Transforming My Routine

Finally turned 21! I wanted to write a little post dedicated to the resolutions I made for myself, including being more independent and taking accountability for all the choices I make for myself. And life really is short and we should try to make the most of every day!

Ever since I started working, I had this fear at the back of my head that I will be slaving away at a 9-6pm job, and won't have the time to dedicate myself to my hobbies, personal projects and overall goals. Don't get me wrong, I love my job. But there's always a lot of things that I want to do, and areas outside of work where I want to develop and grow. But when I started working, I heard many stories of people having little to no time to do what they want to do except over the weekend. You ever heard that saying, where you only get freedom once you retire? Why should our freedom start there? That's what scared me most of all: that I would lose sight of what I wanted to do with my life and stop opening myself to new opportunities.

People like to call me as some sort of "time wizard". Some say it's a "Virgo" thing, but others just say that I have this kind of power to manage my time effectively because I get to keep my days productive without being stressful. And I didn't want to lose that! After all, I'd like to consider that as one of my biggest strengths.

So over the past few months, I've been doing a trial and error in transforming my routine, and I'm so glad to find something that works for me! Of course, it could all be bound to change, but as of now, I am grateful to have a work culture that values work-life balance and staying physically and mentally healthy. So here's what I've been doing:

1. Prioritize, prioritize, prioritize

Absolutely important to prioritize! I had a huge problem with this, because there was so much I wanted to do, and I just wanted to do it all in one go. That's why everything that I loved doing became stressful. So now, I try to prioritize, now more than ever. I give myself a limit on what it is I want to do for the day, and leave the rest for the upcoming days. It was difficult at first, because I had that obsession to get things done tempt me into doing more. But it took self-control to stop. Can you believe that in this situation, procrastination actually helps? I had to find other things to do to distract me away from those tasks that will take up too much time and energy, and swap it with other smaller tasks that help me wind down for the day, like playing the piano, stretching or writing.

2. Taking a Break

I prefer to have at least one day where I recharge and do nothing. When I mean do nothing, I really mean "do nothing". I just lie down on my bed and wrap myself in a blanket. Maybe I'll read a book or watch a movie, but I want to have a day where I put the minimum of the minimum of efforts and take time to recover after a long week. We should start normalizing taking breaks from "hustling" or "constant productivity". Recharging is a part of self-care, and isn't that how we become our most productive selves? At the end of the day, you're giving yourself some me-time. And we should certainly not feel bad about it! Let's start celebrating days where we put our recovery at the forefront.

3. Tiny Habits

If my day is packed, I scale down some of my activities after work to the base level that I want to do it on. For example, there are a couple of habits I want to do every day. That includes going to the gym and reading a book. But I know that sometimes, when things get hectic, I can't go to the gym for an hour and a half. So when that happens, I at least try to fit in physically laborious activities. That includes walking to a further bus stop. Using the stairs to go to another floor instead of the elevator. Doing a couple of squats after lunch. It may not be the most active workout, but it's still something. And what's important is that you get to show yourself that you put the effort, no matter how small it is! And it is always something to be grateful about. It's about focusing on your mindset rather than the workout itself. I have to give a HUGE kudos to the book Tiny Habits by BJ Foggs. He wrote an elaborate book on tiny habits and how starting small leads to big changes in your lifestyle. It has honestly helped me a lot on how to transform my routine for the better.

4. Short-term and Long-term Goals

I always say that having a purpose is a way for us to stay fulfilled. That's why I try to set short-term goals, not just long-term goals. It's easier for me to think of long-term goals. It includes staying healthy and walking in 50 years or so (walking and even standing on our own two feet is a blessing). It includes starting my own projects related to issues that I care about, like women empowerment, sustainability and diversity. But that's why I sometimes overlook the importance of short-term goals, like my goals during the day, regardless of how tiny it is, like appreciating at least one thing when I get out of the house and the sun is up, and before I go to bed. Or even tinier, drinking water every day (I sometimes forget to do that, unfortunately). I am a huge advocate of goal-setting, because it helps you re-purpose your day in a fun and exciting way. So during my birthday, I made a vision board! (cheesy, I know, but I do enjoy visualizing things, so jumbling the photos around was pretty fun!)

4. Switching it up

As much as I love having a structure to my routine and staying organized, I also see the importance on switching things up and opening myself to new experiences. So although I have a routine every day, I at least try to switch up how I do that routine. For example, I don't go to the same gym all the time. I sometimes like to take the tram or the ferry to head to another branch and have a breather. I don't always read a book on the bus. I sometimes go by the pier's observation deck during lunch to read. Switching up your environment helps me truly feel like today is a new day. That I'm doing something differently. It may seem small, but during days where you don't have time to do a lot of things after work, it keeps me in a lighter mood.

Anyhow, this is what I've been doing. I know that this is just the beginning, so it's not like this is the ultimate solution to everything. But then again, isn't it always a beginning? At the end of the day, we keep adapting to the new circumstances we're put in. Times might get tougher beyond this, but as of now, I'm going to stay grateful that I have the room to grow and breathe in this new chapter of my life. All we can do is continue learning and shaping ourselves so that we could be ready for bigger challenges and stresses that could come.