to work on now is batching my content by week. So I might spend one week just painting and another week batching content (newsletters, blogs, etc.). On the weekends, I try to be a bit more flexible and work on what I am excited about. It's hard to balance pushing yourself to make forward progress with also giving yourself time to rest and recharge. Being creative is hard to do when you are tired - surprise! Some weeks I am better at this than others. One of my goals is to get to a place where I am working about a month ahead, so my paintings, my blog posts, etc. are all finished and scheduled a month in advance. I haven’t quite accomplished this yet, but my systems are getting a little better each day. I also keep reminding myself that slow progress is still progress. The time is going to pass either way. Sometimes, the schedule also gets taken over by something unique. For example starting in February and continuing through the end of April this year, I am taking Bonnie Christine’s Immersion course, which is a 10ish week intensive online course completely focused on learning Adobe Illustrator and surface pattern design. During this course, I am (trying) not to put too many other pressures on myself so I can get the most out of it.
Evening Transition
When I am trying to work on my art business, whether it is painting or working on the computer, my quitting time is 8:30pm. I started implementing this because I realized that there was a diminishing return after that time when my brain and my body are just tired. So by 8:30pm, I am wrapping up whatever tasks I am doing. More often than not, I am wrapping up closer to 8. If my brain is starting to wander or I am starting to think about tomorrow, that usually means that I am no longer being as productive, so I might as well stop. Once I am wrapped up, I try to spend 30 minutes just tidying up. Depending on the state of our apartment and the day of the week, this can include doing dishes, packing my gym bag for the morning, and figuring out my food for the next day or the best option, getting into bed early.
Bed by 9 and Evening Reading
I LOVE being in bed by nine and honestly even earlier sometimes. I try to be in bed by nine so that I am actually falling asleep by ten. Just like I start my day reading, I end my day reading. I might only last ten minutes because I am literally falling asleep holding my book. Other times I’m fidgety and it takes longer to wind down. Honestly I prioritize sleep. I can function on five or six hours of sleep, but I am happier with eight though I don’t usually manage that much.
As I said in the beginning, does this happen every week? Of course not. Sometimes life is hectic, I bring work frustrations home, or I get sucked into a book and go to bed too late. But these little things can help the day feel a little easier. You only get one life. What are your daily rituals or routines that help you feel good throughout the day?