The Most Important 45 Minutes

Happy Thursday Friends!  I’ve been working long and hard this week to catch up, get ahead, and just do my thing.  I wasn’t quite sure what had changed my attitude so greatly this week until I remember something I implemented at the end of last week, my last 45 routine.

What is my last 45 routine?

Another thing I pulled from my favorite book ever.   After my husband basically told me to shape up and stop complaining, I started re-listening to it again (so many of you told me you could relate and that is why I love you guys!).  It’s been about a year since I listen to it the first time and just like anything, you can get so much more the second time you go over something right?  Right!

So in the last 45 minutes of the day, usually around 9 pm, I have a specific routine designed to set up me up for success for the next day.

What the last 45 routine looks like:

 1.  Write a list of everything that needs to get done the next day.  This list includes workouts, pet stuff, meals (including what I plan to eat and a time estimation), meditation, work tasks, checking email, and home tasks.  EVERYTHING. (Panda Planner I shared in my favorite posts a while back is my favorite thing ever)

2.  Make a schedule for the next day.  Starting from the time I wake up to the last 45 of the next day.  Yep, sometimes I even schedule in TV shows, aka Game of Thrones or Empire.  Those are the only two shoes I watch, oh and Friends on Netflix.

I often find that I won’t be able to do everything I think should be done the next day, so I reprioritize.  I also give myself 50% more time than I think the task will take, a trick I learned in Essentialism by Greg Mckeown.  

 

3.  Then, when my schedule is complete, I take a minute or two to close my eyes and visualize the day going exactly how I want it to go.  Exactly how I wrote it.  During this time I often think of things I should do before I go to bed to make the next day a breeze.  For instance, if I want to be done walking the pup at 630 I know I need to have a few things ready for me in the morning like my clothes, my watch, my sunglasses, and charged headphones.  Sometimes I send a last minute email to ensure what I need is in place for a meeting the next day, or whatever, you get the idea.

4. Wash up for bed if I haven’t already.  

5.  Complete the mirror exercise.

 The mirror exercise is crazy awkward and at first, it kind of seems like it might be used for cruel and unusual torture during war times.  Okay, it’s not that bad, but it is uncomfortable.  It’s also simple.  Look yourself in the mirror, literally LOOK AT YOURSELF.  Then praise yourself for every single thing you did right that day, not wrong, RIGHT.  Small things, big things, whatever, list it OUT LOUD.

Ex for Wednesday night.  Today I woke up early and walked the dog 2 miles. I came home and had a healthy breakfast egg sandwich.  I published my wedding diet post.  I completed all the functional exercises for my shoulder (crap I forgot one, oh well, keep going).  I went to Orange Theory.  (damn I forgot to do my knee exercises, doesn’t matter, keep going) I refueled properly with a protein shake and a banana, just like I tell my clients to do.  I came home and showered.  I finished the backend work of the post. I ate a healthy lunch of leftover zucchini enchilada skillet.  I checked my email and worked on a sponsored campaign.  (You spent way too long on that, ugh, KEEP GOING).  You listened to your body and ate a half of a primal kitchen collagen bar instead of full one, that was satisfying enough to hold you over until dinner.  You worked well at the coffee shop on your next post.  You responded to all of your clients in a timely manner.  You made a healthy dinner of salmon, cauliflower, and leftover chop chop salad.  You made Mr. Hungry a snack plate before basketball.  You finished all the promotion stuff and social media stuff you wanted to finish.  You ate a healthy dessert of a peanut butter mug cake.  You took your vitamins.  You planned your day for tomorrow.  You washed up for bed.  Thank you for doing all those things.  I love you. 

Think it sounds excruciating and dumb?  That’s what I thought when I first read it but Canfield recommends trying it for 3 months, what do you have to lose?  I know from last year, it works so I gave it a whirl again.  3 days in and it’s like my whole mindset is different, my criticizing voice that used to plague me throughout the day is dying off.  I’m hearing it less and less, and that is the way I like it. [clickToTweet tweet=”Want to get rid of that voice of criticism in your head? Do this before bed and you can! #health ” quote=”I could go on and on about how this helps you accept accomplishes/praise better, recognize your worth, practice telling your inner critic to shut up, etc but it’s best if you just try it.”]

6.  “Show me where I could have … X….” daily review.  I used to lay down in bed for this but turns out that’s a great way to fall asleep without completing the exercise.  So now I sit up until I’m done. I pick one thing I’m working on such as intuitive/healthy eating, being productive, being kinder, practicing patience, etc…  I review my day starting from the beginning looking for places I could have gotten better in that area.  When I find a place, I replay the situation as I think it should have gone.  Imagination, imagination, imagination.  Also, I try to be consistent, like the same thing all week but sometimes I’m random.

So that’s it!  So many of you have reached out to me or left comments sharing your struggle to fight for things in your life too!  To me, this routine throws punches in the face of procrastination and self-doubt.  I hope it helps you too!