After taking a much-needed family vacation in July, I realized that something about my life had to change. Before the trip, I was feeling very tired. My schedule over the past six months had been very full, and I was almost always busy. Nothing- not cutting back on sleep, not neglecting projects I wanted to complete- could make me feel like there were enough hours in the day. There at the beach, life was so relaxing so simple. But life isn't meant to be one long vacation. Our schedules should be full and productive. The key is to achieve productivity in a healthy way. I began to contemplate how I could restructure my routine. What daily habits could I turn into weekly habits? What tasks could I accomplish more quickly, and how?

The biggest change I decided to make was getting up an hour earlier every morning (which meant getting up at 5:00 a.m.). Having an extra hour at the start of my day would allow me to accomplish my daily writing before I went to work, therefore freeing up my evenings for other tasks. Daily writing is a commitment I made to myself, and it is not one I am willing to compromise. I think it is important to recognize which habits we are willing to compromise on and which we are not. When I wrote at night, it would often be with a tired mind and heavy eyes. By fitting this task into a better part of my day, I found that I could do a lot more, while getting more sleep by going to bed on time. 

American author John C. Maxwell said, "You'll never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine." It's not hard to recognize when our daily stress levels are too high. When this happens, it's crucial to take a step back and admit that something in our routine needs to change. Stress is not something most people can eradicate completely. But, it is something we can manage. It depletes our energy, strains our happiness, and threatens our health. From personal experience, I can truly say rearranging my routine has made a difference. If you think this might be beneficial to you too, give it a shot. You may be familiar with the phrase "the proof is in the pudding," but the original saying was, "the proof of the pudding is in the eating." It means that you can only know whether something is good or bad by trying it. No change has to be permanent, but by reanalyzing our habits and seeking potential for improvement, we can set ourselves up to be more fulfilled and successful than ever before.