After listening to the productivity call, I have been thinking about how I use Monday Hour One. I do the to do list download and prioritize my tasks based on how much time I have. I sometimes schedule them into my calendar; sometimes not. That works for me, and I don’t have any drama about using this tool in a way that makes sense. The challenge is that I do that for my work life, but not my home life. So, my time is scheduled from about 7:30am when I schedule in my drive to work until 5:00pm when I am usually arriving home after work.

I do have a clear daily routine in the mornings that I don’t put on my calendar:
– wake at 5:30
– spend 30 minutes on my phone – social media, phone games, email, etc. (I have worked through many thoughts on this and just accept it as part of my morning)
– exercise from 20-45 minutes depending on how my body feels
– meditate, listen to affirmations, make my daily food plan, and journal
my son gets up right around the time I’m done with all of these
– get dressed, make breakfast, pack lunch
– leave around 7:30am

In the evening, the constants are cooking dinner and watching tv, but the rest varies widely. Sometimes I work (email, etc.), or do self-development (podcast/course), or clean at home, or read a novel, or play with my cats. I also eat after dinner sometimes even when I’m not hungry.

I think my unintentional model is this:
T: Following a schedule feels too much like work!
F: resentful
A: (see above)
R: I avoid a schedule that feels like work, but I also avoid creating an evening that works for me

Maybe this is just a thought download here. I don’t know that I have a question. Maybe I see Monday Hour One as being about productivity and that feels in conflict with a relaxing evening. If I’m watching tv or playing a game with my son and he wants to extend that, but I’ve made a schedule that I want to keep my word around, it feels like I’m setting myself up to either not be present in that moment or to not have my own back in terms of my personal commitments.

Sometimes when I make a food plan, I give myself options. So, if I plan to pick up dinner on the way home, I’ll list three restaurants that I feel good about stopping at so I have some choice, but limited choices that were decided with my best interests in mind. Would that work for this?

– 5:00pm unpack/unload at home and play with cats, or start cooking, or sit down to watch tv
-6:00pm cook dinner (if I haven’t already), or watch tv or read a book or play a game or check email
– 7:00pm wash dishes and listen to podcast or watch tv or do house chores or

I don’t know. That doesn’t feel great either. What I want to do is rest for as long as I want to and then, if I want to, get up and do other things. How do I put that in a schedule so I can calendar it?

Thanks for reading this far!