Yesterday I slept in.
Actually, it wasn’t so much sleeping in as not getting out of bed for much longer than feels good. To be honest, I’ve done this a few more times this week than I’d like to admit.
I know that when I get up earlier, the rest of my day usually goes better.
And yet, in the morning when I feel cheated by the sleep gods for not bestowing slumber on me beyond a few measly hours, I tell myself I deserve more rest. There’s no reason to get up early when I don’t have a call scheduled until later, when I don’t have anyone waiting for me.
But there is a reason to get up.
It’s to give future me – Lynn a few hours into the future – a higher likelihood of having a good day.
You might be seeing a theme here since I talked about doing things for your future self in my last post. But it really does come down to choosing to do something in the present that is best for you in the future.
I’m still figuring out how to build this muscle.
The muscle that gets stronger every time I choose something in the moment that isn’t the easy choice but that will pay off in the moments to come.
One thing that helps me do this more reliably is structure.
When I first started working for myself almost 10 years ago, I loved the idea of doing things whenever I wanted. Not having to go to work at a set time and put in my time in an office.
My kids were young so I still maintained our routine when they were home but once I dropped them off at school, the day was mine to do with as I pleased.
I came to realize that having this kind of unstructured time was more a curse than a blessing.
While I had calls with clients and defined tasks and projects with deadlines, I often ended up doing most of my work after my kids went to bed.
During the day I would do those calls and some work but mostly I did research for my business idea, read, cleaned, did errands, had a nap, and whatever else came up.
That had been the dream. Being able to do whatever I felt like doing with my days.
But much like staying in bed, those unstructured days ended up making me feel not so great.
It took me a long time to finally understand that structure doesn’t mean inflexibility and unwanted limits.
When I started to embrace a routine for my work days, I felt a weight lift off of me. I didn’t wonder where the day went nearly as often.
There was a comfort in knowing where my time was going.
And yet, I didn’t keep it up.
I know that having a routine, even if it’s not perfect (whatever that means), is always better for me. But I continue to go in and out of a routine.
So, I’m writing this now because I’m committing to figuring out what works best for my days.
I’ve learned a whole lot – too much – about other people’s routines and now it’s time for me to take what I like and incorporate it into something that makes sense for me.