Word For Word
Ashley Brown 00:00
[Intro] Routines, my absolute favorite word, but you either love them or you hate them. And either way, I strongly believe that routines can be a springboard for improving your home, yourself and your life. I'm Ashley Brown, and this is a routine and things podcast. In each episode we'll dive into a specific routine or point of view that will move you closer to enjoying life more and more each day. Trust me, you're gonna want to keep listening, because you're well on your way to getting and staying happy.
Ashley Brown 00:28
Alright, so you can plan monthly, that is an option planning monthly, so you can sit down and plan your entire month. And for planning monthly, I would probably say more so of like events or appointments that you have, you can probably plan monthly because it's more so of an overview when you plan monthly. So even if you plan for certain projects you want to do around the house, like those are the types of things you want to plan for monthly. And you also have in terms of a routine, you can have a weekly planning routine. And so in your weekly planning routine, that's where you can get a little bit more granular. And actually think about what it is that you want to do on a week to week basis and what it is that you want to do in any particular week. And so this is where you can add in like really specific tasks. You can add in appointments, calls. And for a weekly routine, it's a little bit better, because you are able to really think about what is occurring this week, because when you're doing a monthly overview is more so sometimes you can't project what's going to happen, and you can't predict what's going to take place. And so that's why a monthly overview is more generalized. But when you start to do weekly planning, which I'm a huge proponent of weekly planning. So that's where you can get more granular and really start to think about what are the specific tasks that I want to focus on for this week.
Ashley Brown 00:47
Hey, hey, welcome to the routine and things podcast. I am kind of sad about this episode, but also excited because we're going to be finishing out the routine series and focusing on planning, and how did you actually use planning for caring for your home? So that's what we're going to be diving into today, all about planning and if you don't know planning is my jam. So what is actually a planning routine? Let's kind of get that out of the way. So of course, like, you know, a routine is a series of actions done regularly. So a planning routine is a series of actions done regularly that involve planning, right and that are centered around planning. And in terms of planning, it's no specific time that you have to plan, but I want to throw out how often planning can occur because it can occur on a pretty frequent basis or it can occur on an infrequent basis. And so I want to give you some things to think about.
Ashley Brown 01:46
And you also could have a daily planning routine, I definitely have a daily planner routine as well as a weekly planning routine. So my weekly planning routine is just when I sit down I think about my week, I ask myself, the three questions that's so important, which we're going to go over later, but I also have a daily planning routine, which is super simple. So I wake up every morning and when I wake up, the first thing I will do before I get my day started is look at my list of to-do's and my list of priorities for the day. And so I just review what I wrote up in my weekly planning routine. I review that list to see, does it still apply for today? Do I need to switch things around? Because sometimes you may find that you have to switch things around depending on like unexpected sees, or if maybe you weren't able to get something done because something else came up the day before. And so I always, always, always look at what am I list of priorities today? What do I need to do today? And that just helps us set my day out well, and so that's just an overview of like, what your planning routine could look like, you could definitely have a prayer planning routine, like a monthly routine that you do as far as overview weekly, definitely. So that you can go ahead and predict what's going on your week and decide what you want to do for any particular week. And then a daily planning routine, where you review what you've planned in your weekly planning. And before I get into everything I want to say I am
Ashley Brown 04:59
a huge Huge planner like I love, love, love to plan. I've been a huge planner in my life. since I can remember like, honestly, I remember planning as a child. I remember planning in undergrad, planning in my master's program, planning in business, and planning from my home, but it was a season in my life and a point in my life where I wasn't planning from my home at all. Like my home was at the bottom of my to do list. It was not a priority at a certain point in my life. And it showed, like legitly showed. When I was not planning for my home, you could tell I wasn't planning for my home, you could tell that I was not intentional. But when I started to actually focus on my home actually intentionally care about my home and use planning for doing that, like everything changed. That was the day that everything changed when I really was like you know what, Ashley, you need to begin to plan for your home. Because if you can plan for everything else in your life, your home should also be a part of that list. And so that's what I did. And when I started planning, it definitely showed too, it definitely improved. My home improved, I was able to stick to things and keep a clean home, keep a good vibing home and actually accomplish the things that I wanted to accomplish. So I just say that to you today because I want you to recognize that it is definitely a difference in terms of if you plan versus if you don't plan. Like it clearly shows. And so right now, if you don't have a planning routine that is perfectly okay. Because you know what, girl, you have the power to start one. And if you have a planning routine, that is awesome. I want you to really pay attention today even if you do have a planning routine, because I want to make sure that your planning is effective and that it's actually going to help you accomplish the things that you want in your home in your life.
