No one likes to admit to having problems establishing a daily routine for themselves, but let’s face it coffee-shower-commute-work-gym-sleep is a challenge for most of us, although we aspire to be that energetic about life, we don’t always have “ON days” and that’s okay too. Seems like most of us need a bit more “me time” “down time” “alone time” than we usually do, and that’s okay too, within reason. Let’s think about life, but let’s not get carried away. You don’t have to have everything figured out to be a happy person, part of the beauty in life is to figure things out for yourself, learn from mistakes, and become a stronger wiser person. So when you find out what is working for you, stick to it, and don’t look back.
Healthy Tips to Establish a Routine:
- Keep a calendar and notebook, track your progress.
- Journal in the morning or evening, or blog and post, as needed.
- Stay organized in your computer and in your phone, back up frequently.
- Join a gym, or pick classes, or download an app, find a few you like and return to them.
- Be social, make time to get in touch with friends, text and email, or message online.
- Check your emails everyday and frequently, set up alerts on your gmail for other apps.
- Set goals, take it one day at a time, add as you go, don’t do everything at once.
- Schedule your weekly and monthly appointments in advance.
- Don’t wait until the last minute to write that email or ask that question.
- Follow-up on the things that matter to you, continue to do research, make calls.
- Get done what you need to get done and get that out of the way to focus.
- Be genuine in your interactions, the more honest the better the feedback.
- Don’t worry what others think, like losing weight, just focus on yourself.
- Let change be the result that shows everyone you’re on top of things.
- Make time for reading, whether that’s the news, books, social media, magazines.
- Keep your living space clean, and clean environment, makes for better feelings.
- Keep organized and know where things are, the less disoriented you get in life.
- Make lists, whether that’s a list of things to do, plans, agendas, topics, issues.
- Hygiene, keep clean, wash your face day and night, and practice good skincare.
- Save money for the things you need in life, to make life easier to grapple with.
Whether you’re “suffering from grief and sadness,” or feeling “tired, [and] uninspired” there are ways to regroup, and you don’t have to do this alone. For years I kept a diary in elementary school and in college, and eventually when I went off to law school, I started cutting things from my routine gradually, I stopped kickboxing, and I stopped playing on a women’s club soccer team. Doing well doesn’t mean that you can’t keep busy doing things that you love doing, it’s all about making time for yourself, aside from meeting your goals in life. Don’t forget what makes you happy and calm in life, doing things you love. I stopped hanging out with friends on the weekends, and became enmeshed in a relationship with marriage goals, and it felt like that was happening for me in life, but I was struggling to finish my JD, and ended up discontinuing attendance and took a year off law school, and applied to another Law School online, single. You’ll do a lot of soul searching in life, travel is highly recommended, what most people do, but most of all take that time to reflect on life and work on what needs work. This is why routine is so important, you can be doing a million things at once and be getting nowhere. Have specific goals in mind, and a list of things you want to accomplish toward achieving those goals in life.
I hope that this blog post reminds you to stay proactive and productive and make the most of your day and time, worry less, and be in tune with your own needs, without sacrificing parts of yourself to please others. I was asked in an interview at BMW, “What is your 5 year plan?” and “What will make you happy?” and for some reason I had trouble answering that question, I guess I haven’t thought that far in advance, thinking to myself, well I’m here, what about this plan? Then she asked “What about a job in law?” and wanted to know why I’m not working in law, without mentioning my recovery from bipolar 9x hospitalized. Meanwhile I have continued to apply to law firms for part-time work, and finally found a paid position, asked to interview to 4 other positions in legal work, and choose a dream job in Civil Litigation.
I wanted to become a full-time blogger, and make money as a writer in life, but because that was too hard to figure out, have found ways to pursue my passion for writing, in jobs that allow me to perform for others, such as at Level 21, and so grateful for this position to talk to everyone, in a professional way, in a professional publication. On your own, it feels like you get less credit, you don’t get to meet your audience, you don’t hear from them, no one writes or calls you to collaborate with you, rarely, so it’s really up in the air how many people you have helped, and in what way you have helped them, confirmed. For some reason I feel like writing on your own doesn’t exist you don’t get much feedback and few confirmations from those who have read your work and enjoyed reading your work, so you never know how well you’re doing, and just go with the flow. It’s only recently in the second or third year of blogging continuously that I have started to share again with Facebook friends and on a page, and get comments and feedback and likes from them, that makes me feel so good to be able to write and for it not to be a secret or judged as outside the scope of what there is to talk about when talking about yourself or what your life is like and what you think. I’ve always wanted to publish a book, since I started writing online 2013 on Twitter, why I wrote quotes and eventually starting writing longer pieces but it took some time getting down the mechanics. To me that isn’t easy money (a self-help book makes $5000, so I’m not sure what all the hoopla is about). I wrote online for years and posted everyday to my website just to build a following and be trusted online. No matter what state of mind I’m in, up and up or in a down, they don’t seem to care, around anyways and I am so thankful to have that type of readership! People that check on you anyways, apart of your life, in a healthy supportive way, with boundaries, not bothering you, or blowing you up or your problems or mental health issues, which is refreshing. I think with mental health issues, you have to be extremely careful about how you present yourself online, always important to be yourself, and maintain privacy, establish a positive rapport with others, and not engage in fighting and confrontation which there is a lot of online and especially on social media. I’m lucky that no one has commented or attacked me in anyway for expressing my worries in life and how I have handled worry throughout my career as a writer. I learned in an introductory Journalism course on Udemy that being a “Journalist is a dangerous profession,” and I can only imagine what it is like, to be in the middle of a fight and writing, other than my experience blogging during the riots in Santa Monica, continued to write and post, without taking too many pictures, I opted for the privacy of my surroundings instead.
So given the times, I bet you are all doing great, and while it’s not required to keep a statistical analysis of how everything is going for everyone else, why not start with just analyzing your own life, and keeping track of your own progress, that sounds like a better idea when it comes to mental health. You cannot take care of everyone, and the best way to help others is to be doing well yourself. The less you are struggling in life, the less pressure gets placed on the people worrying about you in life, that’s what life is like being known, keeping busy. So how to benefit others? When you are doing well in life, those apart of your story in life, are commended for being apart of your life and for how you were pushed or made to think about life in unexpected ways. The stronger you are the further you go in life, and it shouldn’t matter what anyone has to say, never let the commentary of others hold you back in life ruminating, giving power to the words of others and turning their commentary into insults. People only wonder once you start doing well in life, that’s the positive effect of staying on top of things in life. Don’t allow yourself to be carried away by the thoughts and preferences of others, if you cannot please them, then worry about yourself, and if they are not impressed by how much you have been through in life, then you also don’t need to make them apart of your story either. Try to stay positive, get help when needed, and if you ever need anything, don’t hesitate to contact me here at [email protected], I’d be happy to answer any of your questions about myself, or help with research and writing about a subject of your choice.
