Someone told me recently, “I feel like I’m constantly reacting to what the day throws at me. The plan in my head never actually happens.”
I could relate a little too well.
There are some aspects of my day that are highly systematized and regimented, while other aspects were not nearly as iron-clad.
The real question was:
How do I build a simple system that gives me a much better chance at a successful day… every day…
What I’ve landed on is far from perfect, but it has likely kept me in the ballpark of better daily behavior.
Create systems so you stop arguing with yourself
We talk a lot about having a schedule for your workouts here – what days you come in, what time, how many days per week.
But what if you had that same level of structure for your day as a whole?
Most of the daily stress comes from constant decision-making:
- “Am I going to the gym today?”
- “When am I going?”
- “What am I eating for dinner?”
- “Should I walk or just skip it today?”
If you wake up and have to make those decisions from scratch every day, you end up in a mental tug-of-war with yourself. That’s exhausting.
Systems remove the debate.
Imagine this:
- You already know which days and times you train.
- You already know roughly what and when you’re going to eat.
- You already know when you’re walking, when you’re working, and when you’re shutting down for the night.
Of course, surprises will still pop up. Life happens. But when you have a system, moving one or two things around is much less stressful than trying to build the whole day on the fly.
How to start building your system:
If you currently have no system at all, trying to structure your entire day at once will probably feel overwhelming. So instead, start small.
Write down your daily “non-negotiables”
Things like:
-Strength training days
-Walking or cardio
-Fruits and vegetables
-Protein intake (maybe a daily protein shake)
-Family time / downtime / bedtime
-Systematize just the first 2–3 hours of your day
For example, you could wake up and already know:
-What time you wake up
-What you do in your first 30–60 minutes (coffee, quiet time, reading, planning)
-What and when you’re eating your first meal
-Whether that morning includes a walk, a gym session, or something else
If you don’t strength train that day, maybe that “gym time” block becomes a dedicated 20–30 minute walk instead.
-Pre-decide the basics of your nutrition
Nothing fancy – just outlines:
-“I have a protein shake with breakfast.”
-“I get fruits/veggies in at lunch and dinner.”
-“I don’t keep the snacks in the house that I can’t stop thinking about.”
-Treat your gym time like an appointment, not a suggestion
Instead of “I’ll go sometime tomorrow,” try:
-“I train Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 6:00 PM.”
When that’s pre-decided, you don’t wake up and ask, “Am I going?” You just show up.
One simple challenge for this week
Before you go to bed tonight, write out the first 2–3 hours of tomorrow:
-What time you’ll wake up
-What you’ll do in the first hour
-When you’ll eat your first meal and roughly what it’ll be
-Whether you’re training or walking, and when
You don’t need the perfect system. You just need a better one than yesterday.
Over time, these small systems stop the constant back-and-forth in your head and quietly nudge you toward the behavior that matches your goals.
– James Pratt