So, Mondays, right?

We had a big snowstorm here this weekend, and it gave us time to do our, um, taxes. Yeah, that was super fun. But my accountant told me I was Smart and On The Ball today, so I felt like I had Adulted well (to quote my Millennials).

My brain, however, was mush this morning. I had written out my weekly goals in my planner, and put my To-Dos on my Brilliant Day pad, but my brain hadn’t woken up, caught in the slush of the weekend.

So, I cheated.

In fact, I cheat every morning.

See, I don’t actually turn my brain on until about an hour into the day, and even after that, I sort of let it hum in the background until it warms up. Like my car on a snowy day.

What am I talking about? HABIT STACKING, your new best friend.

Seriously.

Here’s how it works. You have a trigger, and from that trigger, you line up a number of related activities that you do on autopilot. You probably already do this…e.g. I’ll bet you don’t even think about making coffee, you could do it in your sleep, right? That’s my point…you stack up a few other activities that become so second nature it allows your brain to focus on other things. Like waking up. Or your next scene.

The key is to end with a reward. Trigger…do the stack…Reward.

Here are my stacks for Winter 2019:

(I know they’re messy…just keepin’ it real!)

They break down like this:

Morning stack begins with a Trigger – which is my ALARM. (I like Alarms. I use them a lot.)

Then, I start my routine:

• Brush teeth
• Turn on coffee
• If it’s warm, take a walk/do kettlebell
• Shower/listen to the news (on my Alexa)
• Make coffee/have my Morning Miracle time (Bible Study & Reading)
• Put in laundry (or fold it)
• Prep for dinner
• Make breakfast
• EAT breakfast (Reward!)

I do that basically every day, without thinking about what to do next. It takes about 2 hours. So, if I start at 7am, I’m at my desk by 9am.

Then I start my Workday.

If I’m writing, I have a scene prep time. But my regular workday start goes like this:

Trigger: Fight Song (or some other inspirational song. Today I listened to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIR5zFSkWUY)

• Write out my Brilliant Day (here)
• Make Calls
• Do emails
• Answer messages
• Do my Top 3

Then, I refill my coffee (Reward!) and I’m ready for my Power Blocks! (Actually my Top 3 is in Power Block 1)

Onto my Workday shutdown:

• Trigger: ALARM (I have it set on Night Sounds—an app on my Alexa)
• If I’m writing:
  • Log my word count
  • Take notes for tomorrow’s session
  • Take revision notes
  • Back up my writing
• Email
• Turn off Slack (our inter-company messaging system)
• Circle tomorrow’s to-dos from the Should/Wants on my Brilliant Day sheet (again, here) 
• Report my word count/daily achievements to my writing partner (Reward!)

And, to End my day, I also have an Enjoyable Evening stack. I actually have 2 alarms—one for when hubs comes home, which alerts me to start dinner (with him! He’s the cook!)

Then, we have our evening time, and at 9pm, I have, you guessed it, an ALARM. To tell me to go to bed.

Trigger Alarm: Thundershowers

• Stretching
• Read devotional
• Pray (Reward)
• SLEEP!

And, that’s it. I get in all the pieces of my day, including Sacred Rest elements, and I don’t really need to think about what to do next. Frankly, it’s the weekends that stress me out because I live with a guy who doesn’t like to plan (I know, right? Opposites attract!) So we freestyle it. But Monday, we’re back to habit stacking.

Try it. It’s like magic. (or just really fun to see how much you get done without thinking about it!)

And now that my brain is warmed up…it’s time to write!

Just a friendly productivity hack from the cheater in the back of the room. 😊

Your story matters. Go, Write Something Brilliant!

Susie May

Novel.Academy

PS. If you want a system to keep everything organized, check out our Brilliant Writing Planner! (and thank you for all of you who sent in your awesome reviews!) The planner is on sale for $10 off this week!

“My Brilliant Writing Planner is an excellent resource for inspiring writers to get organized and stay on track throughout the year. From the pre-planning at the beginning of the year to the monthly and weekly tracking of goals/schedules/habits/etc., this planner has everything in one place–which is what I love best!” -Ralene Burke, fantasy author and Marketing Director for Realm Makers