The Purposeful Planning Method, Chapter Five

How to Plan Your Day, Beat Procrastination, and Regain Control of Your Time

CHAPTER FIVE

The Habit Layer

“A day dawns, quite like other days; in it, a single hour comes, quite like other hours; but in that day and in that hour, the chance of a lifetime faces us."

— Maltbie Davenport Babcock

The Habit Layer is the second and final layer we’ll use to plan our day. It uses your habits and routines to ensure each morning and evening is proactively structured to be as productive and meaningful as possible. Unlike the Fluid Layer, which changes daily, the Habit Layer remains consistent from week to week.

While the Fluid Layer ensures you intentionally prioritize what’s most important to you, the Habit Layer ensures you plan your mornings and evenings successfully. According to Duke University research, habits account for approximately 40 percent of our daily behaviors. [7] The Habit Layer encourages you to be intentional and proactive with this significant portion of your day.

Remember, we’ll use the 10-Day Challenge to create your Habit Layer, so for now, focus on absorbing the ideas and concepts of this chapter without worrying about implementing them.

In addition to ensuring you’re intentional with how you spend your morning and evenings, the Habit Layer will assist you in creating the habits you want.

One benefit of this layer is that it reduces the number of decisions you’re required to make each day, which reduces the chance you’ll be negatively affected by decision fatigue. Decision fatigue occurs when we have too many options to choose from; abundant options often lead to feeling overwhelmed, procrastination, and a decline in our decision making. By determining what to focus on, we increase the chance to do what we desire.

Here’s a personal example of how it works. I use my Habit Layer to go to the gym every morning, by making this decision when initially creating my Habit Layer. I never have to spend energy thinking about it again. This allows me to avoid contemplating what I should do each morning. Going to the gym each morning has become a habit. I wake up, make coffee, feed the dogs, grab my gym bag, and head out. One reason I’ve been able to maintain this habit is that I love ending my workout with a relaxing sauna session. This visit to the sauna acts as a reward to encourage my daily habit loop.

Charles Duhigg shares how habit loops work in his book, The Power of Habit. The Habit Loop is a neurological loop that governs any habit. The loop consists of three elements: a cue, a routine, and a reward. Understanding these elements can help to change bad habits or form better ones.

The cue

The cue for a habit can be anything that triggers the habit. Cues generally fall under the following categories: a location, a time of day, other people, an emotional state, or an immediately preceding action.

The routine

A habit's routine is the most obvious element. It's the behavior you wish to change or reinforce (such as going to the gym).

The reward

The reward is the reason the brain decides the previous steps are worth remembering for the future. The reward provides positive reinforcement for the desired behavior, making it more likely you will produce the behavior again in the future. The reward can be anything, from something tangible (chocolate) or something intangible (a sauna session).

In addition, creating your Habit Layer:

Helps create awareness of your daily habits and rituals
Reduces procrastination by creating clarity about how you want to spend your time
Ensures you’re proactive about your morning and evening routines
Helps you pursue your passions by proactively blocking time for the activities you want to do
Enriches your relationships by planning time for nurturing them
Enables you to enjoy your leisure time more

Clients regularly use the Habit Layer for the following activities:

Running
Walking
Resistance training
Drinking coffee or tea
Practicing yoga
Going to the gym
Building a daily writing practice
Meditating
Planning and reflecting on the day
Journaling
Working on a side business
Cooking breakfast or dinner
Spending time with family and friends
Going on date nights
Reading

In addition to his morning tennis game, Richard Branson includes other exercises, breakfast, and family time during his morning routine. “I wake up early; around 5 am. I get out of bed and do some exercise – play a game of tennis, go for a walk or a run, jump on my bike, or if there’s enough wind, go for a kitesurf. Then I eat breakfast and spend time with my family. Exercise and family time put me in a great mind frame before getting down to business.” [8]

Habit expert and author James Clear shares the following tips to creating daily habits:

Start with an incredibly small habit.
Increase your habit in very small ways.
Break your big habits into small chunks.
When you slip, get back on track quickly.
Be patient. Stick to a pace you can sustain. [9]

Below are Habit Layer examples.

