A Practical Walk

I’ve learned over the years (I catch myself saying this more and more…I guess it’s a sign of age!), that if I want to see real change, it needs to happen with habits. And of course, this isn’t something I came up with…thanks to Atomic Habits, and lots of other reading material out there. It’s just that it’s taken time for it to sink in to me how much habits really make a difference. Recently I’ve found myself changing 2 of my habits.

I’ve found keeping a thankful journal to have a positive impact on my life, helping me to think on truth and refocus. But I’ve already said that. The new change I’m working on making is writing in my journal at night. Before I was more likely to do it in the morning, but right now I’m doing the Bible Recap with a ladies group. This study has me reading more in the Bible than I did before, so I found myself often not getting around to writing in my journal in the mornings. At the same time I found I really liked writing in it at night. It gives me a chance to reflect over the day and list some items of thanks.

I think this is also a good habit, as my normal tendency is to jump in bed with my phone and immediately start reading the news or purusing pinterest. But stopping to jot down some thanks first is a habit I want to keep.

Secondly, is writing down to-do lists. Now, I already do lots of list making. And my to-do lists were usually in my planner, but as of late, I’ve enjoyed having a separate notebook that I write the daily to-dos. It seems a little more informal. And I’ve started making the list the night before. I write down the things I want to do or remember for the next day. These might be things I didn’t get around to that day. They could be big, like going to the store, or small, like shooting a message to a friend.

I also use this list throughout the day to add things that come to mind, and to keep track of my ebay hours (the next day I add the time I spent on ebay to an excel sheet).

I’ve learned over the years (there I go again!), that different seasons work well with different systems. This season, the nightly thankful list and to do list seem to be effective systems.

I needed a picture for the post, so why not me and Mr. Astronaut at a rest stop in Florida?

Have you changed any of your habits recently? Has it been helpful?

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