Journal #4 – 2nd October 2025
I want to start living more intentionally again. I feel like I’ve recently just fallen into a routine that I had no say in. It just sort of happened. It’s mostly in the evening. We don’t have a dining room or table, so we’ll sit on the sofa to eat dinner and we’ll usually have something on the TV. My wife likes shows like Master Chef or Taskmaster. Then the evening disappears and it feels a bit wasted.
I love spending time with Gemma snuggled on the couch, but it’s turning into three hours or more each night. I did at one point get into a good routine of getting on my walking treadmill for an hour while watching a film or show that I actually wanted to watch. I could start this routine again and even start listening through my library of audiobooks I’ve not listened to yet. This would be something positive for my mind and my body.
The point is we have a choice. We can either live with intention and take control of our lives (the parts we can control) or we can sit back as an observer and watch life happen to us. It’s time to choose.
What practical step can I take towards becoming the architect of my own life. A pretty simple step would be to make a plan for my day. Create a timetable/schedule that includes all of my waking hours and carve out some time every day to plan the following day. Maybe this could be the last thing I do before bed. I could design, print and laminate the schedule and use a dry-erase marker so I have something physical to look at. Equally I could use the Calendar app on my iPad. I’ll trial run both for a week andd see which one I prefer.
This could be one of the most important and powerful habits I adopt as it will help me to manage my other habits. Like I mentioned yesterday, I don’t want to take on too many new habits at once because there’s a higher chance of failure, but I do want to start living more intentionally day to day.
Action point: Design, print and laminate an hourly schedule.
