In part 1 of this 3 part audio series, I’m speaking on sticking to the plans you create. In this episode of the Routine and Things Podcast, I’ll be sharing how to focus and follow through on your plans, no matter how big or small. If you struggle with follow through and have a tendency to give up too easily, this would be a great episode to listen to. Let’s get to it!
Word for Word
Ashley Brown 0:00
In part one of this three part How To series, I'm speaking on sticking to the plans you create. In this episode of the routine and things podcast, I'll be sharing how to focus and follow through on your plans no matter how big or small. If you struggle with follow through, or have a tendency to give up too easily, this would be a great episode to listen to. Let's get to it.
Ashley Brown 0:42
Reduce daily stress and keep overwhelm at bay using the routine and things planner, our one of a kind planner merges routines and planning to help you get organized and stay organized. You will build and incorporate routines into your life little by little. And using the signature of routine block planning method you will organize your weekly tasks and so for routine categories to maintain a strong foundation for your home and your life. The things that typically get lost in the day to day shuffle will now be brought to the forefront every single week, which will help you lessen stress and avoid becoming overwhelmed. To get your very own routine and things planner, be sure to head to routine and things.com or click the link in the show notes.
Ashley Brown 1:28
Hey, welcome back for another episode of the routine things podcast. I'm your girl Ashley. And in today's episode, this is going to be starting a three part How To Series. This three part How To Series is really focused on helping you with planning. So if you struggle in any way with the plans you create and following through and knowing how to organize multiple to do lists, and really understanding how to even continue to work towards your plans. When you feel unmotivated, then this series is going to be really great for you. This first part is really on how to focus and follow through on your plan. So if you do have a tendency to not follow through on your plans if you are really good at creating lists, but not actually executing that list than today's episode is going to be really great for you. And so I'm excited to really dig into this and to give you some suggestions on how you can improve when it comes to following through on the plans that you create. And when it comes to really focusing and staying focused on the goals that you have and the things that you want to get done in your life. Before I get into today's episode, I want to share that the routine and things planner is available, it is really awesome in helping you to get and stay organized by merging planning and routines. And one what I love so much about this planner is it really helps you to attend to those things that need to be managed on many times a day to day basis that when they do fall by the wayside, or they're not tended to can cause us to become very frustrated or stressed and overwhelmed. And so this planner just keeps you with the basics helps you to stay focused on the basics, but also helps you to understand visually how much you have on your play and how to navigate in a way that feels good so that you don't feel like you're just doing so much but that you have a realistic and manageable way of really getting the things done in your day to day that needs to be done. So the routine things planner is here. It uses the routine block planning method which is really great at helping you organize your weekly ties into four routine categories including cleaning, cooking children and self care. And so if this is something that you are interested in, definitely check it out, you can head to routine and things.com forward slash plan to learn more or click the link in the show notes.
Ashley Brown 4:12
Alright, so in this episode today, and in this first part How To series like I said, we're focusing on how to focus and follow through on your plans. And in this series, you will hear me mention the routine and things planner, just as an FYI, but I really want for you to take away the nuts and bolts of this audio series because it has some really really great suggestions that can really help you to get better with planning. So yeah, let's go ahead and get into it. Enjoy. Hey, I'm super excited because this is our your class number one on how to focus and follow through with your plans. I am excited to be chatting with you about this today is one of my favorite topics. And it's really going to help you especially because you do have a routine and things planner is going to help you with focusing on your task throughout the week is going to be helpful for you in following through on the plans that you create. And so, before we get into things, I do want to say that planning in general is not about you checking every box. It's not about that, like planning is a way for you to practice intentionality. And to give you a sense of what could happen so that you release some of those things from your mind and that you have a reference to go back to that can help to keep you on track with the things that matter in your day to day. Okay, so it's not really about checking every box.
