33. Personal Time First: Building Routines That Hold You Through Every Season of Care

We talk through why routines make or break our mental health and how the right time of day can change everything from focus to mood. We also share how daily habits connect to person-centered care, especially when we support people whose routines have been disrupted by big life transitions.  

• noticing how routines shape day-to-day well-being and emotional steadiness  
• matching tasks to energy patterns like morning versus evening focus
• building a realistic daily rhythm with exercise, reflection, and creative time
• adapting routines during transitions like travel, parenting, and new responsibilities  
• using routines to support personhood in healthcare and long-term care
• paying attention to personal care preferences like bathing timing and dressing order  
• shifting the podcast to monthly summer releases to avoid burnout while welcoming a new puppy  

Interested in hearing more?  Listen to the YouTube video about, Taking care of yourself so you can take care of others 

Thank you for listening!

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Intro and outro music with thanks:  Upbeat and Sweet No Strings by Musictown 

Lisa brings over 25 years of experience working in healthcare settings with older adults. The perspectives shared on this podcast are her own and do not represent the views of any past or current employer. Patient/resident stories are shared only with explicit permission or as anonymized composites for educational purposes.

Transcript

Welcome And What Clicked Today

Lisa 0:04

Welcome to Capturing Essence for Care, where we discuss the importance of incorporating personal life stories into healthcare and share ideas to help you on your journey. I'm your host, Lisa Joworski. Welcome to Capturing Essence for Care, a podcast about the stories, creativity, and connections that make us who we are and the difference they make when it matters most. This episode is a solo episode, and it's taken me a little bit of time to figure out what to talk about, and then this morning it really clicked. I was trying to do one on my favorite books and books that I think would be helpful for those of you who love storytelling and capturing essence and personhood and all the things that I'm interested in. And then doing it in the evening seems to be very tricky for me. I'm exhausted, I don't have a whole lot of energy left, my mind isn't thinking straight. And then this morning I thought I left my laptop in the basement because that's where I record my podcast episodes. And I left, I intentionally left my laptop in the basement because I thought that's going to force me to get up in the morning and figure this out and get this recorded. So here I am in the morning getting this recorded or at least trying to, because I have some information about the podcast that I want to share.

Why Routines Shape Well-Being

Lisa 1:29

And that is to let you know that for the summertime, things will be changing a little bit. And so it made sense to me to talk a little bit about routines. Routines are very important to me, and I've realized over the years that they can make or break my mental health and well-being, how I'm doing on a day-to-day basis depends on my routines. And so I thought I'd dive into that a little bit because I think it also really impacts the work that we do in our own lives, but also supporting the people that maybe we're working with. So whether that's in healthcare, whether that's in storytelling, I think it's helpful to know what people's routines are so that when we're encouraging and empowering people to maybe do some of the work, whether it's in storytelling or healthcare, that it feels natural to them and that it's easier for people to do a task or an activity if it fits into their daily lives in the way that feels best to them. So for I'm curious to know about you. Do you have routines? Are you, say, a morning person or a night person or maybe middle of the day, or maybe you just kind of split things up throughout the day. For me, I am definitely a morning person. And so when I tried to record that podcast episode last night, even though I knew what I wanted to talk about, I had such a challenge getting all my words out. So I think doing it in the morning just makes sense. So here I sit with my coffee, sharing with you a little bit about routines. Coffee is part of my routine. I love coffee, and it just makes the morning a better time. And then psychologically, I like to think that I don't need coffee in the middle of the day, but I do enjoy one, usually in the afternoon before two o'clock, because I heard after that is not a good time to drink coffee. So,

