Refining My Daily Process
Refining My Daily Process
What I read: 5 Steps to Create a Personalized Daily Routine by Elizabeth Larkin. Published October 25, 2020.
Feel free to read the article I’m highlighting here. It articulates some good ideas, but unlike most of my posts I’m not going to reference it much. It details a daily process that evidently works for the writer. That’s great. Everyone should arrive at what works for them, and that’s the point I want to make here. There is no single way to do a daily process that steers your life in the directions you want.
After decades of attempting to arrive at the perfect daily process for myself, the best I can arrive at is a process that works for me currently. I’ve changed processes so many times over the years that it would be silly of me to believe I’ve settled on the only way I’ll move through life going forward. But examples of how others do it are great reference points for creating our own process. So, here’s mine should you find it useful.
Before that though, here is what I believe to be true. The essence of all these processes boils down to:
Spending some time regularly thinking about what you want in your life.
Capturing those life targets along with every meaningful or important idea, thought, task, information, resource, contact, and so on. Use whatever capturing mechanism works for you whether that’s pen and paper or something electronic.
Reviewing all of this at regular intervals and decide what you want to do now, in the moment, to move ahead in those directions.
Repeating this, forever, and improving your process as you learn from experience what works for you.
I’ve written about the various processes I’ve created in the past and inevitably they need to be chucked entirely or modified significantly as I learn more about myself, how I function best, and the landscape of my wants and desires change.
Recently, an online friend asked me what my daily process is, and I agreed to write down what I do and send it to him. I ended up creating a social media post about it.
Here is approximately what I sent my friend and what I posted to my social media. Take from it what you find useful, or not. However, I hope that reading it will spur you to ponder what might be the best way for you to navigate throughout your day while achieving those things in life for which you yearn.
And please, always remember, there is no single way to do this. No matter how many productivity or life advice gurus try to convince you otherwise, you do you. As Michelle Obama said, “Just do what works for you, because there will always be someone who thinks differently.”
When I posted to social media, here is the post in its entirety.
(Start of post)
I was chatting with a friend earlier and he asked me about my daily process, how I go about my day, get things done, etc. Here's what I told him because he asked me to write it down for him when I got home. I don't think anyone should copy someone else's process. We're all different and our process should reflect that. But here's what I do.
I keep an ongoing document in Evernote (my preferred note taking app) I call The List. On it is 100% of every random note, idea, to do task, contact information, and so on, that comes at me throughout a day. I can access this both on my phone and laptop so it's always available. I scan the entire list about every week and move stuff to other storage locations as needed (contacts, Word documents, spreadsheets, etc.), or move into the section described in number 2 below.
Within The List note is a section of priority items that I scan morning and night and I reshuffle them in a priority order based on my assessment at the time. This is as close to a "to do" list as I get. I find to do lists daunting and stress inducing. So, I don't use them in the ways others do.
Morning, night, and periodically throughout the day I ask myself these questions to determine what I'm going to do in the moment. How will I... (1) improve my health, fitness, and appearance, (2) work, learn, create, contribute, and grow, (3) manage and grow my income/revenue, (4) purge, clean, and organize, and (5) engage in socialization, play, and fun? I decide what's next and then I do it. Work tasks are a priority during working hours. Sometimes I chunk my action periods into 5- or 10-minute segments. Sometimes I decide a half hour or hour is necessary. It changes.
I use the same Evernote app to journal every day. My journal is an odd one. Sometimes just keywords, random thoughts, ideas, but I also briefly document what I've done for the day so I can reflect back on it that night and in the morning.
Repeat.
If you read this far, I'd love to know if you follow any particular daily process. I'm always on the lookout for better ways to do things and navigate through life.
(End of post)
Life is tricky. Figuring out what we truly want and then figuring out how to get it is an ongoing process. Keep at it. Find what works for you. Change your process as often as needed. Don’t let anyone tell you their way is better than yours if your experience proves otherwise.
Onward.
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