Ashley Brown 5:51
But I know, we are people that like to get things done, because it feels good, as well as getting certain things done in our life is in alignment with how we want our life to feel. And so I totally get that. But I want to put that out here before we get started today. Okay, so let's get into things. This is going to be short and sweet. But I'm going to share my perspective, on focus and follow through from the, from my lens, and from what I have learned throughout life, and what has been beneficial for me. So take what you like, leave what you don't, and I think that you're gonna get much out of this class. So first and foremost, you have the routine and things planner, hopefully, you have either started planning or you're going to start planning in it really soon. But I know that your goal is to be able to follow through on the plans that you create, to be able to check off at least, at least maybe 50% of the boxes every single week. And for you to feel as if you are making progress in your life, right like that is super important that we are making progress towards what we want. Because that's when we feel good in life. And that's when we feel like we are in alignment in life is like I'm doing the things that feel good to me, I'm handling the things that matter. And life feels good. And I want this for you. When it comes to focus and follow through with your plans. The first thing I want to share is one, your plans have to be in alignment with what matters to you. Like this is the first thing. Your plans like the thing, the tasks that you are writing down every single week have to be in alignment with what matters to you. Because if they are not in alignment with what matters to you. And when I say what matters to you, I really want you to focus on your day to day like what really matters in your day to day so that it runs smoothly so that you feel like you're managing your days, well. What are those things that matter really in your day to day.
Ashley Brown 8:15
For me, that is making sure that at least tidying my house that's making sure that I connect with my family that's making sure that I connect with myself in some form or fashion is making sure that I connect with God like these are the things that matter to me in my day to day that I make a delicious meal, or at least buy a delicious meal like that's, that's what matters to me in my day today. And I want you to think about it in your day. Because sometimes we can start to create these really grand goals, which I think is beautiful, like don't give up on your goals. However, sometimes those goals because they are so grand, we can get caught up in those and then we forget about our day to day. And those are the things like forgetting about our day to day tasks that really helped like to feel good. And for things to run smoothly when we get outside of those things. That's when a lot of stress and anxiety and overwhelm come is because we're not managing the basics and the things that really matter to us on a daily basis. And so I want for you to focus on what really matters to you, in your day to day. And you also have to have a deep understanding of why it matters to you. So you can it's not just good enough for you to be like oh, so I want to connect with my children every day and that matters to me, but why does it matter to you? Right? Or if you're like, you know what, like reading matters to me, but why does it matter to you because you want to have a deep understanding as to what does this do for your life? How does this make you feel? Because you're attached to it? more strongly, which will help you to not get distracted as easily because that's, that's the point of this first.
Ashley Brown 10:10
This first thing is that when you have plans are in alignment with what matters to you, and you know deeply why it matters to you. You're not going to get distracted as easily not to say you're not going to get distracted, we all get distracted. Right? We sometimes get shiny object syndrome, we see some past bias or we notice something. And here we go. It's like, it's like a squirrel and the night like, come on. Right? I get it. However, when you do know what matters to you. And your plans are in alignment with that, you're not going to be as easily taken out of focus. Yeah, you may see the thing, right, like you may be connecting with your children. And then you glance over and you see all these dishes in the sink. Yeah, you may see that. But you're like, you know what I'm here though, like, so let me stay focused on this is not going to take your attention as much, right? Or, for example, maybe it's like, you know that you want to connect with your partner, or significant other and your friend calls you to go out to dinner. It's like that, yeah, that distraction is there. But you're like, you know what, I know what matters to me, in my day to day and like, this is it like I can schedule another time to hang out with my friend, right? Like, so you're not as easily distracted when you know what matters to you. And when your plans and tasks are in alignment with that, and you know deeply why it matters to you, you're not going to be as easily distracted. And you will be able to better focus on those things. So this really deals with focus. Because this is the thing is that some of us don't know what matters to us, really, in our day to day. We have like a grand idea of what matters. But what truly matters to you. When do you feel your best? That's like a place to start. When do you feel your best? Like can you think about a day in the past where you felt your absolute best? What did you do in that day? And this is like in like a day, like in a normal day. This isn't when you've been on vacation? Right? Like it's a whole different ballgame. But like in a normal day, where have you been like, you know what today felt real good. Today, Phil, actually good. Think about what happened in your day. How did you manage that day? What were you doing in that day, because that will show you what matters to you in order for life to feel good and for things to run smoothly. So that's the first thing. Now let's move on to the second thing. And this is the last thing I'm gonna share when it comes to following through on your plan specifically. And that is your plans have to be realistic for what you can handle on a day to day basis. Then we repeat that, again, your plans must be realistic for what you can handle on a day to day basis. And what you can handle deals with how much time you have and how much energy let me make that extremely clear how much time you have, and how much energy. Those two things matter when it comes to what you can handle on a day to day basis. And if your plans are not realistic to what you can handle, follow through is going to be extremely more challenging, extremely more challenging, because sometimes we get overzealous, because many of us are high achievers, I'm pretty sure you are. I'm like I could be I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure you are you're a high achiever, like it's just in your in your blood.
