Daily Habits that help you live an intentional life

[lizzzi]

I've been experimenting with a couple strategies over the past few days that are settling me down and relaxing me, while at the same time making me more productive. By "productive", I mean doing creative things that mean a lot to me. I am turning off the computer around 5 pm, and not turning it on again until first thing the next morning. And after around two hours of something pleasantly entertaining on streaming TV, I turn that off early enough to give myself an extra half-hour or so of sleep--which is bringing me up to almost 8 hours of sleep--a lot for me.

This is new for me, but so far so good. I like the real world better than Virtual Land, and I'm feeling much more grounded.

[Just Joe]

I have been exploring new schedules and routines.

An earlier bedtime helps. I'm not a morning person naturally but I can adapt. My military years way back when required it. I can make any schedule work but some work better than others.

Some schedules just lead to wasting a vast amount of time b/c it isn't warm enough to be outside, I stayed up too late and miss primetime summer daylight hours, or what else can I do with a night owl schedule but consume media (reading would put me to sleep, my hobbies would disturb everyone else, exercise is best done in the morning).

My best hours are in the morning (motivation, clear mind, discipline) but I give those to my employer. Perhaps if I take the lead of other folks up-discussion I could claw back a few hours in the morn for me (and mine). 

[horsepoor]

.....Right now it's a bit brutal for me to wake up before the sunrise (ugh), but my "natural" wakeup time is ~6:30 or so, which coincides with daylight.

I also recommend sleep apps that track stages of sleep. I don't use them anymore but they do help to wake you at a natural point during your sleep cycle, rather than smack dab in the middle of deep sleep.

I live where the sunrise varies from 0430 to 0700.  The bedroom has skylights that we now keep open in winter and closed in summer.  However the skylights do let in a wakeup amount of light even when closed.   

I'll have to lookup sleep apps.   My wife's phone is new enough that we might do that.

@DragonSlayer-  I like the modem idea.    People should also note that their phone has an OFF button.

There are also room-lighting alarms.  I don't often use mine as intended, but my husband gets up at 5:15 every morning, and when I first wake from hearing him shuffle around, I turn on the light and doze off for another 20 minutes, and then wake up a little more naturally.  Sometimes I'll click on the bedside lamp as "Stage 2" of the waking process.

As far as the OP - I definitely don't have a productive morning routine.  However, I do try to make sure I do something useful after dinner each night, whether it's studying, walking the dog or cleaning the house for half an hour.  It makes a big difference, and getting that one thing done usually snowballs into doing more by disrupting the tendency to flop on the couch or in front of the computer until bedtime.  I think my riding goals keep me living intentionally, since that is what pushes me to exercise, eat well and manage my schedule to make time for riding and study.

[Bearblastbeats]

Wake @ 5:40-6:20
Shower / dress
Feed / walk / and give medications to dog.
Prepare lunch for work.
Leave house @ 7:15-7:30

Arrive to work for 8:00ish. Leave at 4:30. Get home for 5:00ish (or go to grocery store).
Feed / walk / and give medications to dog
Prepare dinner / have an hour of downtime to read, practice drums, or watch tv.



Some nights I have band practice, so, same schedule but I run home to care for my dog then fly to practice and play from 6-9 and get back home for 10ish.

rinse,repeat.

[Davnasty]

I've found doing gratitude exercises every day to be an amazing tool.

Reading through the earlier posts here, I definitely want to get back into an early morning practice. I want to start a blog and maybe get back into fictional writing, too. I'm trying to arrange my life so that I can sleep at 9:45 PM on Mon and Friday at least, maybe Thursday too, so that I can wake at 5:30 AM to run, lift and then take some time to write.

Unfortunately, I'm more in the habit of rolling around on the floor stretching aimlessly or staring at Imgur than living intentionally right now. And re-reading The Name of the Wind has me sucked into a fantasy world until the early hours of morning. But I'm working on it. Will try to relegate my reading to the lunch hour, possibly while walking on a treadmill at the work gym...

Interesting that you mention The Name of the Wind; I've re-read the first two books for inspiration to be more intentional in my daily life several times now (4 to be exact). Everything Kvothe does is with purpose and I find when I'm reading the books I become more focused on doing things that matter and not wasting time. Also I can't believe we're still waiting for The Doors of Stone.

[zoltani]

Constantly question my subconscious reasons for doing things, why I say the things I do, think the things I do. Unfortunately this is near impossible since I have an ego like everyone else. Meditation is the only way that I have found that allows me to tune into my subconscious to help me discover the intention behind my actions.

[zoltani]

Wake @ 5:40-6:20
Shower / dress
Feed / walk / and give medications to dog.
Prepare lunch for work.
Leave house @ 7:15-7:30

Arrive to work for 8:00ish. Leave at 4:30. Get home for 5:00ish (or go to grocery store).
Feed / walk / and give medications to dog
Prepare dinner / have an hour of downtime to read, practice drums, or watch tv.



Some nights I have band practice, so, same schedule but I run home to care for my dog then fly to practice and play from 6-9 and get back home for 10ish.

rinse,repeat.

