There was a time when a nightly review routine was avidly at play in my life.

While being a student, an interpreter, a teacher. There is an element of preparedness that goes beyond getting to bed on time.

Pack the lunch, review the weather, pick the outfit, review the schedule etc.
Somewhere along the lines, I stopped doing it.

Maybe because I equated it with teaching or being a student?
Maybe because when you create from your own home office, you are used to staying accountable in the moment and reviewing tomorrow's task doesn't seem necessary.

Recently, I have begun doing it again, although this time with a different goal in mind.

Reviewing the day I have had and lightly reviewing the one to come.

Look over the tasks accomplished (both personal and professional) through journaling, document thoughts, record what is being tracked (habits, etc.), review the next day and its already scheduled meetings, appointments, tasks etc., check the weather.

This simple nighttime task, although not always done, changes the day ahead.
It seems like a small thing to do, but it shifts the energy and creates space for what is to come in my own mind.

A clearing of the clutter, a vacuum of the dust bunnies, a spray of lavender to lay down, close one's eyes and truly relax until they open again, and it's time to take on a new day in that new headspace of mine.

White Point Beach Resort | An Autumn Cottage Weekend

*as I post this, I recognize our province could announce a second lockdown at any moment. That being said, there are skills and a renewing of the mind that has occured, that even if that has to happen, we are better equipped to handle what it means to create a rhythm inside the home.

March 2020 was a month none of us will forget.

For some, the worldwide pandemic was already at their door. For us in Nova Scotia, it was March when the reality provincial state of emergency was announced.

We changed everything in our lives in a matter of 24 hours.

A bit like being in a snow globe and having everything you knew being shaken and tipped upside down and then right side up again to only wonder how everything will fall into a new place. Or if it ever will stop spinning?

That has left some effects on us.

In our coming and going, we are still living in a state of unknown, of work and life colliding in the home and of many things being delayed or put off indefinitely.

This Autumn, one of my goals was to find some semblance of ‘weekdays’ and ‘weekends’ again.

Having a daughter go to grade primary was a marker for us as a family, and despite the pandemic, it has renewed many things in our lives. We hope she can remain in school l her whole primary year, but we embrace it for what it is for now.

Week Days

Morning routines are back. An alarm goes off, and it isn’t helpful to ignore it in the least.

Work hours are evident in some respects.

The school hours mean we are bound to drop-offs and pickups.

Weekends

time for the home DIY projects

the seasonal activities ‘pumpkin carving, fall walks’ etc.

Errands and household logistics.

Scheduling an event that is safe and within guidelines that provides an exhale.

Life still has been shaken like a snow globe.

Stores don’t open until 11 am.

Extra circular activities are limited and harder to get into

parties, celebrations and events are generally prohibited unless adequately managed.

Planning ahead is difficult.

Yet, somehow we are starting to feel our weekdays and weekends again. I hesitate to say it, but there it is.

We are finding our way back to a right-side-up world, even if the right side to us now was upside down to us before.

We adapt and start realizing the world will always keep spinning, but we can remain standing still amidst it all.

I have a confession to make….

Up until this year I have 90% of the time written & done my work on this website / blog in real time. Meaning: you were seeing it right after I typed it up, slapped on an image, and pressed ‘publish’.

I think one of the reasons I have done this for so long, is that in the past I have had a specific writing style that I shared online that this thrived with. It was the times I was the ‘least planned’ and the most ‘unedited’ that it received the most impact and appreciation. I thought that in order for me to remain impactful I needed to remain ‘unplanned’.

& to a certain extent this remains true.

I still continue to have the most meaningful written and in person interactions when the words flow without much forethought. I write my speeches that way, my letters and cards that way …etc.

& yet, as life has evolved I need to learn the art of ‘batch work’ to give room for other things in my life.

Thus far I have been able to deduce this means:

Blog Writing

Setting aside half a day monthly to pre write the next months posts.

Interviewing

Interviewing at least 3 people a session rather than one at a time.

This will hopefully provide me with more time to play in my creative writing projects that aren’t seen here…and allow me some much needed breathing room in my personal / professional life.

*this post is vastly inspired by Jenna Kutcher’s Goal Digger podcast various ‘kicks in the butt’ regarding all things ‘batch work’.

Entering into 2019…

with more to balance and maintain has enforced the need for scheduling and I am working on embracing it in a more effective and succinct way.

What I am Using:

Moleskin Plain Pocket Size

I use these Moleskins to keep track of various aspects of my personal & professional life.
- Movement & Diet
- Inspirations (quotes, ideas etc)
- Seasons (Winter activities, recipes, etc)
- Work Log
- Home Maintenance & visions

Kate Spade Journal

There is a shortage of these journals as Kate Spade is releasing less of them yearly, but I make a point of buying them when I find them & I use a journal for each year for my personal notations / writing about life and thoughts.

Leuchtturmn1917 (A5)

I use Leuchtturmn journals for my yearly bullet journaling. I do not follow the ‘bujo’ method to a ‘t’ but I apply what works for my own methodology and it seems thats what Ryder Carroll was aiming for.

Fossil Watch

New to me this year, for less attachment to my iPhone when checking the time. Doesn’t hurt that I am addicted to metallic tone fashion statements.

Sharpie & Midliner Pens

Knowing that these are the pens I use simplifies the tools I reach for. Decision fatigue regarding finding a new pen: ‘be gone’.

WHAT I AM AIMING FOR & WHY:

Reducing my scheduling hours and methods is one of my main goals this year. As great as it can be to have time to sit down and schedule the week ahead it can severely stir up anxiety when given too much space to be dwelled on. It also can swallow up much needed rest and quality time with others.

I am giving myself a year to work on the craft of scheduling because I realize it’s a task that I am going to have to unlearn bad habits, try new methods & simplify again & again.

As I hone the craft of scheduling I am keeping these words close to me as a reminder:

Create. Cultivate. Curate. Centred.

Here we go…