The Art of Blocking My Time

"...focus on the journey, not the destination. 

Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it."

-- Greg Anderson

As I look out over the water I find myself at a place of introspection.  It has been a year since I posted and I miss it.

My life has changed drastically since last year.  I quit my job to create.  There is so much I know how to do that I love to do and the finances have changed where I can do it.

I started with a schedule that breaks the day into designated time blocks or slots.  This really works for me.  Having time for something ensures that it gets done.

My blocks look something like this:  (I added a few things after my read through that I want to incorporate into my day.)

Time Allocated	Primary Block	Secondary Block	Tertiary Block
5:30 am - 8:30 am	Wake up Breakfast Clean up breakfast See Hubby off Catch up on games Shower Meditation	Organize day Fill in planner	Walk or Yoga Pull up weeds Start laundry
8:30 am - 11:30 am	Work Block Make patterns Test patterns Clean up patterns Chart patterns	Make samples for classes Knit on designs Write e-mails Post on social media	Think about a blog topic for the week Brainstorm ideas Move laundry to the dryer
11:30 am - 1:30 pm	Lunch Catch up on games Clean up lunch	Catch up on e-mail	Put away laundry
1:30 pm - 4:30 pm	Clean house Clean cat box Get mail Sort mail Process mail File mail	Start making dinner	Errands Visits Shopping Appointments Bills
4:30 pm - 7:30 pm	Dinner Clean up dinner Catch up on games Welcome Hubby home Hang with family	Watch shows Chill
7:30 pm - 9:30 pm	Relax Get ready for bed Prayers Spiritual time Gratitude Journal Meditation Reiki	Check-in on journal progress Check-in on step progress Check-in on calorie progress	Put away any remaining laundry Clean up the kitchen sink Pull out any frozen meat for next days’ dinner

So the goal here is to do most of if not all of the Primary Block tasks.  This set of blocks are geared toward furthering my knitting career.  But they could be changed to herbal-based blocks, spirituality, gaming, writing or any of the things that I love to do.

Right now the focus is on knitting, honoring my self, honoring the house, quality time with family and friends and having fun. 

This has really helped me to focus.  I cut out the list and put it in my planner and think about what things I want to focus on that day and try and create a well rounded day that touches on everything that is important to me.

If I don’t get to everything in the blocks I don’t beat myself up about it.  For instance,  I may spend an hour weeding but not be able to walk one day and that is okay.  Weeding is actually a physical activity and burns a bunch of calories.

Learning how to extend compassion and understanding to myself is one of my big challenges.  I am very hard on myself and I don’t really know why.  I really don’t want to be.

Having a journal has been a big help to me in this regard.  I make sure to check off completed activities so that I can see everything that I did that day.  At the end of the day, it is such a powerful boost to see all those check marks on the page!

Each day I make a little progress towards my goals and I am full of such joy!  It is strange how completing a pattern or cleaning the house can bring such peace, but they really do for me.

I am excited to start this next chapter of my journey towards creating a beautiful life that is full of family, friends, pets, love, spirituality, compassion, career, fun, happiness, prosperity and joy.

You are more than welcome to join me,

Bright Blessings!

Happy Knitting!

Ruinwen

:)

BTW:  The journal that I use is this.  I like it because it helps me to create an action list from my current goals that I can then break down into steps.  It also has spirituality woven into it.  There is plenty of room to make little bullet lists for water or steps.  Dragontree is a fabulous place.  Hubby loves the pain patches and we always have a stock of them.

Also, I am going to focus on posting on Wednesday each week.  

We really are hoping to create a new blog template that separates the knitting, herbal and gaming so that you can have a better experience.  That is in the works.

BB  :)