Now I get up super early for work, I’m rethinking my evening schedule (my previous morning and evening routines are here).

At the moment, I’m just sticking to a rough evening routine based on days of the week. While my old routine was good for changing habits (i.e. not sitting in front of the TV all night), I needed something that was a bit more specific but still flexible.

Enter routine #2.

I should add that I’m a creature of habit and I love routine. I feel a lot more like I’m achieving things and making the most of my time when I have something in place. Having said that, I’m also aware of how easy it is to burn out and that having time to relax and chill out isn’t a bad thing.

Recently, life has been pretty hectic. Now things are slightly calming down (we’ll see how long that lasts!) and I’ve cleared some projects out of the way, it’s time to rethink how I spend my time on a regular basis.

My evenings, sketched

For flexibility, all the evenings are interchangeable, so if something else comes up, they can easily be swapped round or duplicated. For example, next week there’s a digital marketing event on Wednesday night, so a free evening will be swapped out to compensate.

Mondays: Technology night

‘Technology’ is deliberately vague, because this evening is designed to cover everything from going to tech events and talks to working on websites and blogging to admin tasks like backing up photos. Mondays were chosen because we regularly attend a monthly tech talk on Mondays.

Tuesdays: Date night

Joe time! This is generally something like going out for dinner, visiting a gaming arcade, a cinema trip, or the theatre. Tuesdays were originally chosen for this because we get a half price cinema deal.

Wednesdays: Exercise night

Preferably the gym, but I’m not averse to a YouTube video, exercise DVD, or Your Shape Wii U workout, especially if the weather’s bad and/or I’m tired. Wednesdays are a good choice for this as Joe games with his friends.

Thursdays & Fridays: ‘Free’ night

I say ‘free’ because I’m always busy doing something, but these are wildcard evenings that could be playing computer games, watching TV, catching up on a current project, finishing something that’s been left unfinished, pub trips with friends, or similar.

Saturdays: ‘Free’

As above. Usually these are the days when I’m at gaming events, baking, out with friends/Joe, inviting people over, playing board games, doing odd house chores, going to the lake or windmill or something, visiting friends in other cities, appointments (hair, dentist) etc. I’m starting driving lessons again, so Saturdays will probably be a bit lost for a while.

Sundays: House & socialising

Our cleaner comes on Mondays, so Sundays are usually ‘quick tidy up and chores’ day (or ‘destroy the kitchen day’ if we’re doing food prep). We’re usually working on some kind of house project (I’ve just finished a mini bedroom makeover and we’re currently working on getting some windows replaced & decking and window frames painted), so that’s often the order of the day. We often have friends over in the afternoon/evening for gaming, then it’s time to review the upcoming week and make a meal plan.

Sketching your own week out

You know what you want to do and what you need to get done, so start by making a list. Once you’re happy with it, group things by importance and cut any little or one-off tasks out (those can go on a to do list). Then look for common themes and create seven different rough labels. Once you have your week sketched out, you can decide which things work better on which days.

After that, it’s a case of just trying it out and seeing what works and what doesn’t. You could switch things up by writing each theme on a piece of paper and picking one out of a hat each evening (or to randomise your whole week in one go), or make a list of specific tasks for each day, or only sketch out your week every so often. It’s all about finding out what works for you.

As for me – well, I’m sure my routines will continue to change and be changed, but that’s part of the fun :)

What does your week look like? Are you a planner or do you just wing it? Let me know in the comments!