Wellness Habits Without a Calendar

Wellness morning routines are not easy when you live a busy Western lifestyle.

Cramming in a few minutes to eat healthy, do yoga and get some re-centering quiet time is not usually the routine unless you get up super early as trade off for sleep or staying up late.

I’m exhausted already when I hear how hard charging some people are in their season descriptions… and then I quickly remember that was my life not too long ago when I worked in the corporate world 40+ hours a week and had side hustles.

If you’re of a Vata mind, a structured wellness routine can be challenging as the mind fights against set consistent routines when a routine is what’s needed most. …And heavy Vata minds can’t sit still as obvious signs.

If you carry a Vata mind (that any of us can), you can easily tire from to-do tasks like opening up or pulling out your calendar every day or several times a day. Those simple, but mundane types of activities can be draining.

…Today, living daily aware now years later from what was filtered or partial conscious life, I personally don’t do life without daily checking in on my balanced-imbalanced moods and well… wellness.

Your moods show you what’s going on inside. Your mind-body is intuitive, so it serves you the truth and gives you the information about what you need to restore your health. And, restoring sour moods back to happy and neutral is one way to accomplish more daily.

We all can get affected by external factors that can put us in daily moods. That makes us human. But moods can create more disruption than an external interruption, so it’s better to manage ASAP to nip sour moods in the bud.

As a quick scan, as long as you feel good for stretches of daily moments, and about what you’re doing, you’re probably in good shape. Or you know how to bounce back quickly, so that doesn’t become your season longer than it has to.

One routine I changed up to avoid uninspired moods, is I gave up working on a calendar that I used to color code as a planner. I found better systems that worked for me. And that’s something you can consider for yourself…

To Have A Working Calendar (Or Not?)

On purpose, I avoid having a working calendar these days (and the past few years) as they distract from my productivity.

I do work on other people’s Google and Outlook calendars, but not my own. I’m sure you have examples in your life where you do things differently for yourself than others. I do a much better job and follow through, managing other people’s stuff, as I want to help and serve them the best I can. That helps to keep the balance.

But I found that as pretty colors as my own rainbow calendar looked, I was following it when I didn’t have to. And that was not helpful! So I had to come up with a better way. 🌈

Plus, I also did professional catering management for many years, and all I did was rely on and live off of a calendar religiously year-round, knowing and planning other people’s event dates. And at times, an unhealthy task holding onto dates as though my life depended on it.

So, these days I like to be less reliant on a calendar. If you’re wondering how to live or wean yourself off of a calendar if that’s your want, here are some ideas (and what I do)…

First, I created slightly different weekly goals for each day of the week. And I have deadlines for different tasks on each day, no matter how small.

The thing is, if you don’t apply what it is you’re doing to something meaningful, it becomes meaningless.

On purpose, we’re meant to teach, share, encourage, and use whatever gifts we have, or we lose them. And when we USE them, we get more, and some we may not know we have (e.g. hidden talents) until we get there.

You discover the next talent once you start and develop the first talent. Then you’re ready for more!

And I found calendars got in the way of that as I spent time managing them when I could be working on a talent without working within boxes if you know what I mean.

Like these waffles that can be made healthy.

We all have our special preferences. ❤️

And to make life easy, when I was getting used to the habit of different daily tasks, I set up specific reminders. I’ve learned to let it be easy with no self-imposed struggles or habits. And that takes observation and not being too busy to notice.

It’s also useful to know what day of the week you’re on as the world runs on this time. And if different night TV shows are how you keep it straight, hey that works! 📺

To capture the best of your creative and productive time, find the balance that works for you and where you feel relevant and making good strides. That’s all part of the good wellness journey.

And I found that bi-weekly appointments and schedules can mess that up. So keeping it weekly simple works! 🗓

From experience, I know that building any kind of complicated system is a recipe for disaster in life. 😒

It can build a house of cards that will eventually crumble as there’s too much to manage when the enjoyment factor can disappear one day.  Some of the excitement wears off of newness (it always does!).

That’s where the overwhelm and reality feelings can creep in, and easier when you keep it simple from the start.

And after taking a sabbatical in 2016, I realized that sometimes your calendars don’t open up,  or they disappear, and then you waste more time trying to backtrack. That’s when I took the hint as a sign, tossed out the calendar and lists, and figured out a more reliable way.

And a way to go digital calendar-less AND paperless.

And to add the internal clock reminders back in… what people in the past probably did before paper was invented.

If you live spirit-led and wellness bound, it’s easier to go to simple ways where you discover your natural internal compass that you learn to trust over time.

And today, you can use digital reminders like alerts or notifications as a backup plan. Those are like a trampoline that ensures you bounce back without falling.

In this way, I haven’t missed a Zoom meeting yet when we were all doing Zoom calls, because my internal clock is wired to the energy around that activity, even if it’s just a one-time event.

And if you’re in a season or work environment where a calendar is expected of you, then you can still do this.

You could go hybrid… using a personal calendar when you have to, and then relaxing the policy when you don’t. 😎

Testing out ways that work for you is a good change to find out what is reliable and helpful for your life now if you want better outcomes, or to improve your life and wellness.

