Designing Your Day to Bring You Joy

Good-morning girls! How’d you sleep last night? I had some CRAZY dreams, so I’m guessing I slept good? Haha… I woke up today and had a sweet quiet time, and just wanted to share it with you this morning.

From my Jesus Calling devotional (anyone else read this?)… “DO NOT WORRY ABOUT TOMORROW.” I wanted to share this with you all, because I remember the first time I read this. I had just formed a relationship with God. I was 18 and for the first time ever, I was trusting my body to tell me what she needed and wanted without a calorie counting app. or diet. I remember how much peace this one page gave me. We have what we need to get through TODAY. We’re not to worry about tomorrow. Actually, there are two verses that gave me me a ton of joy and peace (and still do):

“This is the day the Lord has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it.” – Psalm 118:24

&

“So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” – Matthew 6:34

As I read today’s devotional and went about my journaling, I designed my day according to what sounded fun and joyful for just today… As you all know, I’m kind of on a mission to enjoy my days here in SLO more (see this post). I know that this is part relaxing and being spontaneous, and part being intentional to include things into each day that bring me this joy. I’m also still getting my routine down, which IS improving with trail and error.

I’ve started to MAXIMIZE the amount of things in my schedule that bring me joy (all in bold – teals are the specific things that bring me joy). So, basically, I aim to have a good amount of fun & joy around my 8 hour workday. This looks different each day. Today happens to be pretty open with room to play around work. Note: my job DOES bring me joy (I love my job), but for the purpose of this post, I’m talking about things outside of work so we can see how to incorporate other joy’s and not just work :). I’d also like to say, that no matter what my routine is, I try and find a way for most of these things to happen… Even if that means waking up at 4:30 and going to bed at 8:30. My routine does change, and it’s not every season that I get to sleep in until 7:00 and start work at 10:00.

7:00 AM wake up sloooooowly

7:30 AM quiet time (devotional, prayer, journaling)

8:00 AM writing this blog post (now)

9:00 AM about breakfast time

9:30 AM Marco leaves for work, we pray, I shower & get dressed (if you work from home, have kids, etc… you know this CAN be a joy if you don’t do it all of the time).

10:00 AM begin work (full day of coaching & a lunch break)

6:00 PM close up my office (plan next day, close the doors, etc.), and take my computer to a coffee shop

6:30 PM hang at a coffee shop, allow myself to be creative, write, and “map out” new projects and get organized (this is still part-work, but as I have family coming up this week I am craving this time to myself to just be creative).

7:30/45 PM head to the gym (I’ve actually begun to like evening exercise, to my surprise – I think I started to like it once I experienced/realized that (1) it actually does feel good once I get there – I can totally zone out and unwind from the day – and (2) it works well with my new schedule. Like I said, trial and error. See this post where I thought it was the worst when I first tried it…).

9:00 PM be home by this time, shower, eat dinner (if I’m hungry earlier, no prob, I’ll flip the routine and eat earlier, but last week when I went to the coffee shop and ordered a “Honey Tea Bowl,” which I think I’ll want again tonight, it made me feel “full” until later in the evening – it’s soy milk, honey, and tea), and leisure reading.

10:00/30 PM bed time 🙂 

I’m going to assume that all of my readers do not have the same personality as me (thankful that we’re all different!), so if it seems crazy that I’m planning this all out on paper, or “designing” my days like this, don’t worry… It doesn’t feel crazy over here (hehe). If I don’t write this out, it just floats around in my mind for the day, which is great, but when these things are written out and I get to see them, it’s like I get to enjoy them double the amount (again, very visual person). It’s a big part of my personality to be visual and brings me joy… It’s me being intentional to care for myself and to know that I’ve put purpose into my day… so that I can enjoy it more :).

Each person’s life is different, and this is okay. Right now, I’m in a season of life where we’re in a new town, without many obligations, and I have the freedom to do this and be flexible. There have been and will be other seasons (like, Motherhood one day, for example) where it’s going to feel much more challenging to do this. So, just know as you’re reading this, that wherever you’re at today is okay. I don’t aim to move you to change your lives by reading this, I only hope to simply help you think about and look for the little things you can do (even if it’s just one small thing per day) that will bring you joy and make you feel (self)cared for.

Okay, so this post just got really long really quick, so I’m going to save today’s “Daily Eats” for tomorrow.

Before you go, I want to know about you… what little things bring you joy? What do you (or CAN YOU) add to your day to bring you joy? Are you visual?