How I’ve elevated my daily routine
Greetings to you from my warm and toasty office! My sweet husband outdid himself last week and secretly installed a log burner in here while I was away visiting my parents. I’d been complaining about the arctic temperature in my office for months, so to arrive home from a long day’s travel and find an actual ROARING LOG FIRE in my office was one of the best things that’s ever happened to me. I literally screamed.
Now, part of my morning routine is to light the fire in my office for the day ahead. How luscious! Every single task is made all the sweeter for the crackling warmth at my back. 😋
In fact, daily routines are what today’s newsletter is all about.
Over the last year or so, as my business ramped up, I noticed how prone I’d become to overwhelm (I’m sure many of you can relate).
As someone who treasures and values spaciousness and freedom, the mere sight of a full calendar can immediately catapult me into terror. My first urge is to catastrophise and become very dramatic, imagining that the tiniest of five minute tasks will eat up my entire day and making sure that everyone around me knows about it.
After a particularly frazzled week, in which a full to-do list coincided with PMS (not a good combo, my friends) I knew something had to change.
So I took out my notebook and I did what I always do in these moments. I listed out my values — and I checked to see if anything in my life or business was out of alignment with them.
This is the quickest and truest way to design and refine your life, so that it nourishes and supports you on the deepest of levels.
Spaciousness, flexibility and freedom are core values for me.
But so is creative service. I am devoted to my business and to its growth and development over the next few years.
So how do I reconcile my desire for lots of white space in the diary with my passion for building my business?
Instead of trying to figure this out mentally, I took this burning question into an attunement session with my business. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and spoke honestly to the Deva of my business about how I was feeling.
What came back was crystal clear and brought immediate relief.
“You need to become very organised and structured in everything you do. If you do this, you’ll create spaciousness in your schedule and in your body”.
So, dear reader, that’s what I have done. And it has honestly transformed my life.
Here are some changes I’ve made to my routine:
I wake at 6am so that I have plenty of time for snuggles, green tea and chats with my husband before the working day begins for both of us.
I’m in my office by 8am, often with a cup of steaming cacao in a thermos (so it doesn’t get cold while I journal).
I schedule up to 2 hours for deep attunement with the Deva of my business, which looks different every day, depending on what I’m working on. This is sacred time; it’s unfiltered, uninterrupted dialogue with my business and it’s where all decisions are made.
By 10am I’m clear about what I need to do and how it should be done.
I take client sessions, write newsletters, design class content for whatever live program I’m currently teaching, schedule social media posts, write to clients, make colourful mind-maps in my diary and do all the other things I need to do.
All my tasks are listed out and auto-scheduled by Motion, which is an AI generated software that organises your to-do list around your diary. This makes it really easy to batch your tasks and plough through them with the elegance and finesse of a gazelle (which is how I feel every time I tick one off).
Dog walks, food shops, errands and life admin tasks are just as sacred to me as creative/business tasks, so I make sure never to feel rushed or guilty when taking the time to plan a meal or go to the chemist.
Everything is planned, structured and done well in advance (when possible). At Deva Alchemy Academy, our program calendar is set for 2024 and well into 2025, so there’s ample time to prepare for every launch, as well as for ongoing projects in between.
Becoming more organised and structured in my scheduling has liberated me in a way that I have always craved. I spent years avoiding this kind of approach, thinking it would stymie my creativity, but…quite the opposite. I feel clearer, calmer and more creatively abundant than I ever have before.
It’s one of countless ways in which the magic of Deva Alchemy has changed my business and life.
I’m even finding time at the moment for an early evening bath, to mark the end of the working day! I get all my candles lit and sit in glorious silence amongst the suds, looking forward to a cosy evening ahead of me.
A few NBs to mention:
I don’t have young kids… you might do. Obvs your routine is going to reflect that. But I do believe that structure and organisation can benefit anyone.
I live in the countryside and it’s winter at the moment… obvs when I’m in London or when summer hits, life will jazz up a little in the evenings!
I would be super interested to know if this email sparks something inside of you. A sudden inner knowing that your life would LOVE a bit more structure. I love hearing from you guys, so please feel free to share your thoughts and insights with me!
Love always,
Ellie