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The Next Step of the Morning Routine

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Reminders Are a Big Part of This

Taking control of your life requires intentional action. Having a routine is a big part of that control.

The past several weeks we discussed routines and their importance in being productive. Last week we focused on my morning journaling. My routine includes reminders …. lots and lots of reminders. People that have seen my calendar and lists think I may be going a little overboard, and maybe I am. But it helps me be more productive.

It’s too easy for me to get sidetracked and forget things without reminders.

These reminders are on both my phone and computer and begin to remind me as soon as they are turned on or activated. These events are all recurring and are scheduled for every day with no end date.

The calendar reminders start with my Bible reading and prayer time which is scheduled for 6:00 AM, the reminder is set for 15 minutes before. Second is journaling at 6:30 AM with a reminder 15 minutes before. Third is getting ready at 7:00 AM with a 15-minute reminder. This includes getting dressed, packing lunch, and other miscellaneous things that need to be done before leaving home. Then comes my daily planning at 7:30 AM, also a 15-minute reminder.

Daily planning is where review and planning begin. Up to this point, the day-to-day routine doesn’t change much.

Daily planning is on my Outlook calendar and after I finish getting ready I open the event. In that event, there is a place for notes where I have a written plan with links (denoted below as link) to different OneNote pages that are action lists.

Here is how that plan looks:

Review Life Plan – Take a few minutes to review the 2025 Weekly Action Plan (link) and get a perspective on scheduling.

Open, review, and process emails – Go through and decide what to do with them.

If it doesn’t require action, I can:

  • Trash it
  • File it for future reference

If it requires action, I can:

  • Respond if it takes less than a few minutes or add it to my task list to do later
  • Defer it by scheduling a time on my calendar to deal with it
  • Delegate it to someone else for action

Review to do lists – Both my Outlook task list (due today) and personal Action List (link) in One Note. Ask the question:

  • What do I really need to accomplish today? If it’s a really important task, move it to my calendar and schedule it.

Review calendar – Note appointments and review preparation that needs done. Look at today on the calendar and review items that need to have preparation done or scheduling revisions.

Review action lists – Review my major projects and categories, consider the next actions required in each to keep things moving.

  • Business Planning Action List (link)
  • Admin Action List (link)
  • Financial Action List (link)
  • Production Action List (link)
  • Sales Action List (link)
  • Marketing Action List (link)
  • Coaching & Consulting Action List (link)

Review delegated items – This is a list of items I have delegated to others and are important enough to track.

  • If something is overdue, or if I need a progress report, I send an e-mail and nudge the person responsible.
  • Put a note in the task itself that I sent a reminder.

I open this up and go down the list. Normally I can go through this process in 30 minutes if there aren’t too many things that deviate from the norm. Just like the journal that we looked at last week, I know that this seems like a lot. And it can be. But for me, it’s worth the time and effort if it helps me be more productive.

The most important thing is that you figure out what works for you to help you be more productive.

Next week, we’ll look at the Weekly Action Plan in more detail.

If you would like to know more about daily planning or building a routine to help you be more productive let us know in the comments or schedule a free 30-minute consultation.

Get Your Day Started Off Right 

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Your Morning Routine Should Be Where Your Day Starts 

Being out of control is one of the most helpless feelings we can have. I shared a little bit about my struggle with this last week and how reading and learning changed things for me.  

It was the realization that I had control over my decisions and how this control affected my life.  

Routines are a big part of that control.  

A couple of weeks ago I shared how my daily routine helps me get more done. This routine gives me clarity for the day.  

Clarity starts with knowing our “why”. Too often people drift through life without giving any thought to their why. For me, it is more possible to accomplish my “why” each day when I start with my morning routine. 

To prevent me from forgetting my routine, I use some different tools. One of my tools is my Outlook calendar. This tool has alarms that remind me to do the next thing. It also allots a certain amount of time to do each thing. These time limits are initially set by me and can be adjusted as needed.  

As shared in the previous post, my morning routine starts by waking up with a shower and some coffee. Then, I do my daily Bible reading. My first calendar reminder is reading my Bible and praying.  

Reading the Bible and praying may not be for everyone, but for me it’s my blueprint for life. As a builder I know that I can’t look at a blueprint for a building and remember everything by only looking at it once. I need to constantly go back and review it. The Bible is the same thing for me and my life.  

Next, I spend some time in prayer. This is my conversation with God–who is like the architect of my life. This time is me asking the architect about things that I need more direction and clarity about. 

The next reminder is for my journaling. 