Ashley Brown 14:14
And with us, sometimes we can get overzealous and be like I can do all of this. But when we have to ask ourselves, do I want to do all of this? That's all this already point number one, do I want to do all of this right? And that is outside of our our responsibilities, right? If you have children, you are responsible for your kids, right? You're responsible for certain things in life. And that's just what it is. Right? That's adulting but like, do you want to do the things that are outside of your real responsibilities? And also we have to ask ourselves, why are we doing the things? And thirdly, how are we doing these things? Right? So it's so many layers to this, but like your plans have to be realistic. They have to be you do not want to crowd your day, you really want to sit down when you are using the routine and things planner, you want to sit down, and you want to look day by day. And you want to see like, how have I mapped out this day? And do I have the time for this? And also the energy? How am I going to distribute my energy to get these things done throughout the day? And have I set myself up for a successful day? Or have I crowded my day and made it much harder for me to actually get these things done? Right, we really have to get more realistic. And I think that's where some of us get tripped up, is that we believe because we are highly capable, because we are you are we're highly capable people, we believe that I can get all of these things done. And that may seem really nice on paper. But when it comes to doing those things, take an action on those things, that's going to be a different ballgame. And you want to take inventory and really look at past situations where you feel overwhelmed at the throughout your day, or at the end of the day. And you want to think about what was I doing on that day? How much was I doing, and don't do it don't repeat that pattern. But think about a day where you were like in your in the pocket like in your sweet spot. And you're like these were the amount of tasks that I that I did, and it felt good. And I didn't feel overworked or burnt out. And I didn't feel like I didn't get anything done. This was my sweet spot.
Ashley Brown 16:45
Think about days like that, that you may have had in the past. And then that's what you want to try to mimic in the future is, I know, for example, I'll share with you for my workday specifically because of course, like I'm working on routine and things and I'm always doing things. And so for me and my work day, I don't do anything but two to three tasks. In minutes, I'd only do two, I don't even do three. And that is because one I want to give myself room and space for flexibility and change. Because I know I'm in a season where I have little babies. They're not babies, but they're three and five, but I have I have little children. And life just presents itself sometimes in ways that I can not expect. And so I like to have a buffer room. In my day. It especially in my work day, and in my day overall. And so that's something that you want to think about is have you created buffer room in your day? Because this is how you manage things well, is by really thinking about how am I distributed my energy throughout the day to make sure I don't get burned out? How am I managing my time throughout my day?
Ashley Brown 18:12
And how am I managing the tasks that I do in a way that is realistic for what I can actually accomplish with life that sometimes throws curveballs like that is the key here when you're talking about follow through. So those are the two things I want for you to really hold to. If you are having already gotten a piece of paper and a pen, go ahead and get it out. And if you have to re listen to this every listen to this multiple times. But these are the things are really important for you to consider when you are wanting to focus and follow through with the plans that you make. The first thing is your plans have to be in alignment with what matters to you. And you must have a deep understanding of why it matters to you. So in your day to day what matters for that data run smoothly. Why does it matter to you? This will help you to not be as easily distracted so that you can focus on really what is important. Secondly, the plans that you make have to be realistic for what you can handle on a day to day basis. period that's it. Don't crowd your days. Do not crowd your days. Think about how you're distributing your energy.