Ashley Brown 07:05
So I've been talking about like, it's important to have an effective routine, because it is is super important to have an effective routine. But are you planning effectively? That's my question. And so I want to go through some really ineffective ways of planning. So that if you're doing this, you can stop. Just period. Like you can stop if you're doing this type of planning or planning in these ways. So the first ineffective way of planning is planning in your head. Not effective. Planning in your head is a no go. Planning in your head is anxiety provoking. Planning in your head is clutter. Like that's what planning in your head is because you're less likely to remember what's in your head. Why because we have 50 million things, and yes, this is an exaggeration, but honestly, we have 50 million things running and playing in our head at all times. So how do we think it's going to be effective to plan in your head? It's not. It's not effective. Planning in your head is self sabotage. That's all that that is. Why would you want to put more on you and in your mind than you have to? That's why we have pen and paper and technology. Why would we do that to ourselves, right? So planning in your head? No, cut it out. If that's how you've been planning, that should stop it today.
Ashley Brown 08:38
The second ineffective way to plan is by just brain dumping onto your to do list. No, we won't cut this out too. Right. So if you sit down and when you plan ,you be like okay, what do I need to do this week? I need to do this, this, this, this,this and the list goes on and on and on. Like no girl. No ma'am. Brain dumping onto your to do list is what's going to create an impossible to do lists, it's going to create a cluttered to do lists. And honestly, when you brain dump onto your to do list, you are setting yourself up for not accomplishing your goals more than likely. Unless your brain dump is super small, but even then, is everything important to get done this week that your brain dumping? Or were you just pulling what was in your mind because it kept sitting there and then put it on to this list when maybe you have something else that's more of a priority that you haven't been thinking about? Maybe your kitchen, maybe your refrigerator hasn't been cleaned out in three months, but that's not in the top of your head. Maybe. Check your refrigerator sis, I don't know. But honestly, brain dumping is not an effective way to plan. Now, I want you to hear me on this brain dumping can be effective if used correctly, but not to just brain dump on to your to do list. No, ma'am, we're not doing that.
Ashley Brown 10:21
And then the last and ineffective way to plan that I like to call Superwoman planning is being overzealous with your plans. Trying to do all of the things. Do you got to do all of the things? Okay, so when you sit down to plan what this looks like is you're like, oh, I can get this done this week, like I can also get this done and this done. Oh, she did invite me to that. Let me go ahead and put that in. Oh, my coworker did say they want to go out for drinks and we put that in. Oh, yeah, my my child does have their recital this weekend. Let me put that in. My grandma did ask me to do that yesterday. Let me put that in. Yes, I can do all of this. I can do all of this this week. That's the conversation you're having your head and the conversation is wack. Like No, ma'am. That's not going to work. You do not want to be overzealous. Now we're super women just out of nature right? Because we made like that, we built for this life. We are super women, but we're not gonna do Superwoman planning. Because you know what we smart, and we are going to plan in an effective way that's going to help us accomplish our goals and save the day at the end of the week. So definitely being overzealous with your planning is super ineffective. It's very, very ineffective because you either one will feel defeated before you even begin because when you have all of those things, you're trying to do all the things, anybody know what it's like to try to do all of the things, I know, I'm like raising my hand back here. I know what it's like to try to do all of the things. I definitely do. I'm a recovering perfectionist, a recovering over achiever. Trust me, I've had to dig into that that's a story for another day about feeling validated by my achievements, but we're not gonna go there today sis, we're not going there today. We're not, but I want you to really think about, are you putting things on the list that are important? Are you just putting things on the list to just say that you have something to do? Or just show that you living life? Like come on. So being overzealous when you plan and trying to do Superwoman planning can definitely lead you to feeling defeated before you even begin.