My daily journal is a word document that starts as a template. It is broken down into several different reminders or questions to be answered. There are three sections, one for morning, one for midday, and one for evening. By setting reminders for these three times each day, it helps me to stay focused. I fill out one of these pages each day. 

Here is an example of the morning section of my daily journal template with explanations for each item: 

Day of the week: ______________ Date: _____________ 

Life Mission: This is my “why”. Once this is figured out it remains the same and doesn’t change much. There is the possibility that early on it may not be crystal clear and need some modifications. But after a few years have gone by, it won’t change much. 

Word for the Year: Having a word of the year is a fairly common practice. It’s one we do at our church. We randomly draw a word from a basket at the beginning of the year. I research the definition of the word and write it here. Then, I read it each morning. 

Scripture for the Year: This is a Scripture that supports the word of the year. 

Theme for the Year: This is a quote or saying that supports the word of the year. 

Seven Decisions: This is connected to The Traveler’s Gift–the book that had the most impact on the change in my life. In this book, the main character is lost and ready to give up when he goes on an amazing adventure that changes his life. On this adventure, he is given seven different documents. He is instructed to read one of them each morning and evening for twenty-one days. Then, repeat this process again until he has gone through all seven decisions. I do this as a part of my daily routine. 

Morning Revelation: This is where I write down my conversation with God and get things out of my head and on paper. 

Looking forward today I will: This is where I write down how I will live my day and the things I will work to accomplish. 

Things I get to enjoy today: This is where I remind myself to enjoy this life I’ve been given and the opportunities the day offers. 

That is the end of the morning section of the journal. We’ll look at the rest of it in a later post. 

The next part of my routine is more about planning ahead for the day.  

This is scheduled in my Outlook calendar and is more action specific. Next week, we’ll look at the things included in this and how it works.  

Being intentional with my life and business starts in the morning each day. 

If you would like a copy of my daily journal template, just let us know in the comments. If you would like more details about my daily routine or have questions about how to run a successful construction company you can schedule a free 30-minute consultation.  

Wouldn’t You Like To Get More Done?

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A Daily Routine Can Help You

Over the past several weeks we’ve been going through the Hero on a Mission online course. This is one of the courses offered by Business Made Simple University designed by Donald Miller. These online courses are great for helping small businesses.

I’ve taken this course before, but to reinforce my business, I’ve gone through it again as a refresher. The Hero on a Mission course shows the importance of having a life plan and incorporating it into your daily routine.

Routines are regular procedures, chores, or duties done at specific intervals. We are creatures of habit and routines will happen to some degree (even if they are unplanned). The key is to not let your routines be unproductive or random.

A routine requires intentional action.

Too many people live their lives mired in regret. They leave things up to fate, wondering why their life feels so meaningless. We shouldn’t give fate control over our lives.

Having a life plan and routine for implementing that plan is how you can take control. An intentional, daily routine will help you focus and stay on track.

A routine can be as simple or as detailed as you want it to be. We’re all different and what works for one person may not work for another.

I’m a detailed person and I like having control, so my routine is a little too intense for some people. My routine is broken into three parts: morning, midday, and evening. The morning actions help me get a clear plan and focus for the day on the things that are the most important to me. The midday portion is a break from the chaos and a recentering. The evening is an opportunity to look back at the day and review.

I use a combination of an Outlook calendar and OneNote action lists for my daily routine.

My daily routine overview:

Morning routine – I start my day with making a pot of coffee and taking a shower to wake up. Then I read my Bible, have prayer time, read the Traveler’s Gift Daily Decision, journal, pack my lunch, review the plans for the day, check emails. Then I review the day’s action list, my calendar, and the action lists for business planning, administration, finances, production, sales, and marketing.

Midday routine – This routine is shorter. It involves eating lunch, watching or listening to something educational, reviewing the Scripture of the day, and journaling.

Evening routine – I review the weekly action plan, the day’s action list, the calendar, and the action lists for business planning, administration, finances, production, sales, and marketing. I read the Traveler’s Gift Daily Decision, check my emails, journal, and pray.

This is a brief overview of my routine. Next week, I’ll break it down into more detail, the tools I use, and how I use them.

Do you have a daily routine?

Whether you’re looking to improve yours…

or would like to create one…

I can help.

Set up a free 30-minute consultation and let’s get started building your daily routine.

Routines Are a Good Thing

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That is, If the Routine Includes Doing Good Things

A routine is doing tasks, chores, or duties at a regular or specific interval or time. It is a habitual procedure constantly repeated.

Prayer is a good routine to have.

