Did you ever think what’s the minimum you need to consider a day good enough?
Are there things you know you need in your day to function well?
I took a while after having my second baby to figure it out.
If you've read the other articles I've written here, and especially if you've been receiving my newsletters and have downloaded the two PDFs that I put together on planning and on productivity, you know that there things that I need to do daily in order to feel that my day has been good.
What are these things that qualify any day into a great day? And what is the minimum time that I need to do those things to feel that I’ve had a great day?
Let me tell you, it's actually not that much.
There are four things that make any day viable for me. They are: expressing gratitude, reading, learning, and moving.
Expressing gratitude
This is something I do daily, right after I wake up.
I have a simple journal with three separate prompts: one for what I want to let go off, one for what I am grateful for, and a last one for what I want to focus on.
It's very easy to use and I love it because it gets me focused on things that actually matter.
If you saw my entries, 95% of them say that I want to get rid of my tiredness. That's what I want to leave behind and I guess it’s a result of my nights with many interruptions from the baby. Sometimes however I want to let go of fear of something, or anger, or guilt.
The list of things I'm grateful for is very, very, very diverse, but it's usually people from my family, my kids, the fact that I'm up before everyone else, feeling particularly energized one morning, etc.
The three things I want to focus on is where I could improve a bit. Sometimes they can be very specific things like writing newsletters or content creation, emailing clients, etc. Sometimes I am more vague: I need to make sure that I spend time with my kids, or that I finished work in the garden, or that I relax.
Reading
I love reading and because it’s a great way to wake up my brain, I do it right after expressing gratitude. I give myself a minimum of 15 minutes in the morning to read.
This is very important to me, and because I have learned that the more time passes during the day, the less I control my time, I read in the morning.
Sometimes I do it during the day and/or at night but that’s not always the case. It might feel like a little but I promise I actually finish quite a few books when I add those daily 15 minutes.
Learning
Reading is a way of learning but I often want to read fiction or a story and not something related to business or personal development.
And so, I added learning by listening to my day.
I listen to quite a few podcasts and books. Again, I allocated 15 minutes for learning by listening and I often do it when I am in the car or when I walk.
I like to listen to a variety of things from business related books to biographies.
There are many other ways that help me learn during the day but the one that is a minimum for me and easy to get done no matter what are these 15 minutes of listening.
Moving
The final thing is moving. If I go for too long without moving, I become uneasy, frustrated, angry.
It was a struggle to get this inserted into my day but I seemed to have found a way: I do it at noon.
I blocked one full hour in my calendar for movement. Twice a week I do Pilates and three times I go to walk/run.
There are weeks when I get this done on three of the five working days. It's not perfect but even this is more than what I used to manage before blocking a specific time to move.
And there are weeks when I get all five days done.
Final words
This is it; these are the things that make my days and weeks good. Whatever I get to do on top this is a bonus.
If I…
- Take 2-3 minutes to express gratitude,
- Read for 15 minutes per day,
- Listen for 15 minutes per day,
- Move for 1 hour at least 3 times per week…
…I am a happy camper.
In time this results in a calmer self, books read, a lot of new things learned, a healthier mind and body.
What do you need to call your days and weeks good?
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