Renegade Yogi

A need for a little structure

As you may remember from a previous post, I recently quit my job. Dec 31 was my last day. Since then, I’ve been mostly staying home. I’ve been doing little things here and there, meditating, and other things. But there are lots of things that I go to bed thinking that I should do the next day, but when I wake up, I don’t do them.

And I feel that there are lots of things I do that I don’t really want to do. Like spending hours on Twitter or reading blogs. I am a creative person, and it’s kind of sad that I’m just idling away my days.

Maybe I needed two weeks to realize just how fully a waste of time it was. My job was a waste of time. But I was being paid. I don’t want my life to be a waste of time. So I’m doing something about it.

I was inspired by Jake Lodwick to create a little system for me to live within. It’s a way to put a little pressure on myself to get more done. Jake has been doing it a while. I’m just starting, so it will be an interesting, long-term adventure.

The way it works is I make a chart with things I’m going to do daily down the left and each day across the top. If I do it that day, I get a check. If I don’t, I get an X. Pretty simple.

Here’s a picture of it as it is now: nice and empty. I start on Monday.

But don’t let the simplicity fool you. It’s a powerful way to force you to acknowledge when you are not living up to your own standards. I’ve tried similar things before. As long as you keep the system simple and your expectations reasonable, it really does help you stick to your goals.

I’ve decided to start with five things. Of course, I want to do many more, but like I’ve said, this has to be longterm. Mostly, I’m investing in the system right now. It will evolve over time. One thing that I want to do, eventually, is to have weekly goals, too. Sometimes you don’t need to do something every day, but you still want to make sure you do it.

I’ll keep you abreast of my progress.