I’ve felt this way for some time now. I’ve always had so many ideas and my mind has always claimed that I don’t have enough time. Yet, the evidence of my life thus far shows that I’ve had ample time. I just don’t know what I’m waiting on. It’s a repeating cycle. I start off great at the start of the year or month with a plan and then things (work) use up my energy stores and to cope I binge watch shows on Netflix or spend my time scrolling through Instagram and YouTube. Then inspiration comes knocking again or I see someone else going after the things that I want to do and the cycle repeats itself.
Consistency is my biggest obstacle. Is it that I have too much on my plate to manage? Maybe I need to assess the importance of everything that’s on the plate in the first place.
What I do know is that if my daily actions continue at it’s current trajectory, I won’t achieve anything. And what’s the point of this existence if not to pursue my curiosities?
Assessing where I am currently
Prior to one week ago, I was exercising consistently by walking/running outdoors. That isn’t happening anymore due to Trinidad’s current state of emergency and COVID-19 restrictions which have resulted in a ban on outdoor exercise. In short, I need to exercise at home. Preferably in the morning right after waking up so that I don’t allow myself any time for excuses and feelings to creep in.
A typical day in my life as of Thur 20/5/21:
- Wake up
- Prepare breakfast
- Work
- Decompress from working by: re-watching Modern Family or RPDR on Netflix and then consuming content on YouTube, Instagram & Medium.
- Sleep
- Repeat
On an ideal day, I would be able to complete all of these habits. However, since I started using TickTick about 1 month ago, I’ve really only been consistent with exercise, stretching, spanish, dental hygiene and skincare.
I think that if I’m being honest with myself, there are too many habits here for me to consistently do on a daily basis. I need to pick out the essentials and disregard the rest for now.
Assessing where I want to be
Health
- Fitness: 10 lb weight loss, increased strength, lean physique
- Diet: eliminate sugar addiction, healthier meals
- Mind: meditate daily
Creativity
- Personal Blog: 1 blog post daily
- Notion/Digital Systems Blog: 1 post weekly, 1 template weekly
- Read: daily
- Journal: create weekly
Work
- Keep clinical knowledge & practice up to date – study
Assessing the obstacles
Netflix – delete app from phone and iPad; sign out on laptop
YouTube – maximum 30 minutes daily, only consume after creating
Instagram & Twitter – maximum 15 minutes daily, only consume after creating
Plan
- Implement a daily system that removes most of the friction associated with achieving daily tasks consistently. This is a process that will need to be tweaked and adjusted on a regular basis based on daily experience.
- Time-block and plan the week from Sunday. Review and tweak daily.
- Aim for seamless morning and evening routines.
- Optimize personal productivity system.
Last thoughts
Writing this journal entry has helped me to articulate what I’m experiencing currently and to implement a plan moving forward.
I have time-blocked the day tomorrow and will be working on streamlining my morning and evening routines as the days go by.
Let’s see how I go tomorrow.
On my way to being unstuck,
Renee.