Having been at many jobs, in my wellness balance journey, I realize that none of the tasks are all that significant in the grand scheme of things.

…When you leave a job, you leave the calendar behind. Plus, the next person in your shoes (that you may even train) has their preferred way.

And, the last day of work ends the calendar work cold turkey, and your next day is like the calendar didn’t exist. And then you’re off to your next venture and bigger and brighter things.

When you do this work transition enough times, re-inventing yourself and pivoting, you get the pattern.

You can also can get a-ha’s about your specific past getting you to where you are today. And letting you become who you are today. You can keep moving forward and quicker if you want.

So on that note, I wanted to share 5 quick morning wellness habit stacks that I’ve found useful this season (that may be useful for you).

Habit # 1: Keeping same waking up hours every day even on weekends or days when you don’t have to be somewhere.

This could be what you do today… but also adding a few minutes of intentions time is good for a wellness practice so you’re not just running in the morning.

Intentions could be about what you want from this life, so you can head in that direction and work ON your life, and not just in it.

In the morning, you have the most mind-awakened energy and that can be with or without caffeine.

And you never know what the rest of the day will bring that can change your productivity, moods, or stress level.

Getting up early has a lot to do with the way you’re naturally wired, your environment, and your habits.

Irregular sleep is common with Vata’s (…you too?). In that case, you could challenge yourself to get up earlier than you’re comfortable with, but where you get enough regular 7-8 hours of healthy rest.

Keeping the same getting up hours can calm your Vata. It’s one routine where the instructions are simple.

You can get motivated to naturally get up earlier if you go to bed earlier and if you change up some of your habits like allowing yourself one entertainment show, instead of watching until you’re bored 😊.

Habit # 2: I first drink water and warm water or ginger tea as a primer to get the body running.

And then I work in a preferred green banana, quinoa cereal, lentils, oatmeal, Greek yogurt, OR a fruit smoothie. I mix it up. I may even choose a few from the list.

And then I’m ready for a cuppa joe.

I drink low acidic organic cold brew that I homebrew and drink black or with almond milk (extra calcium) and dilute the acidity further… I don’t have a fancy java machine on purpose.☕️

And my coffee rule is:  I don’t drink coffee past 12 noon (…that’s easier than counting cups) or on an empty stomach. This helps with habit #1.

…Oh, and I started coffee late in life, so I’m OK to quit early in the day.

Habit # 3: Ab crunches and yoga wellness

Last time, I talked about losing weight that’s often one struggle aspect of a Kapha imbalance.

And one way I’ve figured out how to incorporate an exercise habit is, I’ve been doing an abdominal crunch challenge (…that may be something to try).

It gets easier as the weeks go by than the first week when it can be a struggle to peel yourself off the mat. But don’t give up!…

In the beginning, all the torso area fat can appear to move to the gut center. But don’t be fooled by the looks as that will eventually turn to muscle if you keep at it. That’s what I plan to do 50 ab crunches per day later. (And if that’s not what you notice if you try, good for you. It doesn’t have to be hard and preferably it’s easy).

The benefit is: strong abs allow your back to strengthen, and each vertebra becomes more flexible. You can roll up more easily like a roly-poly bug (…remember those? I don’t see those around anymore).

And if you start these now (or you take a pilates class), you’ll be better off in your golden years especially when bones get weaker despite the increased calcium and magnesium you may intake.

Falls for women and men are common accidents for seniors. So maybe that gives you a little motivational edge today to start today.

Ab work keeps me grounded, literally. And then while I’m there, I do yoga and exercises. You actually wake up and get happier faster as your endorphins kick in. And you feel more clear-headed because of this, and get excited about your day if that’s what you need this season. That’s well-rounded wellness.

You can get your daily re-centering done on the mat as well. My mat says, “you got this” that’s still my mantra.

Habit # 4: Have a reward activity (or two).

Towards the weekend, I healthy bake in the mornings as part of my wellness routine. This is a reward for me if I’ve met my deadlines earlier in the week. I always have recipes lined up and ingredients on hand, so that’s where the relaxing part comes in. No stress baking.

Another reward is I watch a show for an hour. Usually cooking shows (no surprise there!). One I’m enjoying is about pizzaiolos around the world who’ve opened up wood fire oven pizza parlors. 🍕

Having worked in a pizza shop, I can tell you it’s a lot of fun and one of the easiest bakes to make that brings smiles to faces, young and old.

Habit # 5: Then about an hour after waking up, I start my work that includes the unique daily task goals where I don’t need a calendar (that I mentioned earlier).

I used to reserve the morning for writing because that’s when I could get in my writing zone. But I realized after a couple of years into writing, I can pretty much do it anytime with the same result, as I’ve built up the writing muscles. 💪

And if I had to crank out a quality book in a week, I believe I could. That’s just practice.

And that’s one reason why I think it’s good for anyone to start a daily practice for their creativity and to discover their talents. If you need a quiet environment, a walk-in closet is a good space.

Also, one of the best investments you can make is having an air purifier, not just for the obvious use of better air, but also to cut out distractions with the white noise. And when you’re ready to go to sleep, it’ll help you get good rest and start all over again the next morning. 🌅

And starting with chicken and whole wheat waffles could be protein energy you need to power through your day.