At the start of everyday, I open my text editor and start to fill out my daily practice sheet. During the day, I come back to the sheet to reminder myself of what I want to focus on.

The daily practice lets me be aware of where I’m spending my time, what gives me joy, and what my priorities are. At the end of the day, I review the days accomplishments, think about what I’d change if I could do the day over, and plan what I want tomorrow to look like.

Title: Kai’s Time / Habit / Life-Tracking Sheet v1.2
Today’s Date: 07-29-11
Sheet Updated: 07-24-2011
Notes: Inspired by Sebastian Marshall’s Time Tracking practice.

Goal: Be aware of where I’m spending time. Focus on what gives me joy. Eliminate what brings me down. Review priorities, plans, and goals.

Start of Day Routine

Time Awake:
Total Sleep (Hours/minutes):
What assets could I build / improve / acquire today?

Top Priorities

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Target procrastination:
Crucial to-do:
Time Complete:

Do Before Going Online

Weigh Myself:
Take Vitamins (Probiotics, Digest Gold, Vitamin D, 1-a-day):
Drink Water:
Brush/floss:
Shower:
Review Life Goals:

Time Complete:

Todo During the Day:

Exercise (walk/run/other): Sit ups: Push ups: Pull ups: Kettlebell Swings:

Listen to audio:
Write a blog post:
Clean Omnifocus Inbox:
Get slightly more organized:

Accomplishments

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Challenges

Did I start the day in my daily planner instead of online?
Did I clear my to do list before any screwing around?
Did I prioritize reading and learning instead of mindless surfing?
Did I write for 15 minutes?
Did I do some reading / learning / research?
Did I move towards my financial goals today?

End of Day

Expenses for the day:
Calories for the day:
What are my key life goals?
What did I do to move me towards my goals?
What would I do differently if I had the day to live over?
Plan tomorrow:

(You can download this as a txt file here)

I’ve been working on this habit for 2 months.

I hate it. I miss days. I do it half-way. I get stressed. I ignore it.

Out of Scope

The idea of the daily practice was to focus my time and attention and answer the question “What do I want to accomplish and how do I prevent distraction and leaks?”

The problem is I’m not focused. I don’t want to work on it. I’m distracted. I’m giving in to leaks.

I crammed everything I wanted to track into the first version of the sheet: sleep, priorities, health, exercise, accomplishments, recurring tasks, challenges, finances, and a review. I never defined a scope or a habit to improve.

Remember to start simple.

I forgot the key to manifesting any new habit:

Remember to start simple: This is to build up momentum and make a workable system you actually use. — Sebastian Marshall

I’m collecting too much information. There was so much I wanted to focus on, I didn’t define what I wanted to accomplish.

Every morning, I get overwhelmed filling out the sheet. It became an obligation, not a joyful habit.

The kicker to all of this is Sebastian Marshall said as much in his article on Life-Habit-Time-Tracking

Get inspired by mine, but definitely start smaller. Start with some easy wins and one straightforward yes/no question. My version zero was just writing down an idea or two. Add things slowly once you get the first version under control.

Starting Over

The goal of a daily practice is to internalize healthy and joyful habits. By doing this practice, I want to internalize:

• An Exercise Habit
  I am willing to exercise everyday.
• A Writing Habit
  I am willing to write for 15 minutes everyday.
• A Review Habit
  I am willing to end everyday with a review of what I accomplished and what I want tomorrow to look like.

On top of that, I’m willing to give myself permission to miss days. Some days I won’t be able to finish the habit. That’s okay. If I skip a day, I can start again the next day. Every day is a new opportunity to get on the path and work on this.

Version 2

Title: Kai’s Daily Practice v2.0
Today’s Date: 07-29-11
Sheet Updated: 07-29-2011
Notes: Inspired by Sebastian Marshall’s Time Tracking practice

Morning Routine

Time Awake:
Weigh Myself:
Review Life’s Intentions:
Review my Standards of Integrity:

Exercise

Crunches:
Push Ups:
Pull Ups:
Kettlebell Swings:

To Do During the Day

Write a blog post:

End of Day Review

Did I write for 15 minutes?
What are my life’s intentions?
What did I accomplish today?
What would I do differently if I had the day to live over?
Plan Tomorrow:

(You can download Version 2 of my Daily Practice here)