Is there something you’d like to be doing that you’re having trouble finding time for? Could you move it to the number one spot on your morning routine? You might find it’s a lot easier to accomplish that way!
Tagged with: routines, yoga, yoga with adriene
I was delighted to be asked to be part of an article on GQ’s website titled, 6 Ways to Create a Healthier Home Routine This Spring. The article details six different ways you can introduce new, healthier habits into your life. I was interviewed along with four other experts in various arenas.
I’m striving to create a routine that prioritizes self care. I know I find it much easier to create daily routines than any other frequency. So I’m working on creating a daily routine that encompasses yoga, physical therapy exercises, cardio and/or strength.
Tagged with: exercise, habits, health, routines, yoga with adriene
I love my Bullet Journal. I’ve been using it since December 2019 and it’s helped me keep my life on track. I write down my daily tasks every day in my journal and take notes during phone conversations. I also write notes about anything that happens that I don’t want to forget. It’s become an invaluable resource.
Tagged with: bullet journal, routines, task management, time management
After feeling off the rails for a couple of weeks, I crave getting back on track. Getting back to daily routines and keeping a solid task list will be a huge help, I know.
Tagged with: goals, new year, routines, time management
I am so excited for this January’s 30-day at-home yoga journey with the fabulous Adriene Mischler Yoga with Adriene. This year’s theme is CENTER. As always, her adorable companion Benji, an Australian Cattle Dog, will be by her side.
Tagged with: adriene mishler, exercise, habits, routines, yoga, yoga with adriene
We’re having a great time hanging out and catching up. And we’re even learning a thing or two from one another. One thing that Larry’s really impressed me with his daily habit of doing pull ups. Larry is a slender, strong 63-year-old man. He’s genetically inclined to being slender but he also has muscles. And now I know why.
I’m a HUGE fan of Adriene Mishler’s Yoga with Adriene YouTube channel. Encouraged by my niece back in late 2018, I’ve been doing yoga semi-regularly (I went more than a year without missing a day!) and one of my goals for 2022 is to weave yoga into my daily routine so that daily yoga becomes effortless. (You can read Nine Things I Love About Yoga with Adriene if you’d like to learn more.)
Tagged with: adriene mishler, exercise, habits, routines, yoga, yoga with adriene
Around here, school started this week for many kids. I don’t have kids, but I know this is a time of transition for many parents (and children, of course). Throw in the uncertainty of the pandemic and perhaps it feels a little stressful.
Tagged with: back to school, habits, routines
I’ve been doing yoga every day for over a year. I went from April 1, 2020 to May 12, 2021 without missing a single day. Then travel disrupted my routine and I broke the chain. But yoga is so beneficial that I got right back into it and I can count the number of days I’ve missed on one hand. I wrote this post about a year ago. Since then, my love for Yoga with Adriene has only grown.
Tagged with: adriene mishler, exercise, habits, routines, worth repeating, yoga, yoga with adriene
I’m a gigantic fan of Adriene Mishler, the amazing woman behind Yoga with Adriene. I was really excited yesterday when Adriene announced her next 30-day yoga journey. She does this every January. It’s a 30-day practice, one video released per day, created around a theme.
Tagged with: adriene mishler, exercise, habits, routines, yoga, yoga with adriene
Since I’ve had fewer demands on my time, I have been able to incorporate yoga into my daily routine. I am so grateful for that. This morning, when I finished my practice, I jotted down some of the things I love about doing yoga, particularly doing it with Adriene. I thought I’d share them with you in hopes that I might inspire you to give it a go!
Tagged with: adriene mishler, exercise, habits, routines, yoga, yoga with adriene
Today marks two months of daily yoga. It’s gone from an obligation to keep a commitment I made with myself to a something I look forward to every day, even on days when I feel tired. Adriene Mishler, the instructor, is a kind, loving and funny person. She always expresses her love for her viewers at the end of a session, and I found myself whispering “I love you” back to her the other day. Adriene makes me feel good about myself.
Tagged with: adriene mishler, exercise, habits, routines, yoga, yoga with adriene
In years past, I’ve blogged about how difficult it is for me to keep an exercise routine going. I’m not typically someone who needs to lose weight and my work is pretty active, but I know, intellectually, the importance of regular exercise, particularly in the aging process.
Back on June 1, I wrote about the power of the 30-day challenge and created an ambitious list of eight things I wanted to do every day for 30 days.