Morning Habits That Keep Me Steady

Lisa 3:32

anyway, back to the routines. For me, I get up really early. I've realized that exercising is something that keeps me going from day to day. And so my ideal routine is to work out in the morning, whether it's 20 minutes, 30 minutes, I mean weekends, if I have more time, I'll do that. And for me, I don't make it um, I don't do a two to three day. I used to think if I exercise three times a week, then that that's you know ideal. That's what a person should be doing. But that didn't work for me, and it took me a long time to realize that. So now I focus on just scheduling it in every day. And that way if I miss a day, I don't feel so bad about it. If I miss two days or three days, I still don't feel so bad about it because I know I'll make it up and it's an expectation in my head that I'll have to do it on the weekend or add more time on a different day. So it's just built into my daily routines. And so then after working out, I know that doing some form of say spiritual work, whether that's meditating, journaling, reflecting, if I could go for a walk, I would, something like that that just helps me to do something for me and not feel rushed. That's a huge one for me. I hate to feel rushed in the day. So by doing these things ahead of time before my day really begins, then it sets me up for success that if I have to rush, which we all do at part in parts of our day, then I'm more able to handle it because I've had the time to prepare ahead of time. And then the next part that I do is I have, you know, 20 to 30 minutes of say creative time. And so that's when I'll work on the podcast, for example, or right now I'm working on a digital story that I'm doing with someone. So that's when I'll carve out those moments to do a little bit of work that's creative and lets me think differently and sparks that creative side in me. So the reason I mention these things is because it's taken me some time to figure out that all of those things need to happen for me, or at least, like I said, if it's not every day, knowing that it's built into my schedule every day, and if it doesn't happen, it's a one-off.

Life Transitions That Break Structure

Lisa 6:00

When I was away traveling when I was 18, 19, I realized after about 10 months of being away that I really missed having something, like having some kind of routine on a daily basis. I think you tend to get a little homesick maybe after that period of time. Um, but for me, I just realized that my mood was really dipping. I didn't know how to exercise from going from one hostel to another. Um, I didn't have any kind of structure. And so that really got to me after a while. Then, as you have children, for example, I found that the morning routines change and everything focuses on, you know, making sure the kids get up and that they're ready, that they have what they need. And so that was another period in my life where I had to restructure again and think, how do I make sure that I have these things in my life? Not that I was doing meditation and those things then. Um, it's kind of morphed over time. But again, those were, that's another transition time that it made me reflect and think, oh, I need to figure out how to make sure that I have time for me to keep myself well. Um, and I think a huge indicator of that is if your emotions are fluctuating, then you know that something's got to change and that we need to focus on ourselves a little bit more. And I think with caregiving, for example, whether it's children, parents, um, and even working in healthcare, I would say even teaching, for example, that we need to take that time to just carve out for ourselves. And so if that's missing because of all the other responsibilities we have in life, I think that's a place for us to kind of check in and reevaluate and see what we need to do differently.

Planner Lessons From Seven Habits

Lisa 7:51

So those are mine, and those are part of I read the book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. I think I read it in 2015 at a really, well, important time in my life, and it really changed my whole mindset and my perspective on things. So that's still my favorite book. I still reference it. I created a day planner that, well, I create my own yearly day planner, and I've done that since I read that book in 2015. So I'm on my tenth one, I guess. I've been doing it since my first day planner was in 2016, and we're in 2026 now, so I've done 10 of them because there's no other day planner out there that really speaks to and captures all of the things that I want it to in my day-to-day life. And I get to create it and make it my own. So personalize it and put things in it, like I have an image of the brain and the different areas of the brain in there. Uh I might have my mission statement in there. Now I have my podcast episodes and kind of planning for that. So uh yeah, it's something I enjoy doing and personalizing every year. So saying all of this, doesn't it make you think about the times in our life that we need to reevaluate and change our structure and routines? And my mind goes to working with people, say, in long-term care or retirement. What does that look like for the individuals living there? You know, like how would I still have those routines in

