Timely Thoughts

I know it's not much, but I've got two days of journaling down! Yesterday, I took some time to catch up in my journal, so now writing isn't such a daunting task. I'm hoping I can keep the streak going this whole week! Compliment time is also going pretty well.

As a teenager, I was really good about reading my scriptures every day. I usually did it right before going to bed. In the summer, I'd often study for a while in the mornings. Since being in college and especially since getting married, this has become much more difficult. I never imagined this would be the case, but I've come to a point where I'm not setting aside any time for scripture study. I've needed to make a change for a while now. I've tried a few things like reading while I eat breakfast, but I oversleep enough that this hasn't worked for me. For now, I'm going to design a week at a time. I think, like my designed journal time, I'm going to set an alarm. Looking at my schedule this week, I'm not doing anything at 3:15 all but one day. So I'm going to schedule it into my calendar and set a daily alarm. I'm looking forward to trying this new time!

My designed time for journaling hasn't gone well ... mainly because I've yet to write. I'm trying to figure out if it's because the time I chose isn't working for me, or because I'm just lacking motivation to write. Maybe both? I think I may move the alarm 15 minutes later because a couple times this week, I wasn't even home when it went off. We'll see if that helps.

Day 1 of my designed compliment time was a success! It was brief - I probably only took one minute to do it. But it felt good to reflect on good things I had done and good qualities I have. I'm looking forward to continuing this daily reflection. I'd like to make it a habit because it has the potential to really change me for the better.

I've decided that one of my needs is more self-love. I'm very hard on myself most of the time and it's not healthy. So to better meet my need of self-love, I'm designing a compliment time. During that time, I'll write down things I like about myself or things I'm doing well. Eventually, I'll have a big list and can spend time reviewing the good things about myself. The hard part is picking the best time for it... For now, I will do it at my first break in the day. My schedule changes every day, so I think this will help me be consistent without picking one specific time.

I didn't do a very good job with my time today, and that's because I didn't take the time to design it. So I guess this post is a reflection on why time design is necessary. When I don't have a plan, minutes whittle away. Pretty soon, the sun is setting and I didn't get much accomplished. Unfortunately, that's what happened today. If I had designed my time, I could've used this extra day off a lot more effectively. Next time...

While pondering on how I can design my time, I thought about journal writing. I started writing in my journal every day when I was 13. I was consistent until I got married. It has been pretty hit-and-miss since then because we are so busy and run on so little sleep. I miss writing in my journal and want to get back into the habit. Writing right before I go to sleep like I used to do is no longer a good option. So I've decided to design a window of time just for journaling. I'm going to set an alarm for 9:45 each night and when it goes off, I'll write. I hope it works! I'll give an update in a few days.