Introspective Journaling - Day 3: What am i scared of?

What am i scared of?

spiders.  i don't like spiders.  and snakes.  basically anything with less than two legs or more than four.  although there's probably plenty of scary 2 and 4-legged beings that would be scary under certain circumstances.  

Aside from bugs, animals, and humans, i don't like heights.  i fell down a short but steep rocky cliff once when i was 16.  i walked out on my own but i don't remember it.  A couple of staples in the head and stitches in the chin and knee and i was okay.  I could've/should've been dead.  

I'm also scared of dying of in a car accident.  i feel like i'm going to die that way.  stats show that accidents are one of the leading causes of death for men under 40.

Drowning would suck.  So would burning to death.  Or sinking in quicksand.  Basically death is pretty scary because of the unknown-ness of it.  I just don't want to suffer as i die.  Take me in my sleep when i'm like healthy and 109...

On a deeper level, i claim that i'm afraid of not fulfilling my potential -- although my daily actions wouldn't support that.  I don't grind hard enough.  I find excuses and allow myself to get wrapped up in the day to day.  Goals remain the same year after year.  I plan my ass off.  That's just another distraction and an excuse not to start. 

Ultimately, i don't want to move on from this earth without having made contributions in which i'm proud.  The point when i can rest easy knowing that i did my part to leave this planet and its' beings better than i came into it.

Introspective Journaling - Day 2: What would be the most beneficial tasks for my highest self?

What would be the most beneficial tasks for my highest self?

Loosely, highest self can be defined as the best self, the most perfect representation of my being.

I will break these down along the lines of MBARKS. (Mind, body, assets, relationships, karma, soul)

These are the 6 areas of my life that i've deemed most important to my highest self.

For mind, the best things i can do is to continually acquire knowledge while keeping a beginner's mind.  Knowledge acquisition includes, but is not limited to, reading, writing, and watching documentaries.  Hands-on learning is also included here but i haven't given much focus to this aspect.

For body, it's diet and exercise.  In regard to diet, the most beneficial thing i can do is to prep meals ahead of time.  For exercise, i've begun incorporating pullups and pushups during my breaks at work.  

For assets, it's about conscious spending and earned income.  I'm not doing very well on either of these fronts.  I've acquired $15k in consumer debt and my earnings are the lowest they've been in years.  

For relationships, it's about cultivating and maintaining healthy relationships with those around me.  I have a good group of core friends and i feel like i'm doing pretty well in this area.  There's room to improve, though, and i can definitely do a better job of getting out and hanging with people.

For karma, it's about doing the right thing and actively seeking ways to be of assistance.  I'm pretty good here, too.  I look for ways to help.  For example, if i see somebody carrying heavy boxes toward a door, i'm going to do everything i can to get to that door first so that i can hold it open.

For soul, it's about maintaining present moment awareness and meditation.  I'm getting better regarding present-moment awareness but the meditation thing still hasn't stuck.

As usual, i know what i should be doing but actually doing it is another story.  Fodder for a future post?

Introspective Journaling - Day 1: What would a good morning entail?

What would a good morning entail? (not a perfect morning, just a good one)

I would wake up before or around six o' clock to allow myself plenty of time to accomplish things before work.  Shortly after waking up, I would drink a hemp protein shake in water and head out to the garden.  After completing my tasks in the garden, i would then come back inside to read or study for around an hour.  After that, I would do some form of exercise for 30 to 45 minutes.  Then i would meditate, eat a healthy breakfast and then, finally, start getting ready for work.

This would set me up to have accomplished all of my major goals before i even leave the house for work in the morning.  

Oftentimes (despite trying to develop a morning routine) i find myself sleeping in late and dragging ass all the way into the office.  That feeling on non-accomplishment hangs over me like a black cloud all day.  By the time i get home i'm tired and just want to zone out -- resulting in another wasted day.  A day i'll never get back.

Each day is an opportunity to either get better or to get worse.  There is no staying the same.

