Sculpting a Life « The Social Caterpillar

January 9th, 2011

I’m not particularly good with schedules. Especially ones that start early in the morning. Unfortunately, I have a tendency to do things like go to bed at three in the morning and sleep until mid day which results in me feeling like I’ve lost so much daylight and also, the most productive part of my day.

An Armature made of… Ritual?

Rather than have a schedule, I’d like to build an armature. For those of you who haven’t used armatures before, I like this definition from merriam-webster.com:

d : a framework used by a sculptor to support a figure being modeled in a plastic material

Although, I’m not sure why they specify plastic material. (A lovely reader emailed me to discuss the difference between the various definitions of plastic. There’s the stuff your six year old’s jewelry is made out of, and there’s the more artistic definition being flexible, mouldable, soft. Something that I’m sure I knew in art school, but apparently slipped out of my brain.) Anyway, I want an armature for my life, but instead of building one out of wire, I want to build it out of ritual.

A morning ritual with Shiva Nata and my question and a healthy and locally sourced breakfast.
A sacred work space for all things related to this site.
A mid-day ritual with making lunch and letting my mind wander possibly letting my body wander too, something like a walk, but not so formal.
Dedicated time for day job work.
An evening ritual of making supper followed by reading (or listening to) books and other learning materials.
An actual bedtime preceded by meditation, possibly with a candle or incense.
One day per week where *nothing* gets scheduled.

That’s Quite a Block of Stone

The thing is, that’s a lot to implement all at once. I know this because I’ve made this plan before, or one very similar, and have never gotten it to stick. Whenever I feel overwhelmed by the way my life has been going, I come up with a plan like this. I’ve used bits and pieces before, but the distractions, they get distracting. And then the plan, it disintegrates.

Carving This Life a Bit at a Time

Scheduling it in a calendar has no meaning for me. Neither does writing it as a check list. So, I’m starting with one piece per week. We’ll see how that goes. First up, bedtime with meditation. I’m going to shoot for 11:00, since I’m writing this at 12:30 am and am not sleepy, I’m going to give one week for transition and one week for actual practice.

Feel free to ask me how this is going, on Twitter.

How strictly do you structure your days? What systems, rituals, armatures, scheduling do you use?

You know, you can get updates by email or RSS. Yay, updates!

In the comments:

We’re being open here, sharing and saying things we don’t always say out loud. What helps: Sharing your stories and Ideas. Cheering and telling what works/worked for you. What hurts: shoulds, harshness, and such. (I used to teach first grade, I can’t help it.)

Tags: baby steps, Experiment, instinct, motivation, patterns, perceptions, ritual

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 9th, 2011 at 10:10 am and is filed under Intention. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Pingback: Tweets that mention Sculpting a Life « The Social Caterpillar -- Topsy.com
http://www.anencouragingbird.com BirdyD

For myself, the finding of vitamin D in capsules has relieved a lot of the pressure & guilt over not letting the days be as they are.

My preferred hours of work are contained between noon & midnight, which would mean that a lot of the time, Ann Arbor would be under cloud by the time I was ready for daylight.

For the rest, I use a loose schedule-that-isn’t-really-even-though-it-is. And now that Mike’s work-for-others schedule is changing drastically, we will be polishing and exploring until we figure out something that works with this new paradigm.

It will contain a mix of structure &freedom, tho’, that much I do know.

Too much structure, and I rebel or feel suffocated & caged. Too little structure, and I tend not to get needed things done.

Good Fortune on your Journey!
http://thesocialcaterpillar.com/ Kathryn Hunter

Yep finding the right balance, both important and difficult.

How did you determine your preferred hours? Just when you’re feeling at your brightest, or something more systematic?

I’m interested in Charlie Gilkey’s productivity heat mapping, but I’m fuzzy on the details.
http://www.informationjunkiesanonymous.com Ryah Albatros

I wish I could remember where I read it, but someone once said that doing something for 9 days makes it a habit. When I wanted to change my routine I did the same as you plan to: I didn’t try to make all the changes at the same time.

I’d do something every day for a week, and once that started happening without my thinking about it, I added my next idea. It worked for me, so I hope you can make it work for you.

Oh, and I didn’t beat myself up if I slipped; I just carried on the next day without guilt. That also made it easier.
http://thesocialcaterpillar.com/ Kathryn Hunter

I’ve read it as 21 days, and never made it that far with these kinds of habits, but I usually try to do a bunch at once too. It’s good hearing that the same type of plan worked for you.

Also, yes, just acknowledge the slip up and keep going. None of this is life or death type stuff.
http://andydolph.com Andy Dolph

it’s very funny for me. I tend to feel at my best if I naturally wake up early in the morning because I went to be very early the night before – then the first several hours of the day (say 5 or 6 am – 11 or noon) are awesome and time for great work.

or conversely not going to bed till 1:30 or 2 am or later, getting up at 10 or so and then my best work time is usually 9 or 10 pm -> late and also is awesome time for great work.

either one seems to work ok for me.

Andy
http://thesocialcaterpillar.com/ Kathryn Hunter

That sounds wonderful. Great flexibility in reaction to change!

I’m looking at trying biphasic sleep, 1.5 hrs during the day and 4.5 at night. That might meet my needs or staying up late and waking up early both. I’m waiting until I get to Brazil, though, one major change at a time.
http://andydolph.com Andy Dolph

I did something like that when I was the stage manager on a cruise ship – out of necessity – I had to work late at night and in the mornings through early afternoon – then would have a few hours off.

I kind of liked it in some ways, but working on the ship was overall not fun, so it’s kind of hard to know how well it worked…
Pingback: Heat Mapping Your Energy « The Social Caterpillar
Pingback: One Tiny Thing Thursday #26, Feeeeed Me « The Social Caterpillar