Tagged with: challenges, genealogy, habits, routines
This month, my personal theme is discipline and I’ve been working hard to keep up with the 30-day challenges I set out for myself on June 1. It’s going well. I’m particularly proud of the fact that I’ve done at least 30 minutes of genealogy research daily and that I’ve blogged four times a week (twice on this blog, twice on Organize Your Family History) every week this month.
Tagged with: challenges, habits, productivity, routines, task list, time management
There’s something about the first day of the month that makes me want to make 30-day commitments. So this morning, I created a list of things I intend to do each day for the 30 days of June. In the interest of public accountability, I’ll post them here:
Tagged with: challenges, genealogy, habits, routines
Today I’m taking some inspiration from a blog post I wrote almost three years ago. I wish I could tell you that my bureau has only three things on it today, but the truth is there’s a little bit of clutter. This weekend I’m going to clear it off and get it back to the state that is pictured! Then I’m sure it will be easier for me to keep it clear.
Tagged with: clean bureau, clean desk, decluttering, goals, habits, routines, worth repeating
I wrote this post in October 2014 and I think it’s worth posting again. Over the couple of years, I’ve really noticed that what I decide to do first in the morning is the thing that actually gets done. I’ll blog, if blogging is a priority. Sometimes I make sure to do family history research first (because sometimes that’s a priority). I’m happy to be posting this at 8 am, so I can move on to a great day!
I don’t know about you, but if my mornings don’t go well, the rest of the day usually follows suit. I’m a morning person and I typically can get a lot done in the morning. But if I don’t, it’s hard to reboot the day and make up for it in the afternoon.
Tagged with: blogging, habits, routines, time management, worth repeating
So that’s a long-winded way of saying I’ve done no admin work for almost a month, my email is piling up and who knows how many balls I’ve let drop. Thank goodness I don’t get much snail mail, so I don’t have a daunting pile of mail to deal with.
Tagged with: backlog, habit, planning, routines, self-care, task list
A few years ago, I wrote a post about how I was able to create a habit of doing an unpleasant (but necessary) task by linking it to something I was already doing. (That habit was cleaning up the back yard after my dog.)
I strive every day to whittle my email inbox down to zero. It’s a strategy that has worked well for me for going on four years.
Tagged with: clean desk, email, habits, routines
Back in 2010, I discovered personal kanban , a system of visual task management that I used for awhile. In a nutshell, I divided a large whiteboard into three sections, Backlog, Doing, and Done. Then I’d use Post-It® notes to write down individual tasks and move them through the process.
Tagged with: habits, personal kanban, productivity, routines, task management, time management
I don’t know about you, but if my mornings don’t go well, the rest of the day usually follows suit. I’m a morning person and I typically can get a lot done in the morning. But if I don’t, it’s hard to reboot the day and make up for it in the afternoon.
So I got to thinking today about optimal ways for me to spend my valuable morning time. And I also thought about strategies for getting right to it in the morning.
Tagged with: blogging, habits, routines, time management
I was out of town for five days in mid-September. I’ve been back a week and I still don’t have my mojo back.
Tagged with: clean desk, email, habits, routines, self-care, task list, travel
If you click on the clean bureau tag to left on this blog, you’ll see that pretty much every year one of my goals is to put my clothes away properly at night and keep the top of the bureau clear.
Tagged with: clean bureau, clean desk, decluttering, goals, habits, routines
I’ve been away from home about a week visiting family in Washington state. After a couple of half-days of travel, I’ll be home on Saturday. This blog post, which I wrote a couple of years ago at the end of the trip, reflects how I still feel about getting back into the swing of things. I’m happy to say that I didn’t leave my office in such disarray this time, but I am coming to a full week of client appointments. My routines will keep me sane!
Tagged with: 15 minutes, habits, routines, travel, worth repeating
I know that for a certain number of people, the word “routine” conjures up bad feelings. Used as an adjective, it can mean non-special, ordinary, even boring.
Think about it as a noun, though. Does the idea of having a routines—a group of habits you do one right after the other—seem boring or constraining? I hear that from people sometimes. But in my view, routines are the opposite. They’re almost magical because they make my life so much easier.
