It’s no meeting week at work today. On a usual day, I start at 8-9am and have meetings straight through to 5-6pm. On a good day, I get 30 minutes for lunch and maybe another 30 mins at some point.
So having no meetings is not a small change for me. It fundamentally shifts how I approach my work and what I can get done.
Today I was able to get up, exercise, journal and draw, make a healthy breakfast and read and reply to each mail fully. I was able to read all the links, documents and presentations. I was able to have impromptu conversations to resolve issues. I was able to write intelligent and thoughtful replies.
It felt both productive and calm and rewarding. While it’s not a realistic way for every week to look, I do think having a day or two without meetings semi-regularly seems to be a very good idea.
More generally, changing up routine and taking a step back is the best way to see inefficiency in the system or even have enough distance from it to see what modification might be helpful. I’m grateful to get this chance to do that for work.
I find that my brain is constantly jumping back and forth between thoughts.
There are contradictory thoughts and dormant thoughts that pop up like popcorn at random times especially if I’m on vacation of some sort and thus relaxing. why aren’t you doing this? why don’t you want to do more of that? You really should be doing this other thing.
My brain tells me what to do and it reprimands me about all the things I’m not doing. It’s constantly striving constantly optimizing and constantly judging.
This is one of the reasons I am trying to meditate more and rest more so that I can learn to quiet my own brain. So I can let those thoughts rise and then disappear. This is the only way they don’t take up all the space.
Taking a bath is another way I can slow down and pay attention to the voices and tell them everything is going to be okay.
I love routine and for the most part I think that’s a really good thing. Routine allows me to create an intentional life and spend time on what matters most to me and what I want to improve. Routine makes it easy to show up and easy to get things done.
And yet it also makes it easy to get stuck in a rut. Doing the same things again and again doesn’t give me the time to take a step back and evaluate.
This is where a change of scenery helps the most. A new place, a change in routine, a new perspective.
For someone who loves being home as much as I do, it can be really hard to go on vacation. And yet time away is always helpful.
Every single time.
Yes to taking time away. Yes to rest. Yes to the woods.
Wednesdays are tough over here. I start 8am and don’t end until 8pm, at which point I am wiped and can’t even think.
So I start my days with meditation and yoga to ensure I am calmer than usual and grounded.
And I think I need something to also end my days with so I can re-ground myself again so I don’t carry over Wednesday’s stress to Thursday. Maybe that’s a short walk outside or a short journaling session.
Either way, today I’m grateful to have made it through this Wednesday and grateful that this week is almost at an end. It was a short but mighty week so far.
Yes to yoga and yes to grounding. Yes to making in through Wednesdays!
Two weeks ago, jake and I meant to go climbing but at 3pm on Sunday we suddenly realized it wasn’t going to work out because we still had to get big boy’s birthday cake and the sun was going to set soon.
I decided then and there that we wouldn’t do this again. I put a calendar reminder for us to leave the house by 2pm every Sunday so we could go climbing. If we decided to go Saturday that week, awesome. Or if we went Sunday morning that’s awesome too. But if we didn’t go by Sunday at 2pm, we were to leave immediately.
The goal was to make it weekly routine so it wouldn’t be a discussion each week. And this week it worked perfectly. I’ve learned that the most effective way to combat inertia is to make something into a routine. And yet I keep not doing this.
Not sure why I keep having to learn this lesson again and again but here we are.
Here’s to climbing regularly and finding ways to create routine structures for the life that I want to live vs the life inertia is making me default to.
Yes to choosing the way I spend my time. Yes to climbing more.
Family photo day is always the best day of the month.
I spent a lot of time thinking about making the invisible visible today. As I say yes to doing certain things what am I “invisibly” saying no to? How can I make that more visible for myself? What does it take for me to stop the inertia of doing more of what I’ve always done and really leaning into a life of yes.
How do I connect with how it will feel to have done X vs Y so that I can make sure to do more of what I know will make me happy vs what feels comfortable in this moment?
My sister who is the most thoughtful person I know. The one who always plans surprises for others months and months and months in advance. The one who is overflowing with so much love that it spills out of her in her kind eyes, tight hugs, and genuine smile.
My sister is one of a kind.
She is generous to a fault. She spoils me and she spoils my kids. She calls my husband her big brother. If you ask her for a favor she will deliver tenfold. She will go out of her way to make you happy and to make you smile.
My amazing sister who has planned one of a kind birthdays and special events for everyone in this family has had to spend her 50th birthday in a pandemic. Which meant we couldn’t be there to hug her and pour our love out to her the way she’s done for all of us.
My mom has worked incredibly hard to make it memorable and she did an extraordinary job. And still I am heartbroken I can’t be with her on this day.
I love you with every inch of my heart Yonuka and I am deeply grateful that you were born. I couldn’t have asked for a better, kinder, more loving sister. How lucky am I?
I spent most of today watching the impeachment trial and then the vote. I am still fascinated by and grateful that we as citizens get to watch the American government at work. Even if I am not proud of the work itself. The live streaming makes it easier to hold our officials accountable for the actions they take when representing us. I understand and respect that everyone chooses how they spend their time. To me, this was a worthwhile way to spend my day.
Even though I was very disappointed in the outcome.
I can say more but there’s no point.
To ensure I didn’t spiral, I then took a nice long walk and a nice long bath. Self-care all the way.
Yes to showing up and learning about our political system. Yes to fresh air. And yes to baths.
Today bug boy had his well check appointment. The doctors office that’s usually brimming with people and couches was bare. We walked in double masked and they gave us one more since it had to be one of theirs. I’m grateful that we get to go to the doctor because back in March of 2020, we couldn’t of course. But sad that 11 months later, life still is so restricted.
We then had to go get passports renewed for the kids which was another crazy ordeal of its own.
Both chores done. We still have drivers licenses to renew, orthodontist, opthalmologist, and who knows what other surprises await us in 2021.
I’ll take all of these and more over covid of course. These are signs that we’re healthy and living life. I am grateful to be here and not in a different state.
Also grateful for the 3-day weekend. Perfect time to rest and recover from this very busy week.
Yes to doing life’s chores. Yes to rest. So grateful.
I appear to have nothing to say tonight. I am feeling tired but also full. I still have a lot to do and I have appointments tomorrow that take me to the outside world which I always find challenging and even more so in covid. But they must be done so we shall do them.
But I am feeling peaceful and my mind is quiet. Maybe it’s because I’m too tired but either way I’ll take it. Enjoying the quiet right now as I also know it’s unlikely to last.
