I hope you had a good start to your week and are feeling ready for your Wednesday morning.
This is a short email course to help you reset your practice after the summer - 4 emails, Monday to Thursday this week.
If you’re curious to see what journalling looks like you might like to see them here on Instagram. (No account needed.)
Today we’ll look at planning your day-to-day
The goal: feel calm and organised
The strategy: get it all on paper
write a chronological list of what you need to do each day
make a small cross next to each item as you do it
make a small arrow for anything carried over
When you write down what you’re going to do in a day, it embeds it in your memory and makes it feel more tangible.
I see it like a kind of ‘sat-nav’ in the way it will help you stay on track. 🧭
Using a journal to plan for the last 4 years has helped me realise that the best way to feel good at the end of my day is to be clear about the difference between things that must be done, and things that can be done anytime.
I’ve gradually learned to set better boundaries (it’s so hard!) and find ways to ring-fence part of my day, so I can ‘go with the flow’ the rest of the time.
How to do a daily plan.
start a new page with the date at the top
write a list of every appointment and ‘must happen today’ item that’s on your schedule
at the top right, write a list of anything else you need to remember
draw a small cross each time something is completed
draw a small arrow each time something is postponed
write down any other tasks that need to be remembered as you go along
The daily plan will help you focus on your day-to-day.
Bonus strategy - the ‘brain dump’ 📝
Another strategy that is very useful if you feel overwhelmed is the ‘brain dump’.
sit down with a cup of tea
start a new page or simply write on any piece of paper you can find
write down everything you can think of that is ‘on your plate’ and contributing to your overwhelm
include anything that is worrying you or bothering you, even if it is outside of your control
keep writing until you can’t think of even one more thing
now you have captured everything you will likely feel a sense of relief
When I first tried this exercise I was amazed at how much better I felt afterwards.
I would go back to the big long list from time to time and cross off anything I had managed to do, or anything that was no longer relevant.
To my surprise, I saw that pretty much everything would get itself done even without me realising it.
Completing this task regularly for many years has helped me to:
a) find calm even in the midst of massive overwhelm
b) know the power that comes from the simple act of putting pen to paper
Simple strategies can make a huge difference - not simply in being more productive, but also in being happier.
When you keep a journal for your practice and your life, you will slowly but surely see things shift and change in a positive way. ✨
If there is anything here that resonates with you, I’d love you to leave a comment. I promise to reply.
That’s all for today.
I’ll be back tomorrow with the last part of the course.
Tracy 👩🏼💻