04 Nov Importance of Discipline and Routine Working from Home

This post is supposed to be about something new that I learned while being in this job. For me, I’ve learned the importance of having a routine and maintaining discipline. I won’t say I’ve mastered it. I’m nowhere near close to being the best at having discipline or having a set routine but working from home/remotely has showed me how important it is to have these. The reason I want to talk about this is because I struggled in the first couple months of my job because I didn’t have any sort of schedule for myself. Admittedly, I would wake up about thirty minutes or at most an hour before logging on, brush my teeth, get something to eat then go sit in front of my computer for most of the day and just repeat the next day. Not only did this feel draining but I didn’t show up to work one hundred percent energized, committed, or focused. I would go to the gym after work and it helped, but I still felt like something was missing. One thing that helped me with being more energized and focused was creating a morning routine. Working out was an evening routine I used to wind down, but I needed to start a morning routine to start my days off right too. So, I started getting up earlier to stretch, do a little bit of yoga, and make myself a cup of tea. At first it was hard to do all of this, but I had to be committed to it and this is where having discipline was really important. I had to keep the promise I made to myself to go to bed on time, to wake up early, and to continuously practice my morning routine. Once I started being consistent with my routine, I noticed I had a better attitude, I was more focused at work, and it also started affecting the things I would do outside of work. I had more time on my hands, I started reading more, and I enjoyed my hobbies a lot more. Now that I think about it. This might just be a long explanation of saying that I’m growing up and becoming more mature.

I’ve learned a lot in this job working with GIS, learning about Wilderness and Wild and Scenic Rivers areas, and how climate change is making it more difficult for the Forest Service to protect designated areas. In my other case study, I’ve learned a lot of about how socioeconomic factors play a part in a community’s access and engagement with public lands. I’ve come to the understanding that not all questions are going to have answers but will sometimes lead to more questions. I came to learn this while brainstorming approaches the way the Forest Service could address some of these issues to create more access and engagement for these communities. However, for me personally the importance of having a routine being more disciplined with myself is something that I’m still working on but also something new I’ve learned. Now I’m trying to continue my morning routine on the weekends too, so it’s not just something I do for work, but something I do on a daily basis. Aside from that, enjoy some pictures of me from a conference where I got to meet Katherine and Lady! They’re just as cool if not cooler in person as they are virtually.