New Puppy And Summer Release Plan

Lisa 9:28

my life? So, going forward, I can see that my routines, my morning routines, are going to change again. I'm on the brink of a big change coming up. We are getting a puppy, and I am so excited about it. It's a black lab. Um, and so this is our summertime new welcoming into our family, and I know that my routines are gonna have to change. I've never had a dog before. It's a lifetime dream of mine, but I know it's going to be a bit of a an upheaval on doing things exactly how I've done them for so long now. So, in saying that, I thought I routines would be the perfect discussion today to share with you because I'm not sure, honestly, how I'm gonna fit everything in. So, over the summer months, I am planning to release a new podcast episode every month instead of every two weeks. So that means there will be another episode coming out in July and then another one in August. And then if there's extras, if I find that things are going fantastic and I've figured things out, then maybe there will be extras. But if not, that will be why, and then I'll kind of reevaluate and figure out how things will go moving forward and hopefully figure out how to structure my my days and my mornings to fit in the podcast because I'm so excited about getting a dog. Um, and that is besides my family, that's gonna be my top priority. And this podcast, I really want it to fit in as well. I'm just I don't want to burn out, so I want to figure out how to fit all this in. So that's really what I popped on here to share with you, and hopefully it makes sense to you, but also it's a good time to think about your own routines. What are you doing to keep yourself well? What do you find you look forward to in the day? Do you have that time for yourself? Or are you in the place where you're thinking, oh, I wish I could fit these things in, or I wish I had that bit of time? And if that's the case, you know, sometimes it takes sitting down and kind of writing things out on what you do in the morning, what you do around lunchtime, and what you do in the evening hours. When is your energy the best? And, you know, when when do you feel you have time to do the things that you love to do, whatever that might be. And so my example of trying to do this podcast, this conversation last night, um, and I had a whole other topic. I was going to share my favorite books with you and ones that have really helped me along the way. And I found there were so many pauses. And even though I know the information, my brain just wasn't working the same. So I'm definitely a morning person. So yeah, definitely think about what's working for you. And maybe maybe it's not what's not working for you. Maybe it's just the time of day that you're doing certain activities that it's not working the best.

Routines In Healthcare And Daily Care

Lisa 12:38

And for those of us working with clients, whether in healthcare or otherwise, I think it's also a great reminder and a good time to reflect on what does routine look like for them and what has it looked like for them in the past. Well, I think of things like even showering or bathing. I used to have to shower every morning. I still kind of do, washing my hair every morning. I'm trying not to do that as much now. But um, I don't want to have baths usually, and I don't love having a shower at nighttime. Everything needs to happen in the morning for me in order for me to feel like I'm awake, I have this energy, and then I can start with my day. But some people prefer to do all those things at night. So those things alone I think are helpful to know about the people we're working with, especially in healthcare. The other piece that uh stuck with me in some in a workshop I did one time was learning about even how you put your clothes on, like which leg goes in first when you're putting on your pants. What order do you put your clothes on in? And things like that that I think we just do automatically out of habit without thinking. But if somebody else was trying to help us with that or set out our clothes in a certain way for us to put them on, what would make sense to us? And it might not, I might not do it the same way you would. So just some things that we might not otherwise think of, which is why I mention it here, and I think is important when we're talking about capturing essence for care.

Reach Out And Final Requests

Lisa 14:14

So I hope releasing monthly episodes instead of you know every two weeks through the summer doesn't make you listen less. I love doing this podcast. I love the interviews that I have, the conversations that we have. I have lots more things that I want to talk about on the podcast. So it's not that there's no information or conversations to be had. I just need to figure out how to fit this into my new routines to come. Please let me know if you have, I would love to hear from you. So if you have ideas for future podcasts, you have any tidbits for me on dog training. I'm doing all the research I can on that right now, too. And um, yeah, I would just love to hear from you if you have anything to share. So my email address is awestruckaspirations at gmail.com. And I'll put that in the show notes as well. Okay, thanks everybody, and we'll connect again in July. Thanks for listening today. If you enjoyed this episode, take a minute to look at the show notes for resources and links and be sure to leave me a rating and review. And also you can follow the show so that you get notified of when the next one comes out. And lastly, if you can think of somebody in your life who you think would enjoy this podcast, I hope you share it with them as well so that they can listen in on the conversations and ponder how to capture their own essence. Take care, and I look forward to the next time.