Even though this is the year of happy chaos, sometimes bad things happen and days end up being low. Last week was the lowest I have had in a long time. I got really bad news thrice. In the end, everything turned out to be okay-ish, but I am exhausted. I ate too much crap, exercised too little and overall feel awful. And it was the first full week that I was only working two days! Yikes.
I kept stumbling through the week. Then the wake-up call came. Suddenly, today, I couldn’t properly fit into my biggest pair of pants. A week of low days, throw in an unexpected period and wham. That was the final straw.
I think I somehow expected that everything would be magically better as soon as the work pressure was off. But that’s not how it works. I still have to build new routines, to take better care of my body. I have started exercising, but I come from a long period of being able to do barely nothing, because I kept getting injured. My physical condition is horrible. And I barely know where to start. But the scare I got today, is enough to motivate me to make the plan NOW.
Getting healthier
So I need to take the first steps. Start meal planning again, which I hate, because I don’t like cooking or eating at all. As a fat person, the irony is not lost on me. It makes sense though. I end up eating too much and too crappy food during the evenings because I avoid eating during the day. A very good program I took last year made me doing a whole lot better, but I got lost again over the last few months. Sounds like it is time to get back on track.
Roughly what I want
- Eat more healthy food and eat more regularly.
- Get some exercise every day.
- Meditate at least once a day.
Now to get things done
Because I have always had trouble keeping track of and doing tasks, I have read a number of books to become more productive. My favorite book is Getting Things Done by David Allen. And my favorite rule is: for any task on your todo-list, put down the first small action that you have to take. So don’t put down ‘Car to garage for check-up’, because that line actually encompasses a bunch of tasks and this might make you avoid doing it altogether. Instead, write down: ‘Look up the number for the local garage’. That is a tangible, simple task and the first thing you actually need to do. It works so much better for me than SMART goals – those are way too complicated. So let’s have another look at the list and see.
The list but better
- On Saturday evening, make a meal plan for
next weekthe first half of next week.* Do the shopping on Sunday. - Exercise needs to be cut up:
- Take a 15-minute lunch walk every day. This will probably turn into a longer walk, but the 15 minute-rule makes it seem doable and will get me out the door. Nothing like a bit of self-trickery.
- Get the Sunday and Wednesday groceries a bit farther away. Walk to the store. Bonus: that supermarket is a lot cheaper than the close one. (Bring a backpack though.)
- I have already started sports on Mondays and Wednesdays a couple of weeks ago (yay!).
- Use a sleep meditation to fall asleep. Set an alarm to do it. Later I might meditate more, but this is a good start.
This might not seem like much to some, but for me it is already quite the change. Small steps are better to make sure I actually change.
Another part of my Year of Happy Chaos covered. Or ‘started’ might be the better word. I have to keep in mind that I will have to be able to keep this up when I get back to work full time. But this half time-off is going to help with building the habit. I hope. Wish me luck. If you want to tag along, please do! You can keep me posted in several different ways.
* Guess what? I started planning for the whole week, had to start over three times, then needed a good friend to help me not throw everything out the window. The solution: do not attempt to do the whole week at once.