If you were to ask me what’s one of my favorite things in the world, I’d probably say routine.

If you were to ask me what’s one thing I dislike the most, I’d probably say not knowing what is going on.

And, as it turns out, I have a lot less routine than normal right now and a lot more unknowns. Who would have guessed? On the plus side, I’ve been studying my personality recently and I’ve discovered some things about myself that I’ve been keeping in mind to help me be more productive and less stressful.

Tips I’m Currently Putting Into Practice:

*Keeping a Clean & Uncluttered Environment 
Y’all, as a kid messy room didn’t quite do an adequate job of describing the huge piles of stuff I always had sitting around. It wasn’t until I was in my upper teens that I conquered this habit. For the last five years, my room has been consistently clean and I can’t imagine it otherwise. But, when I deal with unpredictable things, I’ve realized that the fewer things I have around me that don’t serve an actual purpose, the happier I am. That means I’ve regulated my cute stuffed skunks to an out-of-sight home, cleared off my odds-and-ends shelf, and moved my bunny outside.

*The Fewer Choices the Better
When I already have my brain full of things I need to do, the last thing I want to do is make a dozen small, every-day decisions. Because of this, I’ve tried to limit the clothes I have in the closet, keep healthy choices in the fridge, and narrow down my goals to what I really need to work on.

*Keeping as Much of a Schedule as Possible 
As someone who thrives on routine, I’ve had to experiment with this a lot recently. One thing I’ve discovered that is pretty cool is that if I can do the same things each day, even if not for the same amount of time, then I can trick my mind into feeling like it’s in routine. For instance, when time allows I might read a nonfiction book for 40 minutes in the morning. This is great, but if I don’t have time for that, even reading one page will make me feel far more on task than if I simply skip that part of my morning.

*Learning to Say No to Me
As it turns out, saying no to others isn’t my big problem – it’s saying no to myself. See, picking and choosing what I spend my time and energy on is seriously important. Sometimes that means letting go of something that feels important, but in reality, doesn’t really make much of a difference. Learning to figure out what those things are? Well, that’s where I find myself having to seek other people’s perspective and wisdom.

Stay tuned because I hope to talk more about personalities this week – why I think it can be important to learn about them, and finding balance with you are, vs. what personality tests say. 😉