That looks like a great daily schedule, now tell us the intent behind your actions. How do these things help you live intentionally?
Why do you wake up? Why do you shower, get dressed? Why do you feed the dog? Why do you prepare lunch for work? Why do you go to work? Why do you play in a band?

[Bearblastbeats]

Wake @ 5:40-6:20
Shower / dress
Feed / walk / and give medications to dog.
Prepare lunch for work.
Leave house @ 7:15-7:30

Arrive to work for 8:00ish. Leave at 4:30. Get home for 5:00ish (or go to grocery store).
Feed / walk / and give medications to dog
Prepare dinner / have an hour of downtime to read, practice drums, or watch tv.



Some nights I have band practice, so, same schedule but I run home to care for my dog then fly to practice and play from 6-9 and get back home for 10ish.

rinse,repeat.

That looks like a great daily schedule, now tell us the intent behind your actions. How do these things help you live intentionally?
Why do you wake up? Why do you shower, get dressed? Why do you feed the dog? Why do you prepare lunch for work? Why do you go to work? Why do you play in a band?

Because suicide is a cowards way out.

[spicykissa]

I think I've learned some intentional habits from working in a very stressful environment. For example, in my ICU, lunch is assigned. You have a lunch partner, and you must make sure you and your partner each get 30 minutes to eat, with no interruptions (it's a legal thing). When I worked day shifts, that 30 minutes outside in the sun, or even just sitting down, was blissful. Now I try to do that with all my meals--uninterrupted, enjoying the food and the company if I have it.

Now I work nights, so all this morning talk is cracking me up. I'm often most productive from 1-3am! Exercise is a problem, though. I'm looking forward to setting up a home gym for 2am use. And I know exactly how late everywhere I need to run errands is open.

[zoltani]

Wake @ 5:40-6:20
Shower / dress
Feed / walk / and give medications to dog.
Prepare lunch for work.
Leave house @ 7:15-7:30

Arrive to work for 8:00ish. Leave at 4:30. Get home for 5:00ish (or go to grocery store).
Feed / walk / and give medications to dog
Prepare dinner / have an hour of downtime to read, practice drums, or watch tv.



Some nights I have band practice, so, same schedule but I run home to care for my dog then fly to practice and play from 6-9 and get back home for 10ish.

rinse,repeat.

That looks like a great daily schedule, now tell us the intent behind your actions. How do these things help you live intentionally?
Why do you wake up? Why do you shower, get dressed? Why do you feed the dog? Why do you prepare lunch for work? Why do you go to work? Why do you play in a band?

Because suicide is a cowards way out.

Most people that say that haven't been affected by suicide.

[AnnaGrowsAMustache]

Wake @ 5:40-6:20
Shower / dress
Feed / walk / and give medications to dog.
Prepare lunch for work.
Leave house @ 7:15-7:30

Arrive to work for 8:00ish. Leave at 4:30. Get home for 5:00ish (or go to grocery store).
Feed / walk / and give medications to dog
Prepare dinner / have an hour of downtime to read, practice drums, or watch tv.



Some nights I have band practice, so, same schedule but I run home to care for my dog then fly to practice and play from 6-9 and get back home for 10ish.

rinse,repeat.

That looks like a great daily schedule, now tell us the intent behind your actions. How do these things help you live intentionally?
Why do you wake up? Why do you shower, get dressed? Why do you feed the dog? Why do you prepare lunch for work? Why do you go to work? Why do you play in a band?

Because suicide is a cowards way out.

Uncool. People who commit suicide are in a place of utter desperation. They're not capable of being cowards or selfish or anything else except desperate. The very last thing that people in that position need is to be expected to consider other people's feelings or judgement. What they need is validation, acceptance and professional help.

[zoltani]

That's what happens when people live unintentionally, following through the motions of their daily routine, parroting the bullshit they hear, without any thought as to the reason for their actions or speech. Nor can they be bothered to put themselves in someone else's position to try and understand what they are going through, you know, general empathy. It's a kind of solipsism and the opposite of intentional living. It is so much easier to judge others and make trite statements because to expose yourself to your true nature and your motivations for doing things is down right terrifying and painful.

[Johnez]

 The whiteboard is a great idea, in my case I would need to hide the marker, or my better half would fill it up for me! :-)

Also, make it look organized and somewhat not ugly. I've had mine erased, now its no longer mine. :( Lesson-take care of the whiteboard.

One thing that's helped me wake up early and actually get up is leaving the curtain open and letting the sun wake me. Have a one year old, a pregnant SO, a dog to medicate/feed, full time job and now school-not a lot of downtime to think about things and live "intentionally," but I try.

[DMoney]

OP: Yes!  I've recently been doing what you do, which has helped A LOT. 

I used to hit snooze, but lately I've been putting in my ear buds and doing a 10 min guided meditation while still in the bed in the mornings. Really like it!

[redbird]

I don't really have many habits I do every single day. I'm TRYING to go to bed approximately the same time every night, but I'm not too serious about it.

My main thing that I'm doing right now is taking a walk every day around the neighborhood for 30-60 minutes right after waking up. I've found that it puts me in a better mood than I normally am in the morning, and of course more physical activity never hurts!