2014 Plan (Part 2): Recovery Rituals

In part two of my 2014 Plan, we'll cover the recovery rituals I was able to design. I've alluded to these before and even blogged about the book that inspired them. So I don't have to point out too much in this post except to say that these are the ones I've chosen for 2014. It was quite a process to narrow it down to these and this may not be exactly what the book is talking about, but I'm really excited about these because they feel so right.

The goal of a recovery ritual is to balance life through managing energy instead of time. You should actually manage time as well, its a resource like money, but your mental focus is the primary resource because without it you can't actually make progress on whatever you're working on. Typically most American's overwork there mental and emotional energy and under work their physical and spiritual energy--leading them to feel exhausted, behind, foggy, frustrated and yet with ever diminishing capacity.

Two performance enhancing sports psychologists discovered that winning athletes weren't always the most naturally talented. They were the ones who practiced most effectively and who used a ritual to bring themselves back to peak focus throughout their competitions. An example from the book is a tennis player who performed the same ritual before every serve. They were able to measure his vital signs and determine that his heart rate dropped from a peak of 180 bpm to nearly his resting rate in less than a minute. As a result, he approached each serve with nearly the same level of focus and energy. Often outclassed at the start of a match, he built a winning record because the majority of his opponents wore down throughout the match and began making mistakes.

To learn more in detail about setting yourself some recovery rituals here's a link to the book.

I also strongly recommend Getting Things Done by David Allen.

Here's the 3 main rituals I'll be implementing:

Recovery Rituals Needed

Ritual #1 Afternoons Mon, Wed, Fri                     Tuesday (a little different)

11:30 Drive to Vancouver                                   

Noon Check PO Box, Clean cat box                    

12:30 Lunch out with Mom                                

1pm Hit a coffee shop (catch up on emails)          

2pm Meet with clients                                           4pm Tanning Bed

4pm Head back to Beaverton                               5pm New Seasons Write-in until 7pm

Ritual #2 Evening

7pm Jeopardy

7:30 Brush teeth, get ready for bed (layout swim clothes, line up W.I.P. & 3_6 write school)

8pm 2hr TV & snuggling with K (something good)

9pm watch a comedy

9:30 TV Off, Read for pleasure, Cup of herbal Tea (reduce light)

10pm in bed (Forgive Everyone, Be Thankful/count blessings, pray)

Ritual #3 Morning

6am Worship (Include music & Light)

6:30 Breakfast

7am WIP (draft/revise/edit) 1,500 words

8am swim (walk there, swim, shower, walk back)

9am 3_6 Write School

10am ADOS Review, Check email, plan the day