Now I Start My Day.

After the summer, I'd settled into a routine where I'd get up in the morning, do a bit of work and then head to the gym sometime around mid to late morning. It seemed to make sense. I could get a few things done first, answer messages, catch up on whatever needed my attention, and then take some time for myself.

And for a while, it worked.

But gradually, as life started getting busier, that time I'd put aside for exercise became less and less certain. There was always something else that needed doing. Another email, another conversation, something with the business, something that couldn't wait. Before I knew it, the morning had disappeared, and so had my workout.

The funny thing is, on the days when I did manage to exercise, I felt great. I had more energy, I felt better about myself, and I noticed the difference it made to the rest of my day. Yet somehow, knowing all of that wasn't enough to stop me slipping back into the same pattern.

And I started feeling sluggish.

It wasn't that I'd stopped caring about my health or that I'd decided exercise wasn't important anymore. I just hadn't really made it a priority. I'd made it something I would do once I'd dealt with everything else.

And, of course, there's nearly always something else.

So this week, I decided to change things around a little.

I still wake up and spend around half an hour meditating. Then I take the dogs for their morning walk, spend a little time sorting out the garden and kitchen, and take the children to school. But now, when I get home, rather than opening the laptop and getting straight into work, I exercise for an hour.

And then I start my day.

I smiled when I caught myself saying that, because when I think about it, I've already done quite a lot before I've even started what I consider to be my working day.

But perhaps that's part of what I've been getting wrong.

For a long time, I've tended to think of the things I need to do for myself as something that has to fit around everything else. Work comes first, responsibilities come first, other people's needs come first, and somewhere in whatever time is left, I'll hopefully get around to looking after myself.

I don't think I'm alone in doing that.

We all have things in our lives that we know make a difference to how we feel. It might be exercise, spending time with someone we care about, reading, getting outside, sitting quietly or doing something we simply enjoy. We know these things matter because we've experienced how we feel when we make time for them.

Yet they're often the first things we move aside when life gets busy.

And I've been wondering why that is.

Perhaps it's because the things that demand our attention tend to make themselves heard, while the things that quietly do us good are much easier to put off. An unanswered email sits there waiting. Somebody needs a response. There's always another job to finish. But going for a walk, spending an hour doing something we enjoy or simply having a little time to ourselves doesn't always feel quite so urgent.

Until we begin to notice what's missing.

I'm not suggesting I've suddenly found the perfect routine. I've changed it before, and I'm sure there will be mornings when life gets in the way again. I'm still figuring these things out, just as I imagine most of us are.

But what I've noticed this week is that I didn't really need to find more time. I needed to think differently about the time I already had.

And perhaps that's something worth considering beyond exercise.

We can spend so much of our lives making sure everything else is taken care of that we forget we're part of that life too.

So this Sunday, I wonder whether there's something in your own life that you know makes you feel better, something that matters to you, but somehow keeps finding its way to the bottom of the list.

Not something you need to turn into another task or another promise to yourself.

Just something worth noticing.

Have a peaceful Sunday.

Stefan

What is something that matters to you, but keeps getting whatever time is left over?