005 The Power of Small Systems

Consistency and discipline are essential for success in creative endeavors, and building reliable morning and evening routines provides the structure needed for sustainable progress.

• How I build my morning routines to fill in the creative well and prepare me for the day.
• How I end my day to wrap things up and prepare me for the next day
• Facing setbacks and being flexible
• Small, consistent systems are more effective than relying on motivation or feelings

Transcript

Introduction to Pockets Podcast

Richmond 0:05

Hi , you're listening to Pockets , a podcast about finding joy , meaning and purpose in life's simplest moments . I'm Richmond Camero . Let's dive into

The Struggle with Consistency

Richmond 0:17

today's journey . If there's one thing that I find hard to do , it is consistency . I like to start a lot of things , but I always have a hard time finishing them . In terms of writing and doing art , I used to work on them based on my feelings and motivations , but I am perfectly aware that consistency and discipline are needed for me to succeed . And for me to succeed in big things , I know I need to succeed in small things . That's why I built my morning and evening routines as pocket of of space that I can rely on .

Richmond 0:59

James Clear said in his book Atomic Habits you do not rise to the level of your goals , you fall to the level of your systems . I'm a fan of this book and a fan of this principle , but I haven't really

Morning Routine Framework

Richmond 1:15

executed that in all parts of my life . I asked myself , though what's the smallest thing that I could change to have a system that I could rely on . My answer is to tweak my morning and evening routines .

Richmond 1:32

I'm working full-time in the software industry and , at the same time , I want to flourish in my creative endeavors writing this podcast and creating art . This is my motivation in wanting to have a system and tweaking my routines . My strategy is to focus on small progress and consistency and , on a semi-regular basis , I wanted to follow through on my system .

Richmond 1:59

I'll start by sharing how I keep track of this . I'm using Notion as my main planner . The most relevant page for this topic is my "my Day page . It's a small page that contains my daily tasks across different areas , books that I plan to read that month and a checklist for my morning and evening routines . This page is heavily integrated in my system , as you'll find out later

Richmond 2:25

. . 30 . . to fill

Richmond 2:28

Now for my morning routine . I usually come in at work at 10 am in the morning , so I have a page in Notion do what I want and need to do . To allow me to focus on things that matter , I also set up a blocker for social media apps in the morning . I can only access them by 9.30 . When I'm transitioning to work , the first in the list is to read for at least 10 minutes . When I wake up , I want to have some time for quiet before I go through the day , as I've told you in the previous episode of this podcast , reading is an important part of my life . It's my way to feel the well and it's one way to get influences on the stories I want to create or how I write . So I also have to make time for it , and mornings are a good way to do that , when the world is still quiet .

Richmond 3:23

The next thing in my morning routine is to check my tasks for the day . As I mentioned earlier , I have a patient notion that tracks this . Checking this in the morning prepares me mentally for what comes ahead . It allows me to check which ones would need more effort and which ones I need to prioritize . At this point , what matters for me on the list are the creative tasks that I need to do , because the last item in my morning routine is to spend 15 minutes doing something creative .

Richmond 3:56

I am not the type who wakes up really early , but I recognize mornings are the best time for me to do something creative . Given my day job , the rest of the day might be unpredictable and I would mostly feel tired in the evenings . So in the morning I make sure to spend "my a few minutes doing art . My creative focus varies . At most times I would write some paragraphs in my current draft or outlining . Sometimes I would journal , or I would write some paragraphs in my current draft or outlining . Sometimes I would journal or I would draw . What matters is that I do something so I know that I'm a small step closer towards my creative goals . After that , I consider my minimum morning routine

Evening Routine Structure

Richmond 4:41

done . When I'm able to do these things , I would feel creatively fulfilled .

Richmond 4:47

After my morning routine , I transition to my day job by looking into my daily tasks . Then , after I'm done for the day maybe an hour to an hour and a half before I go to sleep I start my evening routine . It starts with planning the next day . I look into the my Day page in my Notion workspace and check if there are remaining tasks I wasn't able to do that day . If there are remaining tasks , those will be included in the next day . I write down one to three things that I need to do for work , school and my creative endeavors . This part of my evening routine helps me anticipate my tasks for the next day . Next is my creative reflection in my crafted-to-day journal . As I mentioned in my previous episode about journaling , I maintain a daily journal for my creative work . This contains my reflection on the things I created that day and it makes me mindful on how I spend my time .

Richmond 5:50

The next step is mise en place . This is a culinary term that means putting in place or making sure that ingredients are prepared and organized before cooking . In the context of my evening routine , it's a reset of my digital and physical workspace . I make sure that my table is clear . I put my pens , papers and notebooks back in their cases and shelves . If there's anything that I would need for the next morning , I make sure that they are visible on my desk . It's an important step to prepare my future self and it lessens the resistance for the things that I have to do for the next day . Finally , the last piece of my evening routine is to read for 10 minutes . Reading in the evening helps me shift to rest mode and it gives me extra time to explore worlds that I want to be into or learn stuff that I want . In most days I would be able to do these things , but there would be days that I would miss a step . Sometimes I would have to shift some of the things that I need to do from the morning in the evening and sometimes I wouldn't just have the time for some of the steps . When this happens , I try my best to remind myself that I can try again tomorrow and to trust in my system . It will

Adapting When Systems Fail

Richmond 7:39

y

Richmond 7:10

write to miss a day or two . I would just need to pick it up again and follow the system , and that's how I built my small system . I hope you're able to learn a few notes on how to build one , and I'm looking forward to seeing you experiment in creating a system that fits your life . You've been with Pockets . Thank you so much for sharing this space with me . Now go embrace the moments , build your pockets of meaning and keep curiosity a sure guide .