I do three things almost every weeknight at the end of the work day that help me to stay on top of my business, start the day feeling productive, and reduce the stress in my life. These three habits have a lot to do with my really enjoying being an entrepreneur. They are:
Tagged with: clean desk, email, habit, routines, task list
While I did finally join a gym, the message of this two-year-old blog post is still worth repeating. Whether it’s exercise, filing, or processing email, doing something is always better than doing nothing.
Some effort is better than no effort. That’s the philosophy I’m embracing at the moment when it comes to exercise. For some reason, I’ve fallen off the exercise bandwagon, despite the fact that I’ve put on a few pounds and so am reminded of the need to exercise on a very regular basis.
Tagged with: exercise, habits, routines, worth repeating
Having great habits and routines is the key to living an easy life. I believe this whole heartedly and I talk to anybody who’ll listen about how important it is to make tasks automatic by creating well-established habits and routines.
In 2011 I created and taught a fun online workshop for Simplify 101 called Simplify Your Life with Habits + Routines. I’m delighted to announce that it’s being offered again, for the fourth time. This session runs from August 15 through September 12. You can sign up now and get early-bird pricing (20 percent off!) through June 26.
Tagged with: aby garvey, habits, routines, workshops
There must be something in the air. In the four weeks between February 28 and March 28 I have five speaking engagements. You can read all about them on the Events page of this website.
Tagged with: closets, decluttering, habits, routines, speaking
Two years ago, I created a life-enhancing habit. At the time, I wrote a blog post about how I went about doing it. I’m happy to say that my poop-scooping routine is going strong, so I thought at this time of year, it was worth repeating that post. The magic of linking new routines to old works on any habit, not just poop scooping. I invite you to give a thought to how you might apply it in your life!
Tagged with: habit, pets, routines, worth repeating
It’s amazing what adaptable creatures humans are. When circumstances change, we change our standards.
Tagged with: adaptability, habits, routines
As I’ve discussed here before, I’m teaching an online workshop on the fabulous website, Simplify 101, called Simplify Your Life with Habits + Routines. In this three-lesson, four-week workshop, students will learn how to decide on what beneficial habits they’d like to develop, get support and accountability to develop them, and also how to link habits to routines. They’ll also learn how to kick habits that are less beneficial.
I think creating great habits and routines is the key to the good life. I tell clients that I can help them declutter, but unless they change their behavior—and that typically encompasses establishing new habits and routines—disorder will once again reign.
Tagged with: aby garvey, habits, routines, shannon wilkinson, speaking, workshops
In 2011 I created and taught a fun online workshop for Simplify 101 called Simplify Your Life with Habits + Routines. I’m delighted that it’s being offered again, for the third time. This session runs from July July 19 through August 16. You can sign up now and get early-bird pricing (20 percent off!) through June 26.
Tagged with: aby garvey, habits, routines, workshops
In April, Shannon Wilkinson and I taught a three-hour in-person workshop in St. Louis called Create Freedom and Ease with Habits and Routines. It was very successful and we enjoyed it so much we wanted to do it again. So now we’re offering it in Portland, Oregon, where Shannon lives, on Friday, August 3.
Tagged with: events, habits, routines, shannon wilkinson, speaking
I’m really excited to be offering a special in-person workshop with my friend and Declutter Happy Hour partner, the fabulous life coach Shannon Wilkinson.
Tagged with: events, habits, routines, shannon wilkinson, speaking
Last fall I developed and taught a fun online workshop for Simplify 101 called Simplify Your Life with Habits + Routines. I’m delighted that it’s being offered again, February 21 through March 20. You can sign up now and get early-bird pricing (20 percent off!) through January 27.
Tagged with: aby garvey, habits, routines, workshops
If you read this blog with any regularity, you know that I’m practically fanatical about the benefits of good habits and routines.
Tagged with: great day st. louis, habits, routines, television
I’m a huge believer in the value of routines. They keep my life running smoothly. But right now, my routines are all messed up. I was away for a week, attending the ICD conference. Then I was home for four days and too busy to focus on my surroundings. Then I left home for a lovely, relaxing weekend in Nashville with friends.
Tagged with: 15 minutes, aby garvey, habits, routines, travel
I can barely contain my excitement: I can finally announce that I’ll be teaching a fun online workshop for Simplify 101 called Simplify Your Life with Habits + Routines! The workshop will be offered October 4 through November 1. You can sign up now and get early-bird pricing through September 8.