Ashley Brown 12:49
But then let's say that you do complete everything on your long to do list and all the 50 things you want to do this week. You know how you're gonna feel, depleted at the end of the week. So I know you don't want to feel defeated before you even begin. And I definitely know you don't want to feel depleted by the end of the week either. Those are not good word, huh? So let's kind of get clear about really how should we be planning so that we don't feel those ways. So those are just some ways that I want to throw out there to you just in case you're like, yes, girl, I got a planning routine, but you've been planning in either of these ways. Mama, you don't have a planning routine. You're doing way too much. That's that's what you have. You're doing way too much. Alright, girl. You know this all from love. That's why I'm telling you this today because I want you to be your best. I want you to do your best. I want you to have peace in your home and planning and those ways are not going to lead you to that.
Ashley Brown 13:54
So now we can move into well, you might have the question that, Ashley how should I plan? Let me know, I got you. So planning effectively just means that you are being more intentional about the way that you plan. You are being more intentional with your days with your time. Because time that's a hot commodity, time is a value because you know what time goes and we can't get it back. And so we have to make sure that we are going to get a return on our investment. When it comes to spending time doing things. Let me say that again. It is important that we are doing things with our time that's going to lead us to a return on our investment, which means when we put in our time to go do something to go be somewhere that we are going in some way to get something out of that. Right everywhere we go sometimes does not mean we're getting a return on our investment and sometimes the return on our investment is like that wasn't even worth it, to even waste my time doing that. And so intentionality can actually help you with this. It can help you with the getting a return on your investment.
Ashley Brown 15:14
Also, when you plan, it's important that you are realistic with your planning. Like I said that Superwoman planning doesn't work. It's not helpful for you at all. So we want to get realistic about what we're going to do in a week. What are we going to do in our days. We want to get really realistic. No, this ain't the time to think about Tisha up the block, it's not the time to think about Becky down the street. This isn't the time to be thinking about somebody else you need to stay in your home. What do you need to get done? What do you want to do? So getting realistic about what you can accomplish is important. 50 things on a to do lists might get done. But like I said, you may feel depleted and more than likely will feel depleted by the end of the week. Twenty things on a to do list that could be a little bit more manageable for you. So getting really clear about what's important, is vital. And it's a really effective way to plan and to really prioritize, and not just writing down just things just to do but really thinking about is this important is his priority this week like that. That's why I created this method because I think it's very important for us to start prioritizing what matters and prioritizing our P's because planning is important. It has so many benefits for you. It shows that you actually care. Planning shows that you actually care. The hallmark of a homemaker is intentionality.
Ashley Brown 16:52
And so planning is how we stay intentional. It helps us to be intentional, it helps you be intentional. And so it just shows that You care, that's a great example for you within yourself. It's also a great example for your kids, for your partner, for whoever's in your home for your friends, or your neighbors, whoever you're associating yourself with. It's just a great example that, wow, she actually cares. She cares enough to plan. And I want to say, is nothing wrong with going with the flow is nothing wrong with going wherever the wind blows, it's nothing wrong with that. I think that there's times and seasons in life where that has to occur and where it is actually more important that that occur. So I do want to put that out there that I don't want you to think like, Oh, I can't go with the flow. No girl, you can go with the flow in certain times and seasons in life where that is vital and more important than planning. But if you want to make sure that you are maintaining your home or creating a home of abundance, planning has to occur, that's a non negotiable. Also when you plan you're twice as likely to really meet your goals and to actually accomplish the things that you set out to accomplish, which only helps you to build your confidence. It helps you with trusting yourself more, which does so much good for yourself. Planning is a confidence booster, especially when you plan effectively.
Ashley Brown 18:17
Another benefit of planning that I think is really important to think about is when you plan and you accomplish your goals, you are blessing your home. You are blessing the world. When we can plan and actually accomplish our goals we're being a blessing to ourselves, and we're being a blessing to others. So planning extends beyond just sitting down and writing something on a piece of paper. It's like being able to bless someone by being intentional about the planning in the way that you plan. And then planning is your peacekeeper. That's what planning is planning is your peacekeeper. When you plan In a really effective way, like I told you before, you're going to be able to achieve consistent peace in your life because you're going to be planning in a way that minimizes your to do list, that helps you to prioritize in order to do that because all the things are not important. I'm sorry to tell you, it's not. Everything that we do sometimes it's not as important as everything else. It's some things need to come to the top of the surface. And so that's what's so beautiful about planning. It helps you rise to the surface so that you can consistently do the things that you know are going to move your home and life forward, and that's going to be so peaceful for your spirit. So planning is your peacekeeper, if you can remember that and attach yourself to that. That planning is your peacekeeper that can help you in being consistent with your planning routine and sticking to planning, which takes me to my next point.
