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What’s my daily routine? Why do you need one? Does it really work?
I’ve pretty much come up with a series of activities which I call my daily routine. I try my very best to stick to it every day. Most days I succeed. Sometimes I don’t.
It’s a daily struggle.
Get Out Of Bed
This is the most difficult thing for most people especially if they have nothing planned for the day. I just make this the first plan of the day. Just get out of bed. It doesn’t matter if I have anything planned as long as I get out of bed.
I have an alarm set to go off every hour from 4AM to 8AM. My actual work starts at 9AM so each successive alarm primes my brain to wake up. Sometimes I hit the snooze button but usually, around 6AM, I get up.
My dog, Minute also makes sure I get up at that point because she climbs on the bed and doesn’t stop licking my face or scratching me to let her out. Opening the door for her takes a lot of effort and since I’m already up at that point, I just decide not to go back to lying down.
Feed The Dogs And Care For The Numerous Plants Around The House
We have four dogs at home. We also have five cats, two of them strays who just decided not to leave. Needless to say, a large portion of our money goes into feeding these animals.
Once out of bed, I immediately head for the balcony where Sky and Dook hang out and clean up their space, refill their dog dishes, and make sure they have water. I also spend 10-15 minutes here looking out at the empty road while watering the plants.
This is a non-negotiable activity that I have to do first thing in the morning, every day.
Drink Water, Prepare For Work
I’m so happy I’ve gone back to working from home. I really hate driving.
Write 5000 Words A Day
I treat writing like a physical activity.
This is the one thing I have to do to warm up before doing actual work: write some random stuff.
I usually start out by writing the equivalent of rambling (just like this). This can be anything. My dreams, things I thought of the night before, realizations, random stuff, mental diarrhea, etc. This is usually comprised of a thousand words.
Since there’s almost nothing on my personal blog, I decided to make it a more productive activity. I’ve just started changing things around with my warm up sessions. I now keep it to as short as 100 words and then create a short article that I should publish on this blog. I’m hoping this is where my first daily thousand words go.
By the time I finish my first 1000 words, it should be around an hour to 30 minutes before my actual work day. This is where the majority of the words I write go. I’ve set a daily quota of 2,000 writing about cars.
The rest of the words I write go to a passion project that I’m hoping will pay off in the future. I’m in the process of finishing a book that I hope will help me earn some passive income.
This daily target of 5000 words is non-negotiable. I made a pact with myself that if I should continue thinking of myself as a writer, I have to make sure I put the work in to deserve the title.
A Few Short Breaks Here And There
I take a few breaks a day. I eat when I need to, go to the john to relieve myself, take a nap when I need to refresh my brain, play guitar (an activity I should increase in my daily routine), and others. These little breaks help me get through the day, hit my target, and have a sense of fulfillment.
If there’s one thing I’m happy about, it’s quitting smoking. I used to waste a lot of time getting off my chair, going outside, and lighting one. That’s one habit/break activity I hope I’ll never ever go back to.
In Conclusion:
I’ve managed to maintain this pace for quite some time now. Although I can’t say I’ve been that faithful in hitting my personal targets. There was a time I fell way below my daily personal target because I had a daily commute that took at least 2 to 3 hours. I was exhausted all the time by that.
Before November 2019, I also had bouts of inactivity where I could not find the motivation to write a single word. That made me feel empty inside. Writing has become such a big part of my life that it has even managed to overtake my drive to play music.
Here’s hoping I can sustain this drive beyond 2020 and 2021.
I’d like to be able to minimize my target to 3000 words so I can finally have time to spend with the wife and our unborn child while still earning enough to provide a comfortable life.
Oh and some of the things I write will end up in this blog, some I might want to keep hidden for privacy’s sake.
Related Questions:
Why’d I Name My Dog Minute?
Minute is a small spitz mix. Her name is supposed to be minutiae. That’s three syllables. Minute being a more modern term used to define size (as well as time) seemed like a more logical choice. She is part of daily routine and serves as my alarm clock. Her persistence to get me out of bed easily trumps any alarm clock.
What Are Our Pets’ Names?
The dogs: Minute, Dook, Sky, Mojo and the cats: Ocean, Cheddar, Charcoal, Grumpy, and MJ. Grumpy and MJ are stray cats we’ve adopted. Mojo used to have a different name until circumstances forced us to give him his current monicker. MJ is a female Black and White cat. Her name is short for “Michael Jackson”. Because she’s black, she’s white, yeah, yeah, yeah hee-hee aw!
Do I Still Workout?
I try my best to insert a short 15 minute workout. Needless to say, I’ve put on a few unwanted pounds. I hope to shed this off before 2021 arrives. Here’s hoping my passion project pays off so I can finally free up some time to get back in shape.