Ashley Brown 0:00
Routines my absolute favorite word, but you either love them or you're working on getting there. But either way, I strongly believe routines can be a springboard for improving your home, yourself and your life. I'm Ashley Brown, and this is the routine and things podcast. In each episode, I'll share practical tips and simple ways to help you consistently live your happiest life, one routine at a time. Trust me, you're going to want to keep listening, because you're well on your way to getting and staying happy.
Ashley Brown 0:49
Before we get into today's episode, have you ever wonder which routine is the best for you to start right now, if you are unsure of which routine will best meet the needs of your home and life at this very moment, you now have a way to find out. I've created for you a very simple and free routine assessment that will help you identify which routine you really need most right now, to take this quick assessment that will point you in the right direction and get you started with the right routine. Click the link in the show notes or head to routineandthings.com. Alright, let's go ahead and get into today's episode.
Ashley Brown 1:25
Hey, welcome back for another episode. In today's episode, I am asking you a question. Are you being a good steward of your time? And let me say this, this question is one that I ask myself constantly. Because time is of the essence, time is the one thing that is always fleeting in our life is like you can't grasp enough time or you can't bring back time, right? Although I love the saying of reclaim your time, right, you might be able to reclaim your time. But that time is gone. Once it's gone, it's gone. And so this question is one that I ponder on constantly, because I am always wanting to be a good steward of my time. Because I want to make sure that I am living my most fulfilled life and use my time in a way that fills me up. That leaves me satisfied. And that really is something that I can be proud of that I did spend my time in a really meaningful way. And so for today's episode I'm sharing with you and ig live that I did some months back. And it was talking about time management, it was talking about time management, because time management is one of those things that can be difficult for some of us, right I know I struggle with this hugely when I was coming out of school and becoming a nurse.
Ashley Brown 3:05
So time management was is huge in nursing. Like, I remember having five to six patients and being you know, being in charge of their care, right. And time management is a really important factor when you are caring for multiple patients. And so in the beginning, it was pretty hard for me to learn how to manage my time with that amount of patients with the amount of work that was on my plate. But I'm so happy that I did learn that skill of time management because now I'm a beast, and I'm good at it. I'm good at managing my time. And I love being able to say that that I have learned through much practice how to most effectively manage my time. And in today's episode, I'm going to be sharing this with you in the talk. So make sure you listen out for those gems about how you can best manage your time. And one thing I want you to understand is that curiosity is really important if you feel like you don't make the best use of your time start to get really curious about why because I promise you, it's not you. It's just something in what you're doing or maybe the way you're thinking about something.
Ashley Brown 4:26
Okay, so if you feel like you never have enough time you struggle with time management. This episode is really going to be helpful for you today. So stay curious throughout today's episode, and listen in for those nuggets of information that could be really useful for you. Let's get into it. Alright, so we're going to be talking about being a good steward of your time and do you feel like you're being a good steward of your time? Time is something that is so important to all of us. I was gonna say just to me Time is so important for all of us. And when we feel like we're not being a good steward of our time, it can make us feel, you know, some type of way. And we feel like we're not utilizing our time in a way that we feel like, you know what this was time well spent. So do you feel like right now in your life? Do you feel like you are being a good steward of your time? I just recently asked myself this, because I was feeling a bit. Let me just say, I was feeling a bit. I don't know, the other week, just last week, I put up a post, I do story, and I was like, too much is given much is required. And that is when I was feeling a little bit of weight. And I started asking myself this question will actually, are you being a good steward of your time? And the answer was no. The answer was no.
Ashley Brown 6:03
Especially not in a certain capacity. And so I checked myself, and I had to get it together. And so that's what I did. So we're gonna be talking about being a good steward of your time, and how you can do this in a way that feels good to you in a way that aligns with who you are. And, you know, so that you can feel good in life, when we feel like time is well spent, how we're utilizing our time, feels good, we feel good in life. I mean, that's for me, I'm pretty sure it's probably the same for you. So this is for you stick around. Because this is for you. If you feel like you know what, I just want to know how I can become more intentional with my time, if you feel like you always feel or constantly feel like you are rushed throughout your days, you feel like maybe you feel like you can't get the things done in your day that you want to because you feel like you don't have enough time. And there's a little time in the day, if you have any of those thoughts springing across your mind, then this is for you. Because I want to share with you how you can become more intentional with your time so that you feel like you know, where I'm living life on purpose with purpose. And I'm not just floating around here doing things that maybe sometimes don't make much sense, because I'm gonna be very honest.
Ashley Brown 7:24
Sometimes we can do things that, you know, we get it done, but the way we got it done didn't make much sense if we're trying to utilize our time in the best way. Okay, so basically, when it comes to being a good steward of your time, the thing that I want to share with you is that routines help you with this. Did you know I was gonna say that? So I feel as if routines really help you and allow you to become and be a good steward of your time. Hands down, period, exclamation point. All of that. Routines allow you to be a good steward of your time. Why? Right? Because one routine is a series of steps that you're going to do. And in order to get a certain outcome is a predictable set of steps that you have already predetermined, this is what I'm doing with my time, these are the steps I'm going to take to get to this outcome to see this result happen. So what that does is that allows you to then be like, you know what, I already know what I'm doing, that's less decision making for you. Okay, that's less decision making for you, when you know, you have a series of steps that's going to get you to a certain outcome. So when you think about routines, that's why I love routine so much, because I already know what I'm doing. Right? If you have a routine right now, you already know what you're doing. And that routine is the difference between knowing what you're cooking, when 5pm comes versus not knowing what you're cooking.