Ashley Brown 19:55
How do you remain consistent with planning? We're in the New Year girl, and the New Year 2020, such a blessing to be here right? But sometimes we can start off good and beginning you know, you know how that is, will be good for January, we'll say we 're going to plan. We good for January, February we even good March possibly when you start getting a little bit warm. That's what we want to start acting up. That's when planning starts to die out not this year. We're not doing that this year. We are going to stick to our planning routine. And so some ways that you can do this is one, how I like to do my planning routine is I plan on one specific day, I plan every Sunday. I may even plan on Saturday, but most of the time I plan on Sundays because that's when I have the time and that's when I devote and carve out the time to plan. So having a specific day and time that you plan is really, really great for helping you to stick to planning, because like I said, it's a routine. So when you do the same series of actions every single week, you sit in the same spot, you pull out that same sheet of paper ,planner, you plan it the same time on the same day, your mind starts to click and take like, okay, I'm repeating this behavior every single week. So it gets easier and easier for you to stick to planning, because it becomes a habit. So the same day and time can be really, really beneficial in helping you to stick to your plan and routine.
Ashley Brown 21:33
Also, until it becomes something that is habitual for you. Setting reminders is great too, like setting reminders for yourself, put it in your phone, send yourself an email every single week. You know, we can schedule our emails now, right, like if you have a Gmail account, I don't know for any other email companies, but in terms of Gmail, you can schedule out emails in advance. And so that could be a great way to remind you. So that email pops up, plan today. And so just reminders can be really, really beneficial. And also thinking about the result of planning can help you be consistent. Thinking about what is the result of you planning, you achieve peace, you are blessing yourself and someone else, you are building confidence in yourself. Like all of those things can really help you be like, you know what, I want to stick to this, because I want to bless someone, because I want to build up confidence in myself because I want to have peace. So thinking about the result can be so vital for you girl, when it comes to sticking to planning. So this year, I want you to think about the result of planning. And if you need to go a little bit deeper, think about the cost of you not planning. That means you're not building up that confidence. You probably are not bless as many people as you could. And you are inviting more chaos and overwhelm into your life. So this year, we are going to think about the result of us planning. I want you to think about the result of you planning and keep that top of mind.
Ashley Brown 23:11
So what are the next steps because we talked about a lot of things, we talked about ineffective ways to plan and kind of got clear about that. We talked about an effective way of planning and how to be effective in your planning, and being really intentional about what we're deciding to do on a weekly basis. We talked about the benefits of planning and how to stay consistent. Alright, girl so that's it for this week. Can you tell I love planning? Can you tell it's my jam? It's how you keep your rhythm in life, it's how you keep your rhythm in your home.I'm back here moving and grooving. If you could see me I'm like moving and grooving because it's how you keep your rhythm at home. And so I'm so sad that we're coming to the end of the routine series but I hope that you got a lot out of learning about each and every routine I hope it has blessed you in some way. If it has, let me know. Email me at hello@routineandthings.com. If you're not following me on IG, follow me there @routineandthings and pop into my DMs, shoot me a message and let me know if learning about each and every routine has helped you in terms of your routines and in terms of helping to maintain your home and just helping to care for yourself as well. As always make sure that you subscribe if you haven't already. Hit that subscribe button girl and then also rate and review the podcast. Let me know your thoughts. What are you vibing with in terms of what we're speaking about, what has been helpful for you? I want to hear your thoughts about the podcast. But yes girl, I hope that you are enjoying wherever you are and whatever you're doing. Until next time, I will talk to you next week.
Ashley Brown 24:59
[Outro] Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed today's episode could you do me a huge favor and take a screenshot and share it on social, and for more routine goodness, be sure to visit routineandthings.com. Here's to staying happy!