This is part of the Jewish religion. The Jewish Law calls for praying three times daily. In the morning, the afternoon, and at nightfall. The morning prayer is called (shacharit), the afternoon prayer (minchah), and the evening prayer (arvith or maariv).

It is taught that the custom of praying three times a day was introduced by the Patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Abraham introduced prayer in the morning, Isaac in the afternoon, and Jacob added one at night.

Routines can help you stay organized, be productive, and even find meaning. Certain studies have associated family routines with parenting competence and marital satisfaction.

Not all routines are created equal and failing to examine or alter bad habits can have a negative effect on our lives.

Habitual behavior can cause us to be unaware. A series of habits can set us on autopilot. This can lead to losing touch with who we are made to be.

For example, scrolling through our phone can seem pretty harmless, but we may be missing out on interaction with others. Similarly, items we pressure ourselves to include in our routines may be taking up time that could be used for better things.

Whatever our personal habits may be, it’s worth considering the ways they may be affecting us negatively. These routines may prevent us from engaging with the world around us.

Routines can start out with good intentions, but the good can get lost in the routine.

If we are doing the routine just to do it, we may have lost the reason behind why we’re doing it.

Going back to Jewish routines, many of the Sadducees and Pharisees in the Old Testament got caught up in the routines and forgot the why.

We need to periodically step back and ask ourselves why. Why are we doing this routine? Is it still an effective part of who we are and what we’ve been put here to accomplish?

As for the Jewish prayer routine, they consider Psalm 4 an evening prayer. It is one of David’s Psalms. In this Psalm, David:

  • Talks to and gives God his problems
  • Speaks to the people and reminds them that he was called by God
  • Advises the people to not hold on to their anger, to not dwell on their anger overnight, and to give their anger to God
  • Trusts in God
  • Asks God for peace and joy

Praying regularly and often is a good way to stay connected with God. This can be especially true as we come to the end of our busy days.

There can be a sense of guilt when falling asleep before you’re finished praying. It’s okay…it’s like falling asleep in your parent’s arms.

Prayers don’t need to be some elaborate thing. They can be simple. Like the “Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep” prayer that many of us learned as a kid. I found out in the children’s message Sunday that there are variations to this prayer.

Here’s one I really liked –

Thank you Lord for another day,
The chance to learn, the chance to play.
Now as I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
Please, guard me Jesus through the night,
And keep me safe till morning’s light.
But if I should I die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take.
And should I live for other days,
I pray that God will guide my ways.
Amen.

Routines help us remember to do things. But we need to do the right routines for the right reasons.

It’s important to be intentional with our routines.

What’s the Best Way to Navigate the Difficulties of Life?

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This Life Expedition is Made Easier with a Good Leader and a Good Plan

This past weekend our area was hit by a strong wind. I’m talking about a really, really strong wind. I’ve heard reports ranging from 80 to 100 miles per hour. I don’t know what the exact wind speed was, but what I do know is this…there was a lot of damage, a Ferris wheel blown over at the county fair, and a widespread electric outage for around to 24 hours in some areas.

The upside is that I haven’t heard of any serious injuries and witnessed neighbors helping neighbors.

Being without electricity for that amount of time brought to light how spoiled we are.

Don’t get me wrong…I love being spoiled with electricity and don’t want to go without it. But the disruption this caused to our everyday routines was evident. No electricity meant – no air conditioning, for those of us with well water…no running water, no charging of cell phones, thawing of food in freezers, etc.

This meant starting my day without my normal morning shower or coffee. ☹

I love routines and am much more productive when they are followed, but sometimes things happen that upset those routines. The question is how are we going to handle these disruptions?

Sometimes these routines can become so prominent that we become rigid and don’t look outside them. Jesus pointed this out to the Pharisees in Luke 14:1-6. Jesus was healing people on the Sabbath, and the Pharisees were stuck in their rules and laws. Jesus pointed out to them that if their son or ox fell in a well on the Sabbath, they would help them out.

When we get so set in our ways we don’t want to change. This leads to making excuses. In Luke 14:15-24, Jesus shares a story about people who were invited to a banquet but made up all kinds of excuses not to go.

It isn’t like they were being asked to do something that was hard or unpleasant…it was a banquet after all.

We are like the people in this story. We’ve been invited to an eternal banquet with Jesus, but we get caught up in our daily routines and make excuses for not accepting the invitation. We put it off.

When things like storms and power outages happen, we need to be clear about who we are and what things are the most important. We need to be flexibly rigid.

Life is an expedition and like any big undertaking there are going to be difficulties and hardships along the way.

The question is how are we going to handle them?

If we have a good Leader (Jesus) and a good plan (Bible) the adventure will be much better.