Creating a Consistent Practice

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We’ve all been there, in the time when you have no time. When life gets too hectic for you to keep your wits about you, let alone practice your faith. When each tick of the second hand on the clock is a reminder that you’re running out of time, and your to-do list just keeps growing. You’re not alone. Most of us live life this way, passively moving from one task to the next because it just has to be done. But the truth? You have control over how you spend your time. Time is a precious gift given to us, and we need to relearn how to use it the way our ancestors did. And they didn’t even have to think about it this hard!

These steps here can be applied to any aspect of your life, not just your practice, and I actually believe that is the best way to start. So buckle up and prepare to revamp the way you think about your time and how you use it. 

Lists

A list is a great way to stay organized and remember the things you need to get done for a certain day/week/month/etc. However, I think the lists we make these days are doing more harm than good to our productivity, consistency, and mental health. We are used to creating lists in no particular order, just listing off things that need to get done and crossing them off when they’re completed.

Change the way you make your lists. Prioritize! Sort the list of things you need to do by importance, and give yourself room to not complete everything if necessary. Do you really need to get that thing done today, or can it wait until tomorrow if you necessary? Once you get used to prioritizing your tasks, you give yourself permission mentally to not feel like crap if you don’t get everything done because you know that you’ve left yourself room for the more important things.

Routine

Learn how to set yourself up for success. Routines are not only good for you in terms of knowing what’s going to happen daily, it is actually good for your brain. Creating a routine has several benefits. These include structure, consistency, building good habits, increasing efficiency, becoming better at what you do, and saving a lot of work and time later. If you think about it, it all makes sense. For example, if part of your routine means you spend 20 minutes a day cleaning your house, it saves you an entire day of cleaning later if you were to instead not clean a little every day. Little by little, a little becomes a lot. When creating a routine for your religious practices, think about the things you want to do daily to help bring you closer to your faith and work those things into your routine. 

Set Realistic Goals

You can’t be consistent with anything until you know what you’re doing, and having a clear set of goals is the perfect solution. This can apply to anything, but especially so with your religious practice. So, what are you trying to achieve? Why do you need to be consistent to achieve these goals? Make sure these goals are something you can achieve! Be realistic in your expectations. You’re not going to magickally make a million dollars overnight. If that’s your overall goal, identify the smaller goals that will get you there and build your routine around that. 

Create a Schedule

You might not be able to have the same routine everyday, but part of your routine should be creating your schedule. When you know what you’re doing for the day, it is much easier to be consistent, achieve your goals, and become better at whatever it is that you’re doing. In this way, you can block out specific times to work on your to-do list as well as time for yourself and your religious practices. You don’t need a fancy planner to create a schedule. A simple notebook will do just fine. Just be sure to leave yourself the time needed for your practice, and stick to your schedule. 

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