If i could just check off knowledge acquisition (reading, typically), exercise, and meditation before i left for work i know that it'd pay dividends.  The struggle thus far has been having the motivation and excitement to get my ass out of bed in the morning.  It's too easy to hit the snooze.  


I know what i have to do, it's just a matter of getting it done.

Introspective Journaling - Introduction

My next 21-day challenge is to publish an introspective journal entry each day.  I will ask myself a question and attempt to formulate some sort of an answer.  I don't have the questions pre-planned; i plan to let them come naturally each morning.  I commit to writing at least a 250 word response.

The challenge begins on June 1st.

Morning Routine: Conclusion

If you're a regular reader of this blog, you're aware of my recent failure at my attempt to introduce meditation into my morning routine.  (If you're not, you can read about it here.)  What i failed to mention in that post was that failing in meditation also derailed the whole thing.

It's not as bad as it sounds -- i still wake up early and tend to get more accomplished before i leave for work.  Also, instead of exercising twice a week i've been doing pullups in the gym at my workplace and plenty of laborious work around the house.  It's not perfect but it's something.

I also mentioned in that post about how the lack of success in the meditation challenge brought up thoughts of failure, motivation, dedication, and delayed gratification, among other things.

Why was i not successful implementing a morning routine?  Was it because i simply didn't want it that bad?  Was it a lack of dedication / motivation?  I'm sure all of that played a role.  It also made me want to explore further the reason that i'm unable to delay gratification.  I've recently purchased The Marshmellow Test: Mastering Self Control but i'm putting off reading it even though i know that it's what's best for me. (see what i did there?)  In all seriousness, i'm a couple chapters deep.

This challenge has not gone as planned since i have yet to develop a morning routine.  I can choose to sulk or i can take what i've learned and continue to get better every day.  The obvious choice is the latter.

I will begin a new 21-day challenge in June.

Morning Routine: Meditate - Conclusion

Unhappy to report that the meditation challenge was a flop.  I simply didn't make an honest effort.  A few days after the challenge began, i realized that i just wasn't that excited about it.  It felt forced.

Although it wasn't a success, it forced me to think about things.

Things like failure, motivation, dedication, delayed gratification, etc.

I'll get more into this on the post for the conclusion of the morning routine.

Morning Routine: Meditate - Day 1

Today was the first day of the meditation challenge.  It just so happened that i woke up and it was the warmest it's been all year!  I used my 5 minutes of meditation time to go outside and sit.  I sat quietly and tried to maintain a low gaze.

For those of you who've tried to meditate before, "Sit down and shut up!" is probably the hardest thing in the world to do.  My eyes wander, my thoughts race, i hear sounds and try to identify them.

It's going to happen.  We simply observe our thoughts and let them pass.  Eventually, the thoughts will be less constant and the space between thoughts will expand.  This is the magic spot!  The space between the thoughts...

Anyways, meditation isn't a contest and it's not something in which we need to judge ourselves.  We remind ourselves that it's a PRACTICE.  It's not going to be easy at first, nor should we expect it to be.

Here's to day ONE of the rest of our lives!

Morning Routine: Meditate - Introduction

Now that i successfully wake up before sun, spend time exploring my creative brain, and then do something to benefit my body, it's time to implement the next aspect of my morning routine -- meditation.  I've never been able to make meditation a part of my daily life, even after a 21-day challenge in the past.

The goal is to make it a part of my morning routine and therefore something that i don't even have to think about anymore.  It's naturally occurring.  

I have chosen a spot for in my house solely for the purpose of meditating.  It's not glamorous, but it's mine.  I will eventually begin to calm just by entering this space, as my mind, body, and soul will instinctively know what's to come.

I'll start Monday, and i'll meditate directly after my strength training routine. 

Morning Routine: 2015

Happy New Year!

For the first half of the year i will develop a solid morning routine.  The morning routine  encompasses three areas of my life that i consider vital.  In completing these three things early in the morning, everything that i accomplish for the rest of the day is just a bonus.

