Routines: Morning & NIght
It’s really odd how things work. When I came home from class (I think it was on Monday) and was going thru my bag I discovered a flyer for an upcoming Monologue Workshop that had inadvertantly gotten mixed in with my papers. That in itself is serendipitous… I’ve been trying to decide what if any acting classes to take this summer. Monologues are something we didn’t really focus on in my two years at Esper, and here I find a monologue class in my bag. ( The class is given by one of the directors at the Atlantic Theater Company. I’ve seen a couple of shows there, and really enjoyed the work.)
As I was poking around the monologue site, I came across a section that spoke very highly of a website/system called FlyLady. It’s a kind of self help / “Getting Things Done” site whose primary audience seems to be mainly working & stay-at-home mom’s, but there is quite a bit of useful information and a very supportive vibe. One of the things that I’ve taken and have begun implementing is the concept of Morning & Evening Routines. I’m not feeling very “let’s talk about why this works” at the moment so for now I’ll just layout the Routines I came up with for myself, based on their model.
Evening Routine:
- Rinse with Plax
- Brush teeth and/or floss and/or water-pik and/or gum stimulator
- Rinse with Listerine
- Clean bathroom sink
- Lay out clothes for next day
- Lay out / prep any materials you might need for the next day (books for class / materials for meetings / etc.).
- Write any fixed appointments for next day on a 3×5 card (This is strictly “places I have to be at a certain time” type events. I want to stay away from larger project goals or things like that, as those tend to get my mind racing and keep me from going to sleep if I start thinking about them right before bed. The 3×5 card is my tweak… I keep it in my Hipster PDA.)
- Write/plan lunch & dinner for the next day on same 3×5 card
Morning Routine:
- Get up with alarm. “Good morning God! (As opposed to “Good God… morning!”)
- Turn all every light in the house (I read somewhere that bright light in the morning helps to reset your body clock. It’s also helpful on those winter days when you might be up before the sun…).
- Make bed
- Drink a glass of water
- Exercise (My routines take anywhere from 12-20 minutes or so…).
- Eat breakfast (sample: bananna/piece of fruit and a bowl of Cheerios)
- Do breakfast dishes
- Scrub sink
- Shower (shave if necessary), brush teeth
- Hang up towel to dry
- Dress all the way to your shoes
I’ve been trying this out this week, and so far it’s been good. There is something calming about winding down with a fixed set of actions. It also feels as though you’re really setting yourself up for a successful next day. I overslept this morning (late night due to a rehearsal), but felt much less frantic then I might normally have been because I had everything ready to go. The moral here is to make yourself go to bed right after finishing your routine. I tacked another hour online with email / surfing… that hour might have been the difference in me getting to my lesson on time. One of these days I’ll learn!
Anyway, food for thought. We’ll see how this works out.