Tagged with: aby garvey, habits, routines, workshops
I’m a huge believer in the power of routines. I try to stick to the ones I’ve established religiously, since I find that sometimes it’s challenging to jump back on the bandwagon once a routine has been disrupted.
Tagged with: routines
I make no secret of the fact that I love Unclutterer.com. It’s a smart, informative blog on living simply and I read it regularly. The editor, Erin Doland, does an amazing job with keeping the daily content fresh.
Tagged with: blogs, guest post, routines, unclutterer
I love the blog Unclutterer. Erin Doland, who writes most of the posts, is so smart and such a great writer. I love her perspective on striving to live a clutter-free life.
Tagged with: clutter, disorder, erin doland, order, routines, unclutterer
Organization systems, as well as habits and routines, are usually set up with current circumstances in mind. When circumstances change, the systems or routines might fall apart. In other words, life takes zigs and zags and if systems keep going straight, they’re not going to work.
I forgot to blog yesterday. I’ve been blogging every Monday, Wednesday and Friday since December 27. Then, last week, I made a conscious decision to skip Wednesday’s and Friday’s posts and just do one post on Thursday (about that conscious decision).
Some effort is better than no effort. That’s the philosophy I’m embracing at the moment when it comes to exercise. For some reason, I’ve fallen off the exercise bandwagon, despite the fact that I’ve put on a few pounds and so am reminded of the need to exercise on a very regular basis.
The past couple of weeks have been very busy for me and I haven’t been home a whole lot. I did take one glorious at-home day off a week ago Saturday, where I caught up on my TV and did some knitting. (Boy that day went by fast!) I did nothing but relax, which I sorely needed.
Tagged with: disorder, habits, order, pockets of time, routines
I’m going to be 50 next year and like many people my age, my vision isn’t what it used to be. Reading, in particular can be challenging. I’ve been wearing progressive lenses (distance vision in the top, reading vision in the bottom, with a little intermediate in between) for some years.
Tagged with: clean desk, email, habits, irritations, routines
Meagan Francis, a writer I’m acquainted with through the online community Freelance Success, is a mother of five. In her blog, The Happiest Mom she provides insights from her journey to happiness in motherhood.
A friend shared this slideshow with me from B.J. Fogg, Ph.D. of Stanford University’s Persuasive Tech Lab, entitled 3 steps to new habits. It presents a very simple approach to creating new habits.
So far this year I’ve established a couple of new habits that benefited greatly by starting with a clean slate.
It’s funny how the turn of the calendar page to a new year makes people want to change their ways and resolve to behave differently. It’s certainly true of me. While I haven’t set any resolutions, per se, I do set goals and I do try to create new habits.
Tagged with: goals, products, routines, shannon wilkinson
On New Year’s Eve day, the weather was unseasonably warm here in St. Louis (so warm we had a tornado!). At the risk of being indelicate, I’ll share that I spent some pre-storm time picking up the dog poop in our back yard. The snow had melted, revealing many piles.
For the last ten days, I’ve been using habitforge to help me create the routine of putting my clothes away properly at the end of the day (something I’ve had trouble with for years). I’ve found it very motivating.
Tagged with: accountability, don't break the chain, habitforge, habits, routines
I’m all for doing things well and keeping commitments. But sometimes, just a little bit of effort is better than no effort. And sometimes if you make a little effort, it can turn into more effort.
Tagged with: exercise, mark forster, motivation, routines
Discipline is an interesting word, isn’t it? When it’s used to express how one person interacts with another (a parent disciplining a child, for example, or an employer disciplining an employee), it has negative connotations. It’s no fun to have someone discipline you and, I can imagine, it’s not fun disciplining someone else.
Tagged with: don't break the chain, habits, routines
January is almost over (already). As I’ve blogged about before, for the last couple of years I’ve been trying to add one big habit per year that will help me be happier and more productive. In 2008, it was clearing my desk at the end of the workday. In 2009 it was whittling my email inbox down to 15 or fewer messages every day. I’m going gangbusters on both of those.
Tagged with: declutter happy hour, empowerment, goals, habits, routines, shannon wilkinson, teleclasses, telephone coaching
I’ve written here before about the importance of habits and routines to make your life easier. I call it automating your life. Over the past couple of years, I’ve created some habits which have helped me maintain order around my home and office. (This is huge, because I’m a naturally messy person.)
