The 3 routine rule - A concept that saved me

I made the title up, calling it the ‘3 routine rule’, which is how I call it nowadays. It’s the best thing to describe it. I am a huge person on the, your 100% today, might not be your 100% tommorow.

Let me explain, energy level increases or decreases depending on the day. Sometimes you wake up and have a high-energy day, you are on top of the world, so productive, so full of inspiration and motivation. You are on top of the world, your to-do list completely done, all routines finished. Just a good energy day.

But maybe the next day, you wake up and don’t have that much energy, or you wake up sick, which always decreases your energy. You might be a bit slower, not as inspired or motivated to do much, the to-do list you wrote on your high-energy day looks like a mountain, you have no desire to finish a three-hour morning routine, workout routine, or routines at all.

My routines, to-do list, and anything else I archived on my high-energy days and the difference on the low-energy days made me feel like a failure. Because in my head I was like: I can do it, I did yesterday, why not today?

Before I literally thought, and realized, not every day is the same energy day. So, I stopped making only my high-energy day routines, which made me feel bad on the days I can’t do everything, especially as a woman with a chronic illness that knocks me out the entire summer.

Having months of not being able to move, see all people having fun, and being depressed in your room, fighting with your body to move and to function.

(I have a Reverse Seasonal Affective Disorder, meaning I have depression in summer, which most people have in the winter months; I experience it at a time when everyone is happy.)

But where I live, we have around three months of summer, even when I feel like it’s more, because days just have to get warm, and I have problems. So, I already feel bad for months, making my life harder isn’t going to make me survive this.

Three routine rules means for me, having three routines for everything!

High energy days.

Medium energy days.

And low energy days, which are also my sick days.

High energy days

It’s my ideal routine and day; I finish my to-do list every time, and I do my full routines. I know everything will get archived because my body and energy are contributing to it.

These are the days when I put all the important things I need to get done into. For example, on the day I write this, I woke up without feeling bad at all with the undiagnosed symptoms I have, so I immediately sat down, watched an inspiring video, and wrote this while watching that vlog.

I jumped on the train to write this entire blog post in one sitting, so it’s done since I feel good in this moment. I want to get my hair sorted out and bake bread for the first time. So, everything will be done today since tomorrow all of this can be over again.

Your high-energy days should be the days when you lock in. As an ambitious girl, these are my ambitious days. You put everything in here, things you want to archive, your entire routines, not just the non-negotiables, go an extra step.

Medium energy days

It’s the same concept, sometimes you wake up and don’t feel on top of the world, but also not at the lowest point. So, you fill it with your non-negotiables, but also the important things you feel like you can achieve.

Even shorten things, let’s say, you meditate 20 minutes on your high-energy day since it’s a non-negotiable for you, and on these days, you do it for 10 minutes.

Or instead of finishing the entire blog post, you write as much as you want, take a break, and come back, or finish it the next day.

I think you get what I want to say, these are the days you do what is important to you and add a few things, not an entire to-do list like on your high-energy days, but maybe half of your to-do list that are aligned with energy levels.

Low energy and sick days

This is fully up to you as well; my low energy and sick days routines are mostly just surviving the day with minimal effort. Doing your non-negotiables, even cutting them down, and being more gentle with yourself.

This is important: be more gentle with yourself.

Instead of working out at all, you walk around your living room for five minutes and call it a day. Or you go for a walk.

Brushing your teeth and sun cream! And in the evening, micellar water and night cream, brushing your teeth.

Whatever these means for you, but on these days, don’t feel bad, you might not do anything more than non-negotiables and survive the days, especially if you are sick.

These things really help. It’s an easy adjustment to make, which makes it easier for you when you wake up, check in with yourself how you are feeling, and go from there. You are the only person who can check with your own body what energy it has today.

Instead of fighting it, trust me, you will only feel worse. Embrace the energy level you have and go from there.

I apologize if there are a few mistakes in here. I did my best with proofreading and editing, but it's possible my brain didn’t catch some mistakes at the moment. Health issues suck, yet I don’t want to stop writing.

xx

Lena