Ep. 94 How Long Does It Take to Create a Habit?

HOW DOES YOUR DAILY ROUTINE SUPPORT YOU? I noticed yesterday that I was completely “off”. It was raining when I woke up, so I didn’t go for my morning walk. When did a morning walk become central to me starting my day right? When did this become a habit that I needed to maintain? I don’t know the answer to that, but I do know that not going yesterday made it even more tempting to stay in bed this morning. But I got up and went anyway. And thank goodness I did! Did you see the sun coming up over the Derwent River this morning (check out my Stories, I shared it for your benefit). Just glorious, and it set me up to be more productive today … and find time to build a snowman. Yes. A snowman. Something you may not know about me is that I’ve recently embarked upon the journey of home education. One of my kids has specific learning needs, the other decided to come along for the ride (why wouldn’t he, right?). This has meant two key things: 1. Intense gratitude for the work I’ve put in over the years to build a business that gives me the freedom and flexibility I really need, and SUPER intense gratitude for my team that has helped me on this mission. 2. Having to drag myself kicking and screaming into being more structured in my day. My typical defiant self has railed against structure. I’d rather be spontaneous. Go with the flow. BUT if I want flexibility, counter-intuitively I also NEED structure. So, my days now begin in a much more structured fashion than ever before! Up by 5:30 Meeting at 6:00 (preferably while also out walking) Morning walk regardless Get the bulk of my day’s work done by 10:00 am Focus on home lessons for a few hours Afternoons are for physical activities and FUN Get the rest of the day’s work done Bed by 9:00 (at the latest) Repeat. Beyond this basic daily structure, I have a weekly format that I try to stick to. Mondays are my CEO day Tuesdays are for mentoring Wednesdays are my clinical day Thursdays are another mentoring day Fridays are for content creation and planning and FUN So today was a mentoring day. My work was completed by lunchtime. It was a stunning day so we went to the top of Kunanyi / Mt Wellington to explore alpine plants (botany lesson!), the views of Hobart and beyond, and the mountains we could see in the distance (geography!), and then we build a snowman (harder work than it seems - therefore PE!). How will we manage to combine home education with my business? Through a combination of structure and flexibility. Predictability and spontaneity. Order and flow. And LOTS of support from relevant others. So, whatever you have on your plate this week, think about this: 1. How do you start your day? What can you tweak to start you off on a better footing? 2. How do you structure the days of your week and the hours of your day? Is there room for flexibility within that structure? Is there a balance? 3. How do you end your day? Do you have a “knock-off time”. 4. Are you getting enough sleep? Here’s hoping you can put some of these ideas into practice to support yourself to find the balance you need in your life. Much love, Tess x p.s. If you need help finding the balance in your life as a business owner, OCTOBER is the kick-off for FIRESTARTERS (30 Days of single goal-focussed mentoring) and NO QUARTER (90 Days of Intensive Mentoring towards your broader goals). Check out my website (www.tesscrawley.com.au) or message me for more information!