Ashley Brown 19:50
You know when you're planning and this is another thing that just popped into my head when you're planning. Think about that day and I visualize how your day is going to go. So when you're planning for the week, I want for you to really sit there and go Monday through Friday or Monday through Sunday about well, how is this day going to play out? How do I envision this day happening? And I want you to make sure that you add in flexibility and room for unexpected things to occur. And then that's when I want for you to tweak your plan based upon how the visualization went. Because if you realize like, dang, yeah, like, this might not be as realistic, you have the permission to scratch something out. You had the bread, you know, this is a reason also why I use erasable pens is because, you know, some of us don't want to scratch things out because they don't look as pretty. So if you're that tight, make sure you're using erasable pens. But yeah, you can always erase something, scratch something off and be like, You know what, I'm not doing this today. Let me put that maybe on Thursday, when I don't have as much I'm doing. Well, let me just put that on the next week is perfectly fine. But that can be something that you do is like really visualize how your day goes. And then you'll be able to see oil, this seemed really realistic, like it actually seemed really good. It was in my sweet spot.
Ashley Brown 21:21
Or maybe it wasn't as realistic. So let me switch it up. So those are the things I want for you to focus on. If you are wanting to focus and follow through on your plans this year, you're so calm, focus on these two things, get really clear about these two things, practice these two things, and you're going to be good. Alright, so I hope that that was helpful for you to hear how to focus and follow through on your plans. Hopefully the suggestions and tips that I shared will allow you to improve upon following through and improve upon really getting the things done and staying focused on those things in a way that feels good to you. Next week, I'm going to be sharing how to best organize multiple to do lists. So if you are a to do list girl you have lists all around your home lists all around your your tables, just if you know that you are a list girl and you want like some tips on how to best organize them. This is going to be a really great episode for you to listen to next week. So definitely come back and listen to this episode. But thank you for joining me I hope that you are doing extremely well in your life right now. And even if you feel like you aren't, just know you're doing the best you can and that you can do hard things. But until next time, continue to enjoy wherever you are. Whatever you're doing, stay happy. Remember the routine and things planner is available for you. And I'll talk to you next week.
Ashley Brown 22:58
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 routine and things.com Here's to staying happy.
In part one of this three part How To series, I'm speaking on sticking to the plans you create. In this episode of the routine and things podcast, I'll be sharing how to focus and follow through on your plans no matter how big or small. If you struggle with follow through, or have a tendency to give up too easily, this would be a great episode to listen to. Let's get to it.
Ashley Brown 0:42
Reduce daily stress and keep overwhelm at bay using the routine and things planner, our one of a kind planner merges routines and planning to help you get organized and stay organized. You will build and incorporate routines into your life little by little. And using the signature of routine block planning method you will organize your weekly tasks and so for routine categories to maintain a strong foundation for your home and your life. The things that typically get lost in the day to day shuffle will now be brought to the forefront every single week, which will help you lessen stress and avoid becoming overwhelmed. To get your very own routine and things planner, be sure to head to routine and things.com or click the link in the show notes.
Ashley Brown 1:28
Hey, welcome back for another episode of the routine things podcast. I'm your girl Ashley. And in today's episode, this is going to be starting a three part How To Series. This three part How To Series is really focused on helping you with planning. So if you struggle in any way with the plans you create and following through and knowing how to organize multiple to do lists, and really understanding how to even continue to work towards your plans. When you feel unmotivated, then this series is going to be really great for you. This first part is really on how to focus and follow through on your plan. So if you do have a tendency to not follow through on your plans if you are really good at creating lists, but not actually executing that list than today's episode is going to be really great for you. And so I'm excited to really dig into this and to give you some suggestions on how you can improve when it comes to following through on the plans that you create. And when it comes to really focusing and staying focused on the goals that you have and the things that you want to get done in your life. Before I get into today's episode, I want to share that the routine and things planner is available, it is really awesome in helping you to get and stay organized by merging planning and routines. And one what I love so much about this planner is it really helps you to attend to those things that need to be managed on many times a day to day basis that when they do fall by the wayside, or they're not tended to can cause us to become very frustrated or stressed and overwhelmed. And so this planner just keeps you with the basics helps you to stay focused on the basics, but also helps you to understand visually how much you have on your play and how to navigate in a way that feels good so that you don't feel like you're just doing so much but that you have a realistic and manageable way of really getting the things done in your day to day that needs to be done. So the routine things planner is here. It uses the routine block planning method which is really great at helping you organize your weekly ties into four routine categories including cleaning, cooking children and self care. And so if this is something that you are interested in, definitely check it out, you can head to routine and things.com forward slash plan to learn more or click the link in the show notes.
