Somehow, we’re already in week 2 of my school year. The students are getting more comfortable being in a new building, and we’re getting back into the cycle of teaching and learning.

As for me, I want to work on being more intentional with my time and efforts on things. I’m working on creating a schedule for myself each week. I have a lot of responsibilities to juggle. And that’s okay.

I’m not fully situated in some of these new routines (like my alarm going off at 5 every morning). But I want to try to take this post to give some tips of how to start this process.

1. Sort through your priorities- This has to be first on the list. If you don’t know what you want to spend your time on, how will you know what you want to establish? If reading isn’t what you want to do, then don’t make it a priority or even a routine. Work on you and how you want things to be.
2. Create reminders for yourself- Reminders help so much. One of the small things I’m doing is I want to get at least one work-related thing done during my prep. I know some days I’m not going to want to do anything. I keep a reminder ar my desk so that I can start building that routine now. It helps me stay on track.
3. Give grace- You don’t master routines in a day. Habits take at least 21 days. If you mess up, it’s okay. It doesn’t mean you failed your routine.
4. Remember to juggle- Routines is about your priorities, like I mentioned earlier. It’s so important to be able to juggle those things so you can do your best to maximize whatever feeling or goal you’re working towards.
5. Set measurable steps- Success isn’t measured by the final step you take. It’s all the ways to get there. For example, I know many other teachers who stay late at work and/or take work home. If they want to get better at leaving work when the day is done, then they could set the goal for them to leave by a certain time. As they work and get better, they can slowly decrease the time backwards. There was a couple times when I was student teaching that I stayed until 5 or 6 (school was done around 3 in the afternoon). When I started teaching by myself, I made sure I never stayed past 4 at the latest. Now, in year 4, I rarely need to stay any time past the end of the day. Measure the steps and progress along the way.
6. Make it visible- I tell my students that if they write things down, they’ll remember them better. So will you. If you just keep your routine in your head, you might stick with it. But you’ll probably have a far better chance if it’s visible in some way. For me, I want to write out my schedule and routines so that I can make sure I’m staying on task. It could be pictures, writing, a sign on the mirror, alarms, or anything else. But make sure you have a way to make your routine visible to you in a way that works for you. This way you’re more likely to stick with it.
7. Celebrate your journey- Be proud of yourself for even the small goals you reach. Be proud you made your bed. Celebrate that you left on time all week. You’re working on you, your goals, and your future. You’re doing awesome even before you cross the finish line.
8. Chart your progress- I like to-do lists. I like having a box to check. Maybe you develop some kind of habit tracker. Maybe you journal. Whatever it is, find some way to reflect on the journey and experience so you can see just how far you’ve come.
9. Don’t put the emphasis on perfection- Perfectionism is truly overrated. You might have a bad day here and there, and that’s okay. You’re still doing good even if you’re routine isn’t solid. That just means that you’re a human being affected by life.
10. Finally, do it for you- This kind of thing shouldn’t be to please anyone else. It should be to make sure you’re on track with your own goals and ideals. Take care of you for your own sake.

I don’t have things mastered myself, but I want to always be working. So I’m trying, and sharing this in the hopes it helps someone, even if the only person it helps is me.