Purpose Driven Days

We all need purpose in our day, whether we are working from home or are laid off. The first week of quarantine it was kind of fun to roll out of bed each morning and stay in your PJ’s all day but this is growing old now we are  almost 3 weeks in. Some are feeling depressed and purposeless. The best way to break off lethargy is to take action so I wanted to share some ideas that might help as we head into week #3. We all have things that we know need doing and the only way for them to get done is to make a plan.

Make Your Task List: 

What do you want or need to accomplish over the next 30 days? Create a plan with a timeline to get the jobs done. Projects can be huge projects or small but I recommend breaking the larger ones into bite size steps under the main task. This list is always changing as things get done and others get added. 

When coming up with a list here are a few examples and how to break them down:

  • Decluttering your house
    • Kitchen
      • Food Cupboards
      • Drawers
      • Other Cupboards
  • Cleaning the Eaves 
  • Prepping your garden for spring
    • Weeding the flower beds
    • Ordering Soil
    • Planting seedlings 

Just writing the list actually can give you the same feeling of accomplishment as actually doing them so we have to take action and make a plan for execution. 

Write out a Plan: 

I have given two examples below of ways you can put together a plan for successfully completing your tasks. 

 

  1.  Block Schedule

 

Here you set up each day/week in advance and plan your day. You run the day, not the other way around. Some of you may have things that  pop up at a moment’s notice that force flexibility but having a plan will help you get back on task if this occurs. 

With the block schedule, you’ll plan the priorities in time slots during the day such as the following example: 

7am- wake up

7:15-7:45am- shower, morning rituals, etc.

7:45-8:15am- breakfast, reading

8:15-9:30 am- Daily tasks

9:30-10:15- CFLT Body Weight Workout/Assigned Workout

10:30 -1pm- Clear the kitchen for painting 

1-1:30p- Lunch

1:30-4:30 pm – Task from your list

4:30-5:30 pm – Clean up and make dinner

Evening – games and family time (can be Zoom)

Once you have completed the tasks on your lists then you simply insert a new task in those time slots that you have allocated to doing them. 

  1. “To Do” List:

 

I use Google Calendar and the reminder functions for my task lists and this has helped me get things done but also reduced the amount of stress caused by worry that I might be forgetting something. 

  • If the tasks are big, break them down into bite sized pieces.
  • Create tasks that reoccur daily, weekly and monthly. 
  • Add tasks with a future date to prevent feeling overwhelmed.
  • Prioritize tasks by assigning to specific times during the day. 
  • Start the day with an easy task as that will break the inertia and “warm you up” for the harder action steps later on.
  • Items can be categorized as “all day” and get shifted to the next day if they don’t get done.
  • Enjoy the satisfaction of marking tasks complete. 
  • If you are in  the middle of a job and think of something completely unrelated that needs to be accomplished just pop it on the list for later and move on. 

Happy planning today and look forward to hearing how your week of action goes! 

Cheers,

Tracey