When i previously tried to implement a routine, i tried to do it all at once.  The result was that it was never established.  This time i will go step by step, completing 21-day challenges along the way.  The end result is the new routine.

In creating the routine, i first asked myself the question, "what are the 3 most important things i could do each day to improve myself?"  Naturally, Mind Body and Soul came to mind.  These are the "internal" aspects of my six areas of focus.

For mind, i'll create.  Whether it be a blog post, 750words, an involved breakfast, or something else, i'll spend time creating each morning.

For body, i'll either exercise or prep meals.  The plan is to prep meals on Sundays and Wednesdays, strength train on Mondays and Thursdays, focus on mobility Tuesdays and Fridays, and do cardio on Saturdays.

For soul, i'll meditate.  I've yet to make meditation a habit so making it a part of a routine will help.

To come up with the actual routine, i started at the end and worked backwards.  In this case, it's 8:30am when i have to leave for work.  I then plugged in all the essential activities, including things like breakfast and getting ready for work.  It looks like this:
8:30 - leave for work
8:15 - work prep
7:55 - breakfast
7:45 - shower
7:00 - exercise or meal prep
6:25 - create
6:15 - meditate
6:10 - wake up

This routine is designed to work on the weekends too.  I plan to wake up at 6:10 and go about my day just like any other.  It's not until 8:15 that i will divert from the workday routine.

With that said, my first challenge is to wake up at 6:10 each morning.  I'll do one challenge per month.  The caveat is that unlike my previous challenges, these won't end after 21 days.  They'll build upon one another.  By May, the full routine will be in place.  

The 6:10 alarm clock first rings on Monday.  Stay tuned.

Notes & Quotes: The Tao of Willie by Willie Nelson

The following are my favorite quotes from Willie Nelson's The Tao of Willie: A Guide to the Happiness in Your Heart.  They're numbered for convenience and i've bolded my favorites.

1. Trying to be someone else is the hardest road there is.
2. The wisdom is in the moments when the madness slips away and we remember the basics.
3. As nations, we prepare much more for war than we do for peace, and in doing so, we make war inevitable.
4. "Be sure you're right, and then go ahead." Davey Crockett
5. You'll never get ahead by blaming your problems on other people.
6. Breathe from your chest, breathe from your gut, breathe from your heels.
7. If the choice you make is to breathe deeply, you can unlock the genie of your own personal power.
8. Don't give up if you know what you're doing is good.
9. Because of positive thinking, there is very little that I've wanted to do that I haven't been able to do.
10. You should drink water when you're thirsty, not sugar, alcohol, and caffeine.
11. You can't always change the circumstances of your life, but you can change your perception of the circumstances and of the world around you by any creative act.
12. When I got my heart in the right place, my career followed along.
13. Happiness comes from being true to your true nature.
14. If you are a good person, if you have a good heart, you don't have to be nothing but yourself.
15. When you look at your life with the proper perspective, the choices are surprisingly easy.  When you ask the right questions, the answers aren't so tough.
16. Follow your own guidance and you will never be alone.  Trust your own truths, and blue skies will follow wherever you go.
17. [On meditation] Sit. Listen. Breathe. Dream. Renew.
18. The funny thing about advice is that no matter how good it is, most people are gonna do what they want anyways.
19. I've noticed that most people spend too much time worrying about what someone else is doing or saying.
20. Appreciate what you have and you'll be in a better frame of mind to make the world a better place for those who have less.
21. Happiness is in the way we act, not in the outcome.
22. Let go, and you'll be free to find happiness now.
23. To think of God as looking like us and as a fixer of our problems seems like a self-centered way to view both God and the universe.
24. To be a servant of God, we must love unselfishly.  When everyone is able to do that, then we will have found heaven right here on earth.
25. In the long run, what matters more are not our differences in beliefs, but the beliefs we share.
26. If you can make someone feel better with just a few words, why wouldn't you want to use them?
27. We're all good and bad, and the only difference is in our actions and our words.
28. If a frog had wings...it would get bird pussy.
29. Fortunately we are not in control.
30. Beyond the basics of who you are, the rest is mostly creative use of adjectives.
31. We'd probably all be a little bit happier if we'd just remember how lucky we are to be alive on this beautiful planet.
32. Its' easy to be false with other people, but to be false to yourself is a waste of your life on earth.