Ashley Brown 4:12
Alright, so in this episode today, and in this first part How To series like I said, we're focusing on how to focus and follow through on your plans. And in this series, you will hear me mention the routine and things planner, just as an FYI, but I really want for you to take away the nuts and bolts of this audio series because it has some really really great suggestions that can really help you to get better with planning. So yeah, let's go ahead and get into it. Enjoy. Hey, I'm super excited because this is our your class number one on how to focus and follow through with your plans. I am excited to be chatting with you about this today is one of my favorite topics. And it's really going to help you especially because you do have a routine and things planner is going to help you with focusing on your task throughout the week is going to be helpful for you in following through on the plans that you create. And so, before we get into things, I do want to say that planning in general is not about you checking every box. It's not about that, like planning is a way for you to practice intentionality. And to give you a sense of what could happen so that you release some of those things from your mind and that you have a reference to go back to that can help to keep you on track with the things that matter in your day to day. Okay, so it's not really about checking every box.
Ashley Brown 5:51
But I know, we are people that like to get things done, because it feels good, as well as getting certain things done in our life is in alignment with how we want our life to feel. And so I totally get that. But I want to put that out here before we get started today. Okay, so let's get into things. This is going to be short and sweet. But I'm going to share my perspective, on focus and follow through from the, from my lens, and from what I have learned throughout life, and what has been beneficial for me. So take what you like, leave what you don't, and I think that you're gonna get much out of this class. So first and foremost, you have the routine and things planner, hopefully, you have either started planning or you're going to start planning in it really soon. But I know that your goal is to be able to follow through on the plans that you create, to be able to check off at least, at least maybe 50% of the boxes every single week. And for you to feel as if you are making progress in your life, right like that is super important that we are making progress towards what we want. Because that's when we feel good in life. And that's when we feel like we are in alignment in life is like I'm doing the things that feel good to me, I'm handling the things that matter. And life feels good. And I want this for you. When it comes to focus and follow through with your plans. The first thing I want to share is one, your plans have to be in alignment with what matters to you. Like this is the first thing. Your plans like the thing, the tasks that you are writing down every single week have to be in alignment with what matters to you. Because if they are not in alignment with what matters to you. And when I say what matters to you, I really want you to focus on your day to day like what really matters in your day to day so that it runs smoothly so that you feel like you're managing your days, well. What are those things that matter really in your day to day.
Ashley Brown 8:15
For me, that is making sure that at least tidying my house that's making sure that I connect with my family that's making sure that I connect with myself in some form or fashion is making sure that I connect with God like these are the things that matter to me in my day to day that I make a delicious meal, or at least buy a delicious meal like that's, that's what matters to me in my day today. And I want you to think about it in your day. Because sometimes we can start to create these really grand goals, which I think is beautiful, like don't give up on your goals. However, sometimes those goals because they are so grand, we can get caught up in those and then we forget about our day to day. And those are the things like forgetting about our day to day tasks that really helped like to feel good. And for things to run smoothly when we get outside of those things. That's when a lot of stress and anxiety and overwhelm come is because we're not managing the basics and the things that really matter to us on a daily basis. And so I want for you to focus on what really matters to you, in your day to day. And you also have to have a deep understanding of why it matters to you. So you can it's not just good enough for you to be like oh, so I want to connect with my children every day and that matters to me, but why does it matter to you? Right? Or if you're like, you know what, like reading matters to me, but why does it matter to you because you want to have a deep understanding as to what does this do for your life? How does this make you feel? Because you're attached to it? more strongly, which will help you to not get distracted as easily because that's, that's the point of this first.
