Write a “To Do List” and start a new habit

I have a bad habit of procrastinating, but I will do the stuff I put on my "To Do List". Therefore, I am going to put the new habit I am attempting to develop in "The List". If I put it on my "to do list" each day then I know that I am working on that specific attribute.

The last time I researched forming new habits, I found that it takes about two weeks or nineteen days to form a habit. I downloaded an EXCEL "To Do List' template yesterday. It is much simpler then the list I make each day. I am going to use the template rather then the one I print each day.

At 62, I need things as simple as possible because I have a tendency to complicate stuff. There are events and actions in my life that I like appearing complicated because they force me to think and attempt a different approach then normal. However, to do list should be simple and easy, even if the items and projects on them are complicated.

Writing Changes my Mood

Only two things that will transform my bad or negative mood into a good mood, one of those is prayer and the other is writing. That is one reason I keep an off line journal, I can write about my mood and the reason for it in "Writing My Spiritual Journey". In that journal, I write letters addressed to The Glory of God.

Writing those letters helps me learn about myself, which is important for a writer. In order to write anything, I have to know my strengths and my weaknesses. By making journal entries to someone else besides myself frees my writing and self-reflection. This helps me learn about my faults and bad habits, which in turn help me to overcome and change them.

I find that my muse works when I make daily entries into that journal and my gratitude journal. Both "Writing My Spiritual Journal" and my gratitude journals are off line. I attempt to make daily entries in them at least once a day. My gratitude journal entries list ten things I am thankful for each day. I do not have to make the gratitude all at once, if I can find ten things to be thankful for in the morning that is wonderful, but not always possible.

Keeping those two off line journals also assists me to keep track of my achievements. One of the things to be thankful for is achieving or exceeding my word count goal the day before. Sometimes it is easy to find ten things I am thankful for and difficult at other times. However, looking for the gratitude items is worth finding them, because writing them down helps change a bad mood into a good mood.