Pick up a copy of The Tao of Willie for yourself!

Notes & Quotes: Life After Death: The Burden of Proof by Deepak Chopra

Here are my favorite quotes from Deepak Chopra's Life After Death: The Burden of Proof.  I've bolded my absolute favorites.

1. Any drop of water inside my body could have been an ocean, cloud, river, or spring the day before.
2. After we die, we remain motivated.  A soul moves according to its desire from one astral plane to another, projecting as in a dream whatever sights and people, guides and astral entities it needs for its own advancement.
3. (on yogis) By having a desire at a deep enough level of awareness, they went through a process that parallels death.
4. The senses fade one by one.  The last to leave when a person dies is sound, which is the first to come in at birth.  Since sound is the equivalent of vibration, which holds the body together, it makes sense that it would be the last to go.
5. Suicides experience the same inner pain that led them to take their lives.
6. Karma is wound around the soul like thread around a spindle.
7. The main reason for the sleep of the soul is to shed its attachments.  The strength of its attachments will determine how long it takes to shed them.  When the soul awakens it can only enter a plane of existence that is familiar.  You cannot go backward in your evolution: you can only progress.
8. We go where our deepest desires take us.
9. In India, someone dies after reaching the maximum evolution allotted to that lifetime; they have come to the end of what their karma can teach them.
10. When you are born, you bring along the talents you have developed from all your previous existences.
11. Since the Middle Ages we have become fully entrenched in the desirability of being here.
12. In the field of infinite possibilities you exist on all those levels at the same time, but at the level of experience you exist on only one.
13. Once you truly realize that the whole scheme of worlds is imagined by Spirit, from the lowest to the highest, from demons to angels, there can be nothing dangerous about creation.
14. At the moment life ends, 99% of our cells are typically still functional, and all 3 billion codons, the individual letters in the book of DNA, remain intact.
15. Death accomplishes the following miraculous things:
1. It replaces time with timelessness
2. It stretches the boundaries of space to infinity
3. It reveals the source of life
4. It brings a new way of knowing that which lies beyond the reach of the five senses
5. It reveals the underlying intelligence that organizes and sustains creation
16. Our fault it not that we fear death but that we don't respect it as a miracle.
17. There are two paths in life, the path of wisdom and the path of ignorance.  The path of wisdom is to pursue the self.  The path of ignorance is to pursue pleasure.
18. What you choose today will ripple for a thousand tomorrows.
19. Only the wisest know the secret that God was created to do our bidding, not we to do His.
20. If heaven is the supreme reward, is euthanasia a crime or a gift?
21. Heaven is an inward experience -- an experience in consciousness.
22. Every act of kindness adds another brushstroke to the picture; every insight draws you nearer to your essence.
23. The unpredictable tug-of-war between old patterns and new situations makes it impossible to pin down desire.
24. Not only can the mind "Google" itself for info with incredible swiftness, it performs multiple operations with backup plans if they fail.
25. We don't go through life simply making good choices and bad ones.  We go through life making who we are.  Choice is the hand that shapes the raw clay of a person.
26. The soul, it is said, shows itself to our subtle senses as a pearlescent lustrous glow.
27. There is no permanence in this life.  Possessions come and go, as do other people.
28. The more boundless your vision, the more real you are.
29. Underlying all human action is the search for love, and when people are driven to evil actions, the root cause is lack of love.
30. According to the richis, we move between 3 levels of awareness that accounts for all experience:
1. Consciousness filled with physical objects
2. Consciousness filled with subtle objects
3. Consciousness filled with nothing but itself -- pure consciousness
31. It's just as easy to be happy as angry.  You can make this a positive situation.
32. When you die, you will be forced to lose everything, yet something will remain.  It is the soul, which is real.  Therefore, you should celebrate loss.  The trappings of existence can fall away at any time; the essence will always remain.  And that essence is you.
33. Projection creates meaning.  By themselves, events are meaningless until we give them value.
34. Everything that is real at one level of consciousness is unreal at another.
35. Nature depends on the mechanism of rebirth.
36. There are examples of children who remember being shot to death in a previous life and whose bodies show a scar as if a bullet had entered the body, with an opposing exit scar.
37. What we say and do changes the brain.
38. To fight your karma is just as frustrating as accepting your karma.
39. At some deep level mind and matter are one.
40. A direct link to the field of information seems possible and we move closer to the possibility that the brain is the receiver of mind, not its creator.
41. Two people with different worldviews can see the same fact and give totally divergent interpretations of it, because no fact or event is perceived by itself.
42. "The highest form of human intelligence is to observe yourself without judgment." J Krishnamurti
43. 7 steps to opening your mind:
1. Know that you are going to identify with your worldview at every stage of personal growth.
2. Accept that these identifications are temporary.  You will never be truly yourself until you reach unity.
3. Be willing to change your identity every day.  Take a flexible attitude.  Don't defend and "I" that you know is just temporary.
4. Allow your ability to quietly observe without judgment to replace the ingrained ideas you reach for automatically.
5. When you have the impulse to struggle, use that as an immediate signal to let go.  Open a space for a new answer to unfold on its own.
6. When you can't let go, forgive yourself and move on.
7. Use every opportunity to tell yourself that all viewpoints are valid, every experience valuable, every insight a moment of freedom.
44. When we look at DNA we are told by geneticists that life emerges not from the bits of amino acids strung ont he double helix, but from the space between them.
45. Patients who were prayed for recovered faster and with fewer side effects than those not prayed for...we are all connected by the same sphere of consciousness.

