Ashley Brown 0:00 [Intro]
Just so you know routines and planning are not the same, but the similarities they share can make a huge impact in your life. In this episode of the routine and things podcast I share what makes routines different from planning and why you need both to manage life and enjoy it to the fullest. Let's get into it.
Ashley Brown 0:32
Hey girl, listen to this. You can't enjoy life if you're stressed from managing it. This is why I am so excited to share the great news. The routine and things planner is on presale. The routine and things planner is not your average planner. It goes above and beyond to help you get organized and in routine so you enjoy the heck out of your life. If you're feeling stressed and overwhelmed and looking for a simple way to get organized, you're going to love this planner. The routine and things planner will help you organize what matters while also helping you incorporate healthy routines into your life. This planner is different than anything you've experienced. It uses routine blocking a planning method where you organize tasks into routine categories. It's a very simple planning method for organizing your week with ease, staying focused on your priorities and keeping top of mind what matters including you. Imagine enjoying your life because you're able to manage what's on your plate without feeling overwhelmed by it. The routine and things planner is the solution. The planner will be on presale from now to July. But listen to this. If you order your planner in the month of May you get the early bird special, which includes 10% off the planner and free attendance to all of my 2023 routine classes. This is only available during the month of May. So don't miss out to be the first to order the routine and things planner, go to routineandthings.com/plan or click the link in the show notes.
Ashley Brown 2:14
Hey, girl, what's up it's Ashley here. Welcome. I'm so happy you're joining me for another episode of the routine of things podcast. In today's episode, I'm really excited to chat with you about this. Today we are talking about routines and planning the differences between routine and planning. And also I want to talk about the similarities. As you have heard the routine and things planner is on presale right now. And the routine and things planner merges routines and planning for a reason you're going to be able to plan using this planner of course, but you're also going to be able to create really healthy routines for your life inside the planner, because routines and planning and synergy do so much for your life.
Ashley Brown 2:58
So let's break down the difference between routines and planning. Because you may already know like what the similarities are, but I want to share how they're different so that when you're going to plan, you know that this is what's going to happen when I plan versus when you're going to do your routines. You know, this is why I'm doing my routine and why I'm not planning even though planning can be a routine, and it will be for you if you grab the planner. Okay, let's go ahead and get into planning first. So what is planning. Planning are actions we intend to take. Let me say that, again, planning are actions we intend to take. So when you plan, you are being proactive, you're making a plan, you're thinking ahead, which is important, right?
Ashley Brown 3:46
That's what proactive is all about. But they are not action oriented. They're actions you plan to take. But you're not actually taking action just because you're writing the things out. Planning does not automatically equal action. And that's a huge thing for you to understand. Because sometimes we'll be confused about like, wait, I planned but I didn't get the things done on my plan. Or I use my planner and I didn't do some of the things on my planner for one that's realistic in life. I'm gonna just let you know that right now that every week just because you write down things does that actually mean you're going to get them done? Some weeks you're going to be able to some weeks, maybe not because something came up a curveball came through something presented itself that was more important.
Ashley Brown 4:29
So just know that just because you plan does not automatically mean you're going to take action on that plan. We have to be very intentional about taking action and that's also in how we plan, right how you plan is so important for you because it determines if you're going to realistically be able to make those things happen and take action on your plan. So just because you plan does not mean you will take action. This is why many of us stay stressed because our plans don't come to fruition. We don't follow through with our plans. But I want you to know that you can and and it is possible to follow through with the plan you create. It just has to be realistic, it has to make sense.
Ashley Brown 5:11
A lot of us over plan, you may be an over planner, we'll just write out a bunch of things. But if you work like a nine to five job Monday through Friday, it's only so much you can get done after you work or even before you work. So over planning doesn't do anything for you. The one thing I will say about planning that I absolutely love is that it's a stress management tool, it helps to ease anxiety, because you're able to lay out what you want your week to look like you're able to have a plan in place, which when we have predictability, that is really important for us that helps to ease our mind and our anxiety and our stress. When we have a plan in place. No matter if the plan isn't going to come to fruition.
Ashley Brown 5:53
The fact that you're actually sitting down and writing out taking what's in your head and intentionally planning out what you're going to do, being intentional about what you're doing. That in itself is stress managing, like stress management is huge when it comes to planning. So that's why I love it so much that predictability eases anxiety. So that's planning, planning is actions, we intend to take. Routines, let's get into routines, because you know, routines are my jam. So routines are actions you actually take. Did you see the difference there? Planning are actions you intend to take. Routines are actions you actually take, you can't be in routine if you're not taking action. Actions that move the needle forward in your life. That's what routines are routines are action oriented.