Habit Layer Example 1: Corporate Professional

In the first Habit Layer example, we’ll revisit the marketing director, who works from home for a Fortune 500 company. Each weekday morning, she wants to do yoga, meditate, plan her day, and shower. On the weekends, she wants to sleep in until 9 a.m.

In the evenings, she wants to spend two evenings each week with friends for dinner and the other three relaxing, preparing dinner, and reading. She wants to prepare for bed at 10 p.m. and be in bed by 10:30 p.m.

You can see how she blocked time for these in Image 8. Remember, you can easily find these images at www.matt-east/book.

In Image 9, you can view an example of a single day of her Habit Layer. Six a.m. to 6:30 a.m. is blocked for yoga, 6:30 a.m. to 7 a.m. is blocked to meditate and plan the day. Seven a.m. to 8 a.m. is blocked to shower and get ready. Six p.m. to 10 p.m. is blocked for dinner, reading, and relaxing. At 10:00 p.m., she begins to prep for bed. Ten-thirty p.m. to 6 a.m. is blocked for sleep.

In Image 10, you can see the final plan for her day with the Habit Layer (in green) and the Fluid Layer (in blue). This final schedule is: 6 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. yoga, 6:30 a.m. to 7 a.m. meditate and plan day, 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. shower and get ready, 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. finish writing copy for product launch, 9:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. email, 10 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. open, 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. product marketing meeting, 11:30 a.m. to 12 Noon open, 12 Noon to 1:30 p.m. run and shower, 1:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. eat lunch, 2 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. email, 2:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. open, 3 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. prep for one-on-one, 3:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. meet for one-on-one with Michelle, 4 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. open, 4:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. email, 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. open, 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. read, dinner, relax, 10 p.m. prep for bed, 10:30 p.m. sleep.

Common questions about the Corporate Professionals schedule.

Tuesday and Thursday are blocked to eat dinner with friends. What if a friend wants to meet on a different day, like Wednesday?

That’s no problem. If she wants to meet her friend, she can change one of her evenings out this week to be Wednesday. Or she could go out on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday with friends. Making that adjustment is no problem. This isn’t called the No Fun Planning Method. The goal is to be intentional with your time. But do it thoughtfully and update the changes within your calendar.

I follow my morning Habit Block almost 100 percent of the time since scheduling conflicts early in the morning are infrequent. But my evening Habit Block typically requires an adjustment about once a week because of dinner, work, or social events with friends. It’s no big deal—simply make the adjustment on your calendar and you’re all set. You're still acting intentionally and purposeful with how you’re spending your time, which is the primary goal.

Should my Habit Layer remain the same each day? I notice this example isn’t the same each day.

It’s totally up to you. It’s your Habit Layer. I want you to be intentional all seven days of the week, but some habits like helping the kids get ready for school are only five days a week. Some people like to have a consistent habit layer for weekdays and different habits on the weekends. For instance, many of my clients want to use one or both weekend mornings to sleep longer. Many people like to keep their Habit Layer consistent for all seven days of the week. The goal is for you to be intentional and to build a Habit Layer that works well for you.

Habit Layer Example 2: CEO

The CEO wants to use her Habit Layer to prepare breakfast and spend time with her daughter before she leaves for school. She also wants to have coffee with her husband after her daughter gets on the bus. In the evenings, she wants to walk for at least an hour and then relax with her family as her husband cooks dinner. On the weekends, she wants to walk for an hour before her husband and daughter wake up.

To do this, she blocks each weekday morning from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. to make breakfast and drink coffee, she then blocks 7:30 a.m. to 8:15 a.m. to shower and get ready. On the weekends, she blocks 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. to walk. In the evenings during the week, she blocks 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. to walk, and she has 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. blocked for dinner and relaxing.