I hope you enjoyed these 45 quotes from Life After Death: The Burden of Proof.  Consider picking up a copy for yourself.  A link to Amazon follows.

Routine - Conclusion

This challenge morphed from "keeping a routine" to "time-tracking".   Lack of preparation played a role.  I was also over-optimistic about how enthusiastic i would be at keeping such a routine.

However, it was still a valuable exercise.  The challenge has opened my eyes as to how much time we actually have each day.  By tracking my time, i was able to see where it was being wasted and where i could become more productive.  

I also made a better attempt at doing things like meditating and walking my dog.  I noticed how little time it takes and how much better i am for having done so.

I asked myself questions like, "is this the best use of my time?" and "could i be doing something else right now?"  This is something that will stick with me for the rest of my life and guide me toward making better decisions.  After all, our time is finite and i seek to get the most out of it.

I am now more conscious of how i spend my time and that alone was worth the experiment.

Routine - Day 21

Here's how i spent the final day of the challenge:

9:10 - 9:20 - wake, protein shake, pee
9:20 - 9:30 - laid back in bed
9:30 - 9:50 - breakfast
9:50 - 12:00 - laundry, reviewed money situation, garage
12:00 - 12:10 - blog
12:10 - 12:25 - packed an overnight bag, cleaned up
12:25 - 12:50 - took dog for a walk
12:50 - 1:45 - garage, watched Indians, drank beer
1:45 - 1:50 - snack
1:50 - 3:30 - garage, picked up dog shit
3:30 - 6:15 - Easter dinner with family
6:15 - 7:00 - drove (listened to the Joe Rogan Experience podcast)
7:00 - 10:15 - kicked it at a friend's house
10:15 - lights out

Routine - Day 20

Here's how i spent Saturday.  My weekend's have definitely been more productive than had i not been tracking my time.

