As I was making breakfast this morning, my thoughts wandered to how I used to treat myself.  I used to treat myself pretty badly.  I would:

• not sleep
• not eat regularly
• eat my fair share of “junk” foods (my preference is sugar)
• work without taking breaks, but not accomplish much
• work incredibly ineffectively
• avoid socializing a lot for fear of losing time for work
• not get outside much
• not exercise regularly or not exercise at all

My breakfast today was a good one.  I will spare you the details of what I put in my belly. But I will tell you I am confident that I have devised a way to make sure I don't crash and burn during my day today and most days.

Here's a quick list of the steps I take to ensure a sense of sanity during my day:

1. I make sure I have a good breakfast.  I have read too many articles on the benefits of fueling your body at the start of the day to ignore that kind of wisdom.  And it just makes sense.  My body needs to get moving on some energy source, because I sure do not wake up feeling like a spring chicken.

Breakfast does not have to be complicated either.  Keep some frozen fruit in your freezer, then whip up a smoothie in the morning by mixing the fruit with apple juice and yogurt in a blender first thing.  If you are short on ideas for easy-to-make, healthy breakfasts, browse Pinterest for some yummy ones.

2.  I take breaks when I work.  As Procrastinators, we tend to have a feeling of panic or discomfort when we work.  I have tried my best to train the “panic” feeling out of my experience of working.  Panicking just doesn't help me to focus, to concentrate, or to be creative anymore.

One of the ways I have been able to undo the panicky feeling is to take breaks when I am working.  Knowing I have a break coming up helps me to push myself a little bit harder to get closer to the finish line.  Taking the break helps me to feel in control of my work and my progress.  It just feels much better to work with breaks than to try to work for four or five hours at a stretch.

3.  I get outside.  Have you looked at the nighttime sky lately?  It never fails to amaze me. Of course, you could admire the morning sky also.  That tends to be good too.  Getting in the fresh outdoors works like a refresh button on the body and mind.  Walk, stretch, garden, make the dog happy, get the mail, pick up something (for your good breakfast), go outside on your stoop, porch, or front step.  Go on a rollercoaster #justnotwithme.

4.  I connect with friends.  My days of hiding out to catch up on the work I'm behind on are over.  I love my friends too much.  I tend to work harder knowing I'll have more time to be with friends when I get my work accomplished.  It has become a nice feedback loop for me: meet with friends, do my work, then repeat.

If you have been missing someone, call them today and plan to meet before another week goes by.  Chances are, they will appreciate the connection and the opportunity for a break too.

5.  I make room for exercise and sleep.  We've all heard the breaking news that exercise and 7-8 hours of sleep a night are good for us.  I swear I would make it my entire career if I could figure out a way to consistently succeed in helping people achieve their exercise and sleep goals.

I have learned that, for me, exercise and sleep only get accomplished if I am able to set limits on myself.  I need to be in the right mindframe to exercise and to get to sleep at a reasonable hour and that tends to require a lot of limits.  I have to limit the following:

• what I feel I can “squeeze” in to the day
• knitting (always knitting)
• my internet use
• being overscheduled
• being stressed out

I find if I'm overdoing anything in any category, either my exercise or sleep habits (or both) go haywire.  I'll begin to feel groggy or sluggish and I'll start to make excuses, and then I find myself up at 3 a.m. trying to figure out how I got there.

Figure out which factors are ones you might need to limit in order to enable yourself to exercise and to get enough sleep.  Perhaps you need to shorten your nighttime routine. Perhaps you need to set an alarm indicating it's time to go to the gym or to turn all your screens and devices off for the night.  Whatever the steps might be, begin taking them in order to improve your daily experience and well-being.

Don't let the demands of life lead you into a pattern of self-destructive or self-harming patterns.  Be patient and kind with yourself if you feel like you'd like to take some of the steps I just described.  Pick one that strikes your fancy and begin creating space for it in your day.  The wonderful part of making these types of changes is they make us more inclined to avoid procrastinating.  Now ain't that the ticket.

What change will you make in your daily routine?  Which behaviors would you want to add?  To drop?