Course correction
Turning around a day that just didn’t start right
This piece is rambly and somewhat personal.
Like a lot of people focused on improvement I like to keep consistent in my daily actions.
But as I’ve mentioned before, according to the astrology of Myers-Briggs, I’m an ENTP. This means I can be a little fleeting and impulsive. And so doing exactly the same thing at the same time everyday just doesn’t work for me.
Trying to keep to a regimented regime takes up so much of my energy that after a week or so I don’t get halfway through a day before it’s all gone to shit.
It’s why I don’t like offices and could never join the army.
But I also know that just following any impulse and not having consistency is deeply unsatisfying. So I focus on some core actions that need to be done everyday (except Sunday, which I have off). Even if they’re done in random orders at random times and in random places.
I tend to wake up early. I like the mornings. Sometimes it’s 5 am, sometimes 5.30 and even a little after 6 when I’m feeling fruity. I don’t use an alarm.
And that’s how today started. Pretty normal.
Except I had to make a phone call back home to my family in Sydney. It was personal and I won’t bore you with the details except to say it went well and there was good news.
Afterwards I was relieved and had a swim.
But I couldn’t get my day going. I had YouTube on. I scrolled Twitter. I got bored of both and put on a podcast. I checked emails. Then I drank another coffee and farted around some more.
Basically, I did everything you shouldn’t do on a Monday morning. It got to lunch time and my mind was a pile of drivel. I was frustrated.
What I needed was a reset.
So, I made a simple plan.
First, I identified one thing that was the most important thing to get done, and decided I was going to complete that.
I then looked at all the other things I was working on and decided how much of each was going to get done, even if it was only a fraction of the way to completion.
Sorry, you’re going to have to bear with me here. I don’t like writing in those “list” ways that people often use to give advice. Obviously, I find them easy to follow along, but I also think they’re counter to how the mind actually works. The mind is much more tangential. It often takes a “scenic” route rather than the most direct path. Like this article.
Back to the plan.
Once I had the list ready I broke nearly every rule and put my most important task third.
And step one was kind of big: the actual reset.
I tidied up and washed the dishes and vacuumed. Then I walked down to the Med for a swim. After I got back home I did a workout of core exercises followed by a routine of isometric leg holds. Then I showered and shaved.
I did them all unrushed. I took my time. Plenty of breathing.
I listened to spaced out synth music.
Then I wrote in my diary by hand. This was step two. I focused on ideal me, ideal actions and brought them into the present and aligned them with my plan for the day.
Done.
Now for the single important thing I identified for today that had to be complete. To write an article for Substack. I had no idea what to write. So I’m writing this.
Next will be a simple admin task. Proof of identity loaded onto a platform I’m doing some work for. Should only take about five minutes.
After that I have some more French Bureaucracy I have to do. They are relentless here. I remember from my days as a history student learning that the person who began the modern French bureaucratic state is Napoleon. You can see an army generals’ hand everywhere in this goddamn system.
However, I’m only going to complete the first five steps out of twenty-four for this procedure I need to get done. I got ChatGPT to break the whole process down into steps with only one action per each stage along with a link of where to go and what documents I need. This is something I love AI for.
Step 6 on my list is to do 60 minutes research for an email campaign I’m working on. It’s client work but it’s also speculative. It’s not 100% accepted to progress. But I want to get ahead and be ready in case we get the all clear.
Then it will 60 minutes divided between some translation of a French novel followed by copying out of a classic ad by hand — as advised by Gary Halbert.
And that’s it!
Some PS bullets:
I’ve posted this article after the full schedule got done. What I think was most important was to first make the plan and then have the reset actions. Once I’d tidied up, swam, worked out and then showered and shaved, each of the other steps just flowed easily.
This was NOT a perfect day. Instead, it was a day that got saved from being completely unproductive. One important win and a bunch of minor wins. I followed the philosophy of consistency - even if imperfect.
I think it’s a valuable lesson for people like me who work for themselves as freelancers. Some days by nature have no immediate client work due. And they can be easy to let slide. But keeping the ball rolling on everything means I can sleep well tonight.
Many days we can feel like we’re in a rush. And this can be double compounded by having an “off” morning. But today, after the reset, I just moved slowly and deliberately, and followed each step in the plan. It was well after dinner by the time I finished.
After my swim, in the middle of the reset, I did the most ridiculous thing. I walked past the best gelato shop in Marseille and had “une boule de chocolat dans un cornet.” It was a delicious detour.
Portugal is about to play Spain in the World Cup. I can watch the game with some peace of mind.