7:20 - 7:35 - wake, protein shake, bathroom break
7:35 - 8:00 - shower, shave, brush teeth, get dressed
8:00 - 8:50 - drive with g/f to meet mortgage lender
8:50 - 10:05 - meet with mortgage lender
10:05 - 11:05 - drive back home from meeting with mortgage lender
11:05 - 11:15 - went through mail, decluttered
11:15 - 11:45 - phone call
11:45 - 12:30 - blog
12:30 - 12:50 - donations for No Strings Attached
12:50 - 1:05 - meal
1:05 - 3:00 - garage (watched the Indians, looked up home stuff)
3:00 - 3:30 - haircut and shower
3:30 - 3:50 - watched the rest of the Indians game
3:50 - 4:30 - sent a package to a family member, phone call, cleaned up, made a grocery list
4:30 - 5:05 - got ready for dinner and waited on the g/f
5:05 - 7:00 - anniversary dinner at the Chophouse
7:00 - 7:35 - walked the dog, drank a beer, watched tv
7:35 - 8:35 - researched checking and homeowners insurance accounts
8:35 - 8:45 - meal
8:45 - 8:55 - bed prep and took dog out
8:55 - 9:30 - read
9:30 - 10:15 - watched tv
10:15 - lights out

Routine - Day 19

Here's how Friday went down:

6:45 - 6:50 - wake and protein shake
6:50 - 7:20 - shit, shower, get dressed
7:20 - 7:35 - work prep (brush teeth, gather belongings, etc)
7:35 - 8:25 - commute (listened to the Joe Rogan Experience Podcast)
8:25 - 4:00 - work
4:00 - 4:50 - commute (JRE)
4:50 - 5:40 - unwind, phone call
5:40 - 5:55 - walked the dog
5:55 - 7:00 - hung out with sister, ordered food
7:00 - 7:25 - dinner
7:25 - 8:00 - hung out with family
8:00 - 9:15 - prepared documents for the mortgage lender, filed papers, decluttered 
9:15 - 9:40 - blog and fix a back-end issue
9:40 - 9:50 - bed prep, take dog out
9:50 - 10:15 - read
10:15 - 10:25 - eat
10:25 - 11:00 - watched 20/20
11:00 - lights out

Routine - Day 18

Woke up late and was unable to blog this morning.  Here's how i spent Thursday:

6:35 - 6:40 - wake, protein shake, pee
6:40 - 6:55 - blog
6:55 - 7:20 - shit, shower, shave, get dressed, brush teeth
7:20 - 7:35 - work prep
7:35 - 8:35 - gas station + commute (listened to the JRE podcast)
8:35 - 5:00 - work
5:00 - 5:50 - commute (JRE)
5:50 - 6:30 - unwind (change clothes, drank a beer, watched Modern Family)
6:30 - 6:50 - walked the dog, helped mom unload groceries from the car
6:50 - 7:30 - dinner
7:30 - 8:30 - hung out with g/f, did some mobility work with a lacrosse ball
8:30 - 8:35 - bed prep (pee + brush teeth), took dog out
8:35 - 9:35 - read (currently reading The Way of the SEAL by Mark Divine)
9:35 - 10:00 - watched mindless tv
10:00 - lights out

Routine - Day 17

I've been out of town to attend a funeral the last couple days so tracking my time wasn't a priority.  I'm back now and here's how i spent Wednesday.

6:35 - 6:40 - wake, protein shake, pee
6:40 - 6:45 - meditate
6:45 - 7:15 - shit, shower, get dressed
7:15 - 7:35 - work prep (brush teeth, gather belongings, watch morning news)
7:35 - 8:40 - commute (some silence, some Joe Rogan Experience Podcast)
8:40 - 4:30 - work
4:30 - 4:50 - drive
4:50 - 5:35 - home inspection
5:35 - 6:40 - commute (JRE)
6:40 - 7:00 - unwind
7:00 - 7:10 - short exercise (kettlebell swings and pushups)
7:10 - 7:30 - dinner
7:30 - 8:05 - hung out with the g/f and the dog
8:05 - 8:20 - cleaned up
8:20 - 9:00 - watched a documentary on PBS
9:00 - 9:05 - bed prep (pee and brush teeth)
9:05 - 9:35 - read
9:35 - 10:00 - watched more PBS
10:00 - lights out