Ashley Brown 10:10
This first thing is that when you have plans are in alignment with what matters to you, and you know deeply why it matters to you. You're not going to get distracted as easily not to say you're not going to get distracted, we all get distracted. Right? We sometimes get shiny object syndrome, we see some past bias or we notice something. And here we go. It's like, it's like a squirrel and the night like, come on. Right? I get it. However, when you do know what matters to you. And your plans are in alignment with that, you're not going to be as easily taken out of focus. Yeah, you may see the thing, right, like you may be connecting with your children. And then you glance over and you see all these dishes in the sink. Yeah, you may see that. But you're like, you know what I'm here though, like, so let me stay focused on this is not going to take your attention as much, right? Or, for example, maybe it's like, you know that you want to connect with your partner, or significant other and your friend calls you to go out to dinner. It's like that, yeah, that distraction is there. But you're like, you know what, I know what matters to me, in my day to day and like, this is it like I can schedule another time to hang out with my friend, right? Like, so you're not as easily distracted when you know what matters to you. And when your plans and tasks are in alignment with that, and you know deeply why it matters to you, you're not going to be as easily distracted. And you will be able to better focus on those things. So this really deals with focus. Because this is the thing is that some of us don't know what matters to us, really, in our day to day. We have like a grand idea of what matters. But what truly matters to you. When do you feel your best? That's like a place to start. When do you feel your best? Like can you think about a day in the past where you felt your absolute best? What did you do in that day? And this is like in like a day, like in a normal day. This isn't when you've been on vacation? Right? Like it's a whole different ballgame. But like in a normal day, where have you been like, you know what today felt real good. Today, Phil, actually good. Think about what happened in your day. How did you manage that day? What were you doing in that day, because that will show you what matters to you in order for life to feel good and for things to run smoothly. So that's the first thing. Now let's move on to the second thing. And this is the last thing I'm gonna share when it comes to following through on your plan specifically. And that is your plans have to be realistic for what you can handle on a day to day basis. Then we repeat that, again, your plans must be realistic for what you can handle on a day to day basis. And what you can handle deals with how much time you have and how much energy let me make that extremely clear how much time you have, and how much energy. Those two things matter when it comes to what you can handle on a day to day basis. And if your plans are not realistic to what you can handle, follow through is going to be extremely more challenging, extremely more challenging, because sometimes we get overzealous, because many of us are high achievers, I'm pretty sure you are. I'm like I could be I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure you are you're a high achiever, like it's just in your in your blood.
Ashley Brown 14:14
And with us, sometimes we can get overzealous and be like I can do all of this. But when we have to ask ourselves, do I want to do all of this? That's all this already point number one, do I want to do all of this right? And that is outside of our our responsibilities, right? If you have children, you are responsible for your kids, right? You're responsible for certain things in life. And that's just what it is. Right? That's adulting but like, do you want to do the things that are outside of your real responsibilities? And also we have to ask ourselves, why are we doing the things? And thirdly, how are we doing these things? Right? So it's so many layers to this, but like your plans have to be realistic. They have to be you do not want to crowd your day, you really want to sit down when you are using the routine and things planner, you want to sit down, and you want to look day by day. And you want to see like, how have I mapped out this day? And do I have the time for this? And also the energy? How am I going to distribute my energy to get these things done throughout the day? And have I set myself up for a successful day? Or have I crowded my day and made it much harder for me to actually get these things done? Right, we really have to get more realistic. And I think that's where some of us get tripped up, is that we believe because we are highly capable, because we are you are we're highly capable people, we believe that I can get all of these things done. And that may seem really nice on paper. But when it comes to doing those things, take an action on those things, that's going to be a different ballgame. And you want to take inventory and really look at past situations where you feel overwhelmed at the throughout your day, or at the end of the day. And you want to think about what was I doing on that day? How much was I doing, and don't do it don't repeat that pattern. But think about a day where you were like in your in the pocket like in your sweet spot. And you're like these were the amount of tasks that I that I did, and it felt good. And I didn't feel overworked or burnt out. And I didn't feel like I didn't get anything done. This was my sweet spot.
