Planning Your Life During Isolation: Finding your New Routine.

April 13, 2020

I know how most of us are feeling right now; stuck, in limbo, awkward, uncomfortable with no sense of purpose of direction. I mean it’s easy to feel like this when many of us have lost our jobs, our routines and literally the way we have always lived is now different. Our calendars and planners may be looking a little empty. However, this is the time you need to be using them the most! It’s time to start planning and reinforcing those good habits. It’s so easy to be slipping into a slump- heck I have! My planner has always been filled with my daily routines, budget, meal plan and habits- this is what helps me get through each day not only in a productive way BUT it keeps my anxiety at bay and mental health in check.

Now I’m not saying you can’t live in your pjs some days (heck I have been), or slow down because this is the perfect time to breathe and try to pace our lives. But having a sense of routine right now is going to do wonders for your mental and physical health. So here are some ways you can be planning you utilising this time to help you reinforce a good routine and habits.

Revisit your budget + Setting your Budgets

This is just as important now as ever. Especially if you have had a change in income. See where you may be able to make some changes to minimise your cost of living. ⁠⠀If you’re not sure where to start I recommend reading “The Barefoot Investor”. Look at your monthly fixed and variable expenses and compare this to your current income and see where you can save money. Planning our meals each week allows us to save a lot of money and also stops food wastage. This is where planning all aspects of your life goes hand in hand. Check out the Steph Pase Planner Magnet Set to meal plan your week and shopping list. I will be doing a blog on how we organise our budget in our home soon!

Plan your Meals

Anyone else need to practise social distancing from the fridge right now? Everyone is struggling to avoid snacking all day and finding it hard to stick to the usual meal times- meal planning will help! Meal planning is something I’ve done for many years and as I mentioned not only saves us money but also saves my sanity. I hate the pressure of trying to think of what to make for dinner each night.

I meal plan for the week ahead every Sunday! Try researching new recipes to cook each week and then save your favourites! I aim to try one new recipe per week. And I love my slow cooker right now because I throw in all the ingredients in the morning, and its ready by dinner time – all I have to do is plate up! Try out my slow cooked Pulled Pork and Lamb Roast. You can also find my recipes here.

From your meal plan you can then write own you shopping list which will stop you buying too much or wasting food.
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Schedule your Movement

Being cooped up inside right now means most of us aren’t getting any exercise or movement. I can’t stress enough how important it is for you to get out and go for a walk each day or do a home workout. My husband and I tag team so we can both get out for a run/walk each day. If you don’t have the chance to do this do a home workout or take the kids on a family walk. Fresh air and endorphins will do you a world of wonders.

Here are some exercise ideas you can do right now:

Daily Walks
Hiking
Youtube Yoga/ Pilates
Home Workout
Interval running around the block
Family Walks/Hikes
Kids scavenger hunts outside

Schedule this movement in each day and tick it off! I use my Desktop Planner + 2020 Planner to organise my exercise each week.
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Cleaning Schedule

Having an organised and clean space around you will reduce the feeling of chaos. ⁠As you guys know I’ve been using my cleaning schedule for years and I have it available for you to download here. This allows you to keep on top of your housework and not having to spend all weekend doing the cleaning. For example, I break up the cleaning into sections each day which takes me 30 mins max! Mondays I do bathrooms, Tuesdays I do floors etc.
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Revisit Goals

Now is a great time to reflect on your progress so far in 2020 and see if you need to take a little detour or two to get there, or list the little things you can still do to make progress.⁠⠀Maybe it’s starting a new business or hobby, now is the time to research this or get those plans in motion!
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Schedule Self-Care

Write out your favourite self-care practices –and then allocate at least one to each day. It doesn’t have to be something that takes 2 hours, it can be as simple as going to bed early, putting down your phone or a doing a face mask! I also have a self-care challenge that can help you find easy ideas that fills your cup back up! Click here to download the Self-Care Challenge.

Kids Daily Plans

Mamas I feel you right now, we are all racking our brains trying to keep the kids entertained for longer than 5 minutes. What I find helps is creating a little routine for them. It can be as simple as craft time, watch a movie, outdoor play, reading books etc.

I have created some free printable resources for you to help! Check out the Indoor + Outdoor Scavenger Hunt printables. Also click here for my “30 Home Activities for Families”.

Some other tips that has been helping up with the kids right now is:

Keeping their bedtime routine the same
Keep items like empty toilet tools, boxes and paper for them to use for crafts
Obstacle Course around the house
Check out “Cosmic Yoga” on Youtube
Facetime dates with their friends

Try to stay ahead of the little ones by planning out the day or week ahead. Write out a list of activities in each day- I do this in my Desktop Planner.
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Refine your Habits

Sticking to good habits is so important right now, it is so easy to fall into bad habits right now (I know I have!). For me habits like meditation, writing in my to do-list, 2L water and daily walks are keeping me sane!

Small efforts equate to enormous results. Use your habit tracker in this time to refine your habits⁠!
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REWARD YOURSELF!

If you stick to your habits and plans, make sure you physically write down how you will reward yourself for your efforts – big or small!!!⁠

I hope this blog has helped give you some direction as to how you can plan and create a good routine at this time. Please remember to be kind to yourself first that’s the most important thing!