Routine - Day 14

Here's how i spent my Sunday:

8:30 - 8:50 - wake, shake, bathroom, took dog out
8:50 - 9:30 - coffee + blog
9:30 - 9:50 - wrote for 24 Hours Better
9:50 - 10:00 - breakfast
10:00 - 10:20 - 24 Hours Better
10:20 - 10:30 - grocery list & cash for mom
10:30 - 10:40 - plan day
10:40 - 12:30 - "garage" time, unload groceries, gardening resources
12:30 - 12:40 - dinner prep
12:40 - 1:30 - garage, looked up info on the city we're [hopefully] moving to
1:30 - 2:00 - dinner prep
2:00 - 2:15 - meal
2:15 - 2:55 - garage, internet, fixed dad's mp3 player
2:55 - 3:40 - yardwork
3:40 - 6:45 - watched Indians, garage, fixed dad's mp3 player, consumer reports
6:45 - 7:15 - dinner + pack lunches
7:15 - 7:30 - watched the end of the Indians game
7:30 - 7:50 - packed for trip out of town
7:50 - 8:15 - took dog out, bed prep, misc
8:15 - 9:00 - meditate
9:00 - 10:00 - watched baseball
10:00 - lights out

I'll be out of town for a couple days so i'm not going to be able to upload the next couple days.  Look for the next update on Wednesday or Thursday.

Routine - Day 13

I realize that this challenge has become more of a "time-tracking" exercise than it has been a routine, but i've been more productive than had i not been tracking my time.  Here's how i spent my Saturday:

7:30 - 7:35 - Wake, social media
7:35 - 7:45 - protein shake, bathroom break
7:45 - 8:05 - mobility + cleaned up dog puke..
8:05 - 8:15 - bathroom
8:15 - 8:25 - blog
8:25 - 8:40 - social media
8:40 - 9:25 - wrote a blog post for 24 Hours Better
9:25 - 10:05 - random internet stuff (email, social media, fitness, finances)
10:05 - 10:20 - laundry
10:20 - 10:35 - cleaned out vehicle (gets messy when you commute 10 hours a week)
10:35 - 10:45 - took dog for a walk
10:45 - 12:00 - gave dog meds, "garage" time, laundry
12:00 - 12:10 - lunch
12:10 - 4:00 - more garage time, laundry, Indians game, house planning, scheduled home inspection, looked up gardening resources
4:00 - 5:00 - dropped of my mom at my aunt's so she could go out drinking and not drive
5:00 - 5:15 - meal
5:15 - 6:00 - watched the end of the Indians game, neighbor's dog got loose so i helped
6:00 - 6:25 - meal planning/grocery list
6:25 - 7:25 - gardening/homesteading resources
7:25 - 8:00 - cook
8:00 - 8:30 - dinner & clean up kitchen
8:30 - 8:40 - take dog out and feed him
8:40 - 8:45 - bed prep (pee and brush teeth)
8:45 - 11:00 - laid around and watched tv 
11:00 - lights out

Routine - Day 12

Here's how i spent my time yesterday:

6:50 - 6:55 - wake, protein shake, pee
6:55 - 7:00 - blog
7:00 - 7:10 - bathroom break
7:10 - 7:15 - back to the blog
7:15 - 7:35 - shower and get dressed
7:35 - 7:50 - work prep
7:50 - 8:40 - commute (listened to NPR)
8:40 - 5:00 - work
5:00 - 6:00 - commute + beer store
6:00 - 6:30 - unwind (watched Modern Family)
6:30 - 7:00 - cook dinner
7:00 - 7:30 - eat dinner
7:30 - 8:40 - cook bacon and asparagus, paperwork for house purchase
8:40 - 8:50 - bed prep (pee + brush teeth), took dog out
8:50 - 10:30 - Indians game on tv + social media
10:30 - lights out