Ashley Brown 16:45
Think about days like that, that you may have had in the past. And then that's what you want to try to mimic in the future is, I know, for example, I'll share with you for my workday specifically because of course, like I'm working on routine and things and I'm always doing things. And so for me and my work day, I don't do anything but two to three tasks. In minutes, I'd only do two, I don't even do three. And that is because one I want to give myself room and space for flexibility and change. Because I know I'm in a season where I have little babies. They're not babies, but they're three and five, but I have I have little children. And life just presents itself sometimes in ways that I can not expect. And so I like to have a buffer room. In my day. It especially in my work day, and in my day overall. And so that's something that you want to think about is have you created buffer room in your day? Because this is how you manage things well, is by really thinking about how am I distributed my energy throughout the day to make sure I don't get burned out? How am I managing my time throughout my day?
Ashley Brown 18:12
And how am I managing the tasks that I do in a way that is realistic for what I can actually accomplish with life that sometimes throws curveballs like that is the key here when you're talking about follow through. So those are the two things I want for you to really hold to. If you are having already gotten a piece of paper and a pen, go ahead and get it out. And if you have to re listen to this every listen to this multiple times. But these are the things are really important for you to consider when you are wanting to focus and follow through with the plans that you make. The first thing is your plans have to be in alignment with what matters to you. And you must have a deep understanding of why it matters to you. So in your day to day what matters for that data run smoothly. Why does it matter to you? This will help you to not be as easily distracted so that you can focus on really what is important. Secondly, the plans that you make have to be realistic for what you can handle on a day to day basis. period that's it. Don't crowd your days. Do not crowd your days. Think about how you're distributing your energy.
Ashley Brown 19:50
You know when you're planning and this is another thing that just popped into my head when you're planning. Think about that day and I visualize how your day is going to go. So when you're planning for the week, I want for you to really sit there and go Monday through Friday or Monday through Sunday about well, how is this day going to play out? How do I envision this day happening? And I want you to make sure that you add in flexibility and room for unexpected things to occur. And then that's when I want for you to tweak your plan based upon how the visualization went. Because if you realize like, dang, yeah, like, this might not be as realistic, you have the permission to scratch something out. You had the bread, you know, this is a reason also why I use erasable pens is because, you know, some of us don't want to scratch things out because they don't look as pretty. So if you're that tight, make sure you're using erasable pens. But yeah, you can always erase something, scratch something off and be like, You know what, I'm not doing this today. Let me put that maybe on Thursday, when I don't have as much I'm doing. Well, let me just put that on the next week is perfectly fine. But that can be something that you do is like really visualize how your day goes. And then you'll be able to see oil, this seemed really realistic, like it actually seemed really good. It was in my sweet spot.
Ashley Brown 21:21
Or maybe it wasn't as realistic. So let me switch it up. So those are the things I want for you to focus on. If you are wanting to focus and follow through on your plans this year, you're so calm, focus on these two things, get really clear about these two things, practice these two things, and you're going to be good. Alright, so I hope that that was helpful for you to hear how to focus and follow through on your plans. Hopefully the suggestions and tips that I shared will allow you to improve upon following through and improve upon really getting the things done and staying focused on those things in a way that feels good to you. Next week, I'm going to be sharing how to best organize multiple to do lists. So if you are a to do list girl you have lists all around your home lists all around your your tables, just if you know that you are a list girl and you want like some tips on how to best organize them. This is going to be a really great episode for you to listen to next week. So definitely come back and listen to this episode. But thank you for joining me I hope that you are doing extremely well in your life right now. And even if you feel like you aren't, just know you're doing the best you can and that you can do hard things. But until next time, continue to enjoy wherever you are. Whatever you're doing, stay happy. Remember the routine and things planner is available for you. And I'll talk to you next week.
Ashley Brown 22:58
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 routine and things.com Here's to staying happy.