Making the Internet My Accountability Partner

I may have mentioned before on this blog that I really struggle with routines. I do have a morning and evening routine for my fantasy self, but I will never be her. I’ve recently discovered Morgan Evelyn Cook‘s YouTube channel and I highly recommend you check her out. She introduced me to the concept of a menu instead of a routine. The idea was immediately appealing to me because it made me realize routines fall into the all-or-nothing thinking trap that is almost never helpful. The issue I have with a routine is if there’s one day when I can’t adhere to it, then there’s no point in trying to reinstate it because it’s no longer a routine.

Purposefully designing in flexibility is exactly what I needed. When I set out to create my routine, I decided to create categories based on the kind of things that typically made me feel good. The major ones I thought of first were having a healthy breakfast and working out. I got to include options in both categories for low-energy days and days when investing energy will bring me joy. I also knew I wanted to add an option for reading and baking because I have noticed I am happier on days when I fit one of those in before work. I put those in the category of hobbies and expanded some other options to encourage me to balance my interests. I also realized I needed to add a very practical category. Left to my own devices I may put off getting dressed or brushing my teeth and I never feel good when I start work in my pjs.

To finish off my menu options I decided I want to add something that focuses on my mental health and on creating a feeling of success. Despite working as a therapist I could only come up with three options that fall under mental health focused activity, mostly because this entire menu is dedicated to protecting my mental health. I’m open to suggestions if anyone has specific recommendations. For instituting a feeling of success in my morning I decided to focus on what feels productive and beneficial to me.

It’s been about a week since I made this menu. As of right now, I’m keeping the Canva doc open on my computer and it’s been really helpful to have it visible. I may consider printing it because I’ve noticed that it’s easy to talk myself into playing a “for fun” YouTube video as long as I’ve done something on the menu and I can see that being a potential pitfall in the future. That being said I’ve mostly been able to hit the majority of these categories at least once each morning this week. As always I still have ups and downs in mood and energy but overall it’s working largely as I hoped. I’m really excited to see how this carries into the future and when it makes sense I want to expand this menu concept into other aspects of my day-to-day life. You’ll of course get update posts if I do expand it.