Ashley Brown 6:42
So routines do automatically equal action, which is important, because it's not just enough for us to play. And we also have to be taking action in our lives in order to move the needle forward in order to continue to live in our purpose in order to really live our life to the fullest in the way that we want to. Action has to be taken. When you have routines in your life, you are consistently taking action in the ways that you need to whether that's routine is for yourself, for your family, you know, whoever the routine is helping you consistently take action. Consistency is key in life. Consistency can really help to move you from a point of being overwhelmed and stressed to actually feeling like you have some peace of mind and you're living with ease. If you're taking action in a healthy way, routines are also a stress management tool. Okay?
Ashley Brown 7:32
So just like planning routines are a stress management tool, because you are able to decide what actions you're going to take how you're actually going to do something ahead of time, instead of thinking in real time. It's that predictability again, right? Predictability, eases anxiety is a stress. So that's why these two things in synergy. Planning and routine are really impactful for your life. That is exactly why I created the routine and things planner, because I wanted you to be able to get organized, which planning helps you do that. But I also wanted you to get organized by having routines a part of your life, right being able to incorporate routines into your life in a really healthy way. So that is a difference between planning and routines.
Ashley Brown 8:13
Like I said before, they do have the similarity of helping to ease stress, overwhelm anxiety, and really hoping to put you more at ease in your days. So why do you need both? I just said it. They're stress management tools. Like I know right? Now, if you're listening, you're probably like, Yes, girl, give me all the stress management tools. Yes, that's why you need both because they help you think ahead of time so that you don't have to think in real time you get to plan ahead. That's what both planning and routines help you do. Plan ahead. These two together increase your ability to manage stress, right? Because they're going to be stressors that come in life, right?
Ashley Brown 8:51
You might get a flat tire, your child might get sick, you might get sick, right? God forbid, but it happens. And so when you have ways to manage stress planning, having routines, then when those stressors come up, it's not a huge deal, right? Of course, like you have to tend to the stressors you have to make sure that you alleviate the stressors that pop up but it's not going to make a real huge dip in your life and throw you so far of course because you have routines that are there and you know how to plan planning. This is something I want to share with you and you may have heard me say this before planning takes into account the what however routines take into account the how, right? Planning takes into account the what routines take into account that how you need both in your life you need to intentionally be deciding what you're going to do.
Ashley Brown 9:35
But you also need to be intentionally deciding how you do things in your life, how you move and flow in your life. Those two things are both important planning and routines both help you make progress in your life. If you're looking to make progress in a type of way right now, which I'm pretty sure you are these two things are going to help you make progress in your life because when we make progress, we feel good in life. We enjoy life more when we're making progress. It's just something about us humans. So that's why you need both. Okay, I hope that this was helpful. This is the main reason why the planner is here why I've created a planner that helps you get organized that helps you to incorporate routines into your life.
Ashley Brown 10:13
Because when these two things are in synergy, you feel like you are organized you feel like you have a sense of ease in your life and you enjoy life more I promise you that routines create such space and freedom for you mentally but also tangibly to be perfectly honest, when you know what you're doing how you do it, it frees up so much in your mind and frees up so much space in your life is crazy. So if you want to be able to manage life well and you don't want to be stressed by doing it, merge the power of routines and planning, alleviate that stress, enjoy your life. The planner is the bomb.com the routine and things planner, I hope that you get it while the early bird special is going on, you get 10% off and also free attendance to all of my 2023 routine classes. I'm super excited about the classes, you should go look them up now. And this planner I'm telling you, it's going to help you get organized and in routine so that you enjoy life more the planner is very different.
Ashley Brown 11:12
But it also is very simple to use, which was intentional. I don't want you having a huge learning curve to use the planner and I want for you to jump in to dive in and to feel good about it and be able to map out your weeks with ease and stay focused on your priorities. And really keep top of mind what matters most to you, including yourself. Okay, so go check out the planner, you can go to routineandthings.com/plan or click the link in the show notes to check out the planner to get it while you have the early bird special going on. And it's only going on throughout the month of May. But that's it for today. I hope that you learned a lot about planning about routines, why both are needed in your life and make sure you share this episode with someone you know today. But until next time, be sure to enjoy wherever you are, whatever you're doing, stay happy girl, and I'll talk to you next week.
Ashley Brown 12:02 [Outro]
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 routineandthings.com Here's to staying happy