Tagged with: aby garvey, clean desk, flylady, habits, routines
If you read my blog with any regularity, you’ve read about my infatuation with the Wii Fit. I’ve found it a fun and effective way to get exercise and stay in shape. (I’m a huge couch potato and don’t need to exercise to stay trim, so it’s hard for me to motivate myself to exercise.)
I’ve been home from Australia for six days now. Apart from the very first night home, when I slept long and hard after 24 consecutive hours of travel, I haven’t been sleeping properly. I’m a good sleeper (my mom’s narcoleptic…it’s in my genes) but I’ve experienced what it must be like to be an insomniac. Most nights, I’ve just not been getting sleepy at bedtime.
Tagged with: margaret lukens, productivity, routines, travel, wendy davie
I’ve written about my infatuation with the Wii Fit I purchased in April. I built a routine of doing Wii Fit six days a week (I’d take Thursdays off) and was going strong. I was so enthusiastic about it that my friend Margaret Lukens of New Leaf + Company interviewed me about it and included me and my Wii Fit in a blog post she wrote about exercise this week.
Tagged with: exercise, margaret lukens, routines
I am absolutely delighted to be a guest blogger on the popular blog, I’m an Organizing Junkie today. My post is on one of my favorite topics, creating routines to help maintain order.
Tagged with: guest post, organizing junkie, routines
This morning, I read this wonderful Unclutterer blog post, in which Erin Doland wrote about how she didn’t freak out when she learned her in-laws were coming for an overnight stay that day. Since she’s embraced an uncluttered lifestyle, the unexpected visit didn’t mean any scrambling.
I’ve written here many times about Don’t Break the Chain, a website that has been effective in helping me establish some routines (like cleaning off my desk every night, blogging regularly and, now, making sure the top of my bureau stays clean).
But there’s another game in town I’d like to shine a light on. It’s Joe’s Goals, a free website that allows you to track your daily goals. I use it regularly as well, though for a few months I’d let it fall by the wayside.
Tagged with: don't break the chain, joe's goals, routines
On January 5, 2008 I resolved to clear my desk off every day at the end of the workday. I envisioned sitting down at my desk every morning with a clear desk and hoped that it would help me start the day on the right foot.
Tagged with: clean bureau, clean desk, don't break the chain, habits, routines
Two years ago today, I wrote my first post on this blog. The topic was “What is organized?”
Sometimes I feel like a broken record when I write here (or in my newsletter) about the importance of routines. It’s just that I’m reminded very frequently about how much of an impact they can have on order, productivity and overall peace of mind.
Tagged with: don't break the chain, joe's goals, jott, productivity, routines, travel
I’m home from my latest trip. And I’m here to stay for awhile! It’s nice to be back sleeping in my own bed, though I’m feeling a little foggy. I blame Pip, my standard poodle, who had me up in the night several times last night needing to go out.
This week’s Blog of the Week is an oldie but goodie. I first became aware of Flylady back in the late nineties, before I ever dreamt of becoming a professional organizer. Technically, it’s not a blog. (It predates blogs.) But it’s frequently updated and full of treasures.
Tagged with: 15 minutes, blog of the week, decluttering, flylady, routines
Being on time to client appointments has been a challenge for me. I blogged about this three months ago, at which time I vowed to make some changes to my morning routine, including implementing some checklists, so that I’d be on time instead of rushing like a mad woman in the morning.
Tagged with: control, punctuality, routines, time management
I’m a punctuality-challenged person. That’s not a great trait for a professional organizer. My clients have a reasonable expectation that I’ll arrive on time. And besides, it’s just good business to be respectful of your clients’ time.
Tagged with: control, joe's goals, mark forster, punctuality, routines, silvercreek glider club, time management
Chances are you’re familiar with Flylady. Flylady, who’s real name is Marla Cilley, has a wildly popular website which helps readers dig out from clutter, establish routines, and stay organized.
Tagged with: 15 minutes, decluttering, flylady, habits, routines
I love having a blog. The freedom to write whatever I want is wonderful. (Way, way back in the day I had a column in PetLife magazine in which I could write whatever I wanted. It was exhilarating.)
But that freedom is a two-edged sword. With little structure surrounding what to write, and no deadlines, it can be very difficult to (1) take the time to post to my blog and (2) come up with something remotely meaningful to write.
Tagged with: blogs, don't break the chain, michael neill, routines, steven pressfield, time management, writing