You can see how she blocked time for these in Image 11.

In Image #12, you can see a single day of her habit layer. I included this because it’s easier to view the details of her schedule in this image.

Her final schedule with the Habit Layer (in green) and the Fluid Layer (in blue). From 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 a.m., she blocks time to make breakfast and drink coffee with her husband; from 7:30 a.m. to 8:15 a.m., she showers and gets ready. Eight-thirty a.m. to 9:30 a.m. is blocked for email, followed by an open 30-minute block of time; from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. is blocked to prep for the investor meeting, followed by another 30-minute open block. At 11:30 a.m., she eats for 30 minutes; from 12 Noon to 12:30 p.m., she reviews the company financials, then reviews the sales funnel from 12:30 p.m. to 1 p.m. From 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., she blocks more time to prepare for the investor meeting. She then has 30 minutes open for responding to unexpected items; from

3 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., she meets with the director of operations, followed by another open block. She rechecks email from 4 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.; 4:30 p.m. to 6:15 p.m. is blocked for traveling to and coaching her daughter’s soccer practice. She has another open block followed by her walk from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., and her final block is from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. for dinner and relaxing. You can view her schedule in Image 13.

Common Questions about the CEO’s Habit Layer:

Dinner is planned each weeknight from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. What if other dinner plans arise, such as meals with clients or with friends?

That’s going to happen, no doubt about it. It’s no big deal. When plans like that arise, and she wants or needs to attend, it’s important to add the new plans to her calendar. Remember, the goal is to be intentional.

How does the Habit Layer change if the CEO needs to travel for work?

It’s likely to change significantly, and that’s no problem. I would encourage her to be deliberate by planning and prioritizing her time during the trip, but maintaining her exact Habit Layer isn’t likely. I would encourage her to maintain parts of her schedule, if possible. For example, if it’s still possible to walk for an hour a day, she should keep that in her schedule while traveling.

Habit Layer Example 3: Author

Let’s build the Habit Layer for the author. She wants to wake up at 4:45 a.m., make coffee, and begin writing by 5:15 a.m. each morning. She hopes to follow the same morning and evening routine, seven days a week. In the evening she wants to cook, have a glass a wine, and always be in bed by 9 p.m.

To do this within her Habit Layer, she blocks time to wake up and drink coffee at 4:45 every morning. Each evening. she blocks time from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. for cooking dinner, having a glass of wine, and relaxing. And she blocks time at 8:30 p.m. to prep for her 9 p.m. bedtime. View this schedule in Image 14.

You can view the details of a single day in Image 15.

The final plan for her day with the Habit Layer (in green) and the Fluid Layer (in blue). Four forty-five a.m. is blocked for waking up and drinking coffee. She then blocks time from 5:15 a.m. to 9:45 a.m. for writing. Next is an open block, followed by tennis from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. is blocked for lunch, 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. is open, 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. is blocked for walking, followed by another hour of open time before she reviews her writing from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. At 6:30 p.m., she cooks, has a glass of wine, and at 8:30 p.m., she begins to prep for bed. You can view her schedule in Image 16.

Common questions about the author’s Habit Layer:

Is the large gap of free time a concern?

No; one of the goals for the author was to have a large block of free time. Remember, the goal is to be intentional with how you spend your time, not to be as busy as possible.

A tip for building your Habit Layer:

If you’re using an electronic calendar, such as Google Calendar, you can easily set the time blocks for your Habit Layer to be recurring, so it’s not necessary to rebuild your Habit Layer each week. For example, if you want to build the habit of writing at 6:30 a.m. Monday through Friday, you can set your calendar event to repeat on the days you select.

Chapter recap

Your Habit Layer ensures you structure your mornings and evenings to be productive and meaningful. Unlike the Fluid Layer, which changes daily, the Habit Layer remains consistent week to week. The Habit Layer is your opportunity to proactively determine how you want to spend your mornings and evenings. You will create your Habit Layer in the next chapter.

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