Sort Your Day into Categories

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Here’s a piece of welcome news: The next time an ooey, gooey piece of chocolate cake catches your eye, chef Ellie Krieger says it’s ok to indulge.

Well…occasionally. That’s a category Ellie uses when she works with her nutrition clients.

Meet Ellie Krieger

She started using the Always, Sometimes and Occasionally buckets after a client told her she skipped the chocolate cake at a famous bakery. Ellie groaned as she listened. Chocolate cake is fine every once in a while—just don’t load up every day!

Krieger uses the category technique for her own diet. “Always” means fruits and vegetables at every meal. “Sometimes” translates into having a steak or heavier comfort food. And that luxurious piece of chocolate cake in the window goes in the “occasionally” bucket.

How do you spend your day?

In the April series, Build Routines that Build You Up, we’re talking about how to create a routine that will provide a stable foundation so you can achieve big goals. One way to understand how you’re spending your time is to sort your day into the Always, Sometimes and Occasionally categories.

Does that sound like a lot of work? Then let’s hack it down to a 2-minute challenge. There are no wrong answers. Just say whatever pops into your head.

Do you Always check your work email before you get out of bed and think about snappy responses while you’re in the shower? How about courageously changing what goes at the top of the Always list? Yes, you need to be responsive to your manager or your biggest client. But your Always category should also include activities that nurture you, like starting and ending the day with a few minutes of quiet and reflection, working out to clear your head, or taking time to get inspired by a video, podcast or post.

Next up: Sometimes. I use Sometimes to take baby steps toward my goals. It’s a way to inch forward and try new things when the stakes are low. Sometimes I volunteer for projects to learn whether I like a new kind of work. Sometimes I try a different work-out. And sometimes I choose IRL time over screen time.

And what about Occasionally? That’s easy—occasionally I spend too much, make a mistake I regret or splurge on too much chocolate cake! But Occasionally binges are fixed once I get back to my routine.

Take the Categories Challenge

Use the soft skill of discernment to decide what to add or subtract from your day. You’ll keep your goals on track by becoming aware of how you spend your time. Here’s the categories challenge:

• Make it fast by taking 30 seconds to affirm, “I know what I need to have a good day. I build the essentials into my routine!”

• Make it deep by taking 30 minutes to sort your day into categories. Are you getting plenty of Always activities into your routine, or have they become a “nice to have”?

• Make it real by hitting your Always activities every day this week and your Sometimes at least once.

Take control of your time and energy. Be the boss of your day.