You need to nourish yourself emotionally, intellectually and spiritually each day in order to be fit to carry out your work, whatever that may be. Otherwise you will susceptible to any number of distractions in a self-destructive quest to fill your inner void.
Daily Habit #1. Allow for a time of quiet before starting your day
This could be as ordinary as a iron-clad routine for getting ready for work which allows time for a relaxing bath/shower, stress-free dressing (clothes already chosen and ready to wear) and a filling breakfast before leaving the house in good time to get to work. You will reap additional physical and spiritual benefits if you are able to incorporate a period of light stretching exercises such as yoga and/or meditation/prayer in your morning routine.
Daily Habit #2. Have at least one thing to look forward to each day
Too many of us work in jobs which do not provide a lot of intellectual stimulation and/or variety in social interaction on a daily basis. You need to have one fun thing to look forward to each day: meeting a friend for coffee, checking out new books at lunch, going for a walk and bumping into neighbors (helps to have a dog or children with you), doing a volunteer or social activity in the evening.
Daily Habit #3. Be up to date in your personal affairs and public knowledge
This usually pertains to how you manage your personal finances, but could concern projects and plans that you have with your family (applying for schools or planning a trip) or your dealings with the outside world (economic or political uncertainty). Read the newspaper and/or catch the radio/tv news and be attentive to what developments could affect you, your family and your work. Think about your long-range goals for yourself and your family and identify if there is anything you need to do today to ensure your plans/projects stay on track.
Spend some time each day reviewing your agenda (could be electronic or a little black book) and opening your mail (regular mail, email, and whatever else pops up) in order to decide what you need to do immediately and what needs to be scheduled for later. This will help you prepare for Daily Habit #4.
Daily Habit #4 Make a realistic list of things you want to accomplish that day and accomplish them.
When you have adopted Habit #3, it follows that you will then be able to make a list of what you need to do each day (personal and professionally) and be better prepared to accomplish them. You may have to break up a task into many steps, or something may happen to prevent you from accomplishing a certain task, but by combining Daily Habit #3 and #4, you will be in a better position to reset priorities and get back on track.
Daily Habit #5 Give yourself time to wind down at the end of the day
Life happens. You may have been able to get everything you wanted to do done that day or it may have gotten completely turned around but new developments (good and bad) have surfaced. You will not resolve everything today. You need to be able to disconnect from whatever is going on at least one hour before going to bed. This could be watching a favorite TV show (not channel hopping- too taxing for the brain), reading a novel, sharing your day with your partner/family (but avoid getting into heavy discussions late at night), walking the dog or again a quiet period of stretching exercise and/or meditation/prayer. Like the plucky heroine Scarlett O'Hara said in Gone with the Wind, tomorrow is another day.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
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