Ashley Brown 9:01
When 5pm come I mean, it comes around. It's the difference between those two things. Because if you you know, we've all done it, where dinner time comes, what we eating tonight? You know how much time that takes to think about what you want to eat because then you gotta especially if you have a partner you have to turn to your partner and be like what we eating tonight? They are going to say they don't know. annoying. I don't know what what do you want to eat? Well, that's why I asked you. And then if you have kids, then you're like, probably gonna feed these kids? How much time have we wasted? I dont want to say wasted. I wouldnt say wasted . I wouldn't go that far. But how much time have we spent just trying to decide what we are cooking for dinner. That used to be a huge time waster for me. And so that's the that's what routines bring you because if you know what you're cooking, when the dinner time comes what you can get in the kitchen cook, you even have some time for you maybe your partner when you when a night time comes. And you don't have that back and forth decision making routines lessens decision making for you.
Ashley Brown 10:16
When you have less decisions to make that i s more time for you. That's the beauty about routines. Right a series of steps you already know you are doing pre determined. I also want to share with you that when I say being a good steward of your time is all it's also not just about, you're like doing things in the most efficient and effective way. It's not about just trying to get things done quicker. So you can have more time in your life. Being a good steward of your time can also mean making sure that you are using your time in a way that aligns with what you value. Routines bring you this. Alright, let me say that again. When I talk about routines, many of times you will hear me say that routines bring forward what you value. So if you want to be a good steward of your time, you have to start to assess are the actions that I'm doing in my day actually aligning with what matters to me. Because let's get real here, some of us we will do things. And we will do things because we see our neighbor doing them. Because we see this chick on Instagram doing things. Inspiration is beautiful.
Ashley Brown 11:31
I think inspiration is everything. But what I want you to start doing when you see somebody doing something that you're like, Hmm, maybe I should be doing that. First of all, sure. Anytime you say should that's a red flag. But also you want to ask yourself, Do I even care? Do I even even care? Do I even like what they're doing? And do I care about that thing? Is that thing of value to me? Is it a value to my family? That is a huge thing to ask yourself, because we'll see people doing things our friends, our coworkers we'll think because the other parents in the school are doing the thing we need to be doing it too. But does it matter to you? Is it of value to you? Because when you start to then move into doing things that are not a value to you, you are not being a good steward of your time. And that's when you will get into feeling like time was not well spent, that you weren't able to get the things done that you actually valued in your day. That's when those feelings will start to arise for you. So making sure you're being a steward and good steward of your time is not so much about making sure things are efficient or effective. Yes, that's a part of it. Right?
Ashley Brown 12:44
That's routines help with that. But also thinking about are the actions you are doing on a day by day week by week basis. actually helping you to align your actions with what you value that is so important and routines bring this about. That's like my love for routines. If I had a deep love that is what it is. Routines bring forward what it is that you value, especially when you're intentional in the creation of your routines. Okay, so important, so important for you to think about these things. Because we will feel like oh my gosh, I can't get this done. I feel like I was supposed to. I was supposed to do this. It was in my planner, I have my plan for the day. Why didn't I get that done? I know I could have gotten that done what happened here. So start to utilize routines. Start to use routines to be a part of your life, to be your lifestyle that you use routines in a very intentional way. In order for you to move with intention, bring your values forward on a consistent basis. When you feel as if you are utilizing your time in the best way possible. You are happier, you have more joy, less stress. It really helps you to feel like you're living a purposeful life.
Ashley Brown 14:03
Alrighty, so that's it for today's episode. I hope that you enjoyed that. So in the episode, I talked very heavily about how your values really orchestrate how you use your time. And sometimes we can think that we are living in our values. But when we actually take an inventory of what we're doing with our time we see that that is actually not true. So I challenge you today I really challenge you to do to do a time study and to really take into account what you are doing with your time. So before we end today, I want to leave you with some routine wisdom. And that is your time is of value and your values orchestrate how you use your time. Okay, so always remember that those things right if time is of value to you, how are your value Actually guiding you to using your time in the most effective way and allow you to be a good steward of your time consistently. If you are listening right now I would love for you to share with me that you are listening and let me know what was one of your biggest takeaways from this episode. Tag me out routineandthings on Instagram. I would love to hear from you. Thank you for tuning in today hanging out with me today. Until next time, continue to enjoy wherever you are, whatever you're doing, stay happy and I will talk to you later.
Ashley Brown 15:34
Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed today's episode, take a screenshot and share it on social I would love to know you're listening. And for tools to help you start maintain and enjoy your routines. Be sure to head to routineandthing.com. Here's to staying happy.