Why I had such a good week
For awhile now I've been documenting how I spend my time and trying to be more mindful throughout the day. I had a great week this week and decided to right this down for future Marisa as a way to remind myself what I need to do to feel my best. It's helpful for me and I hope it's helpful for you, too!
Prioritized sleep and exercise. Getting 8 hours of sleep throughout the week and exercising first thing in the morning after I wake up. It sucks but it works. Doing this has knock on effects because I also drank more water, made healthier food choices, and cooked more this week, too.
Made time for quiet time. Each morning after exercising I made tea or got coffee and sat and stared at nothing. I’m serious. No screen, no book, no pen and paper. I literally just sat there and watched the bees on the flowers, watched the water fountain, looked at the wall or sky or tree. I just had my drink and sat quietly until the drink was gone.
Made a very specific list of what I was going to do this week and broke that down. There were only 2 things I NEEDED to complete this week, but they were each a lot of work for multiple days. I also have things that, if I do them this week, it will keep me from panicking next week. This kept me on task because I never thought “Oh I wonder what I should work on”. I had a very clear list of what needed to be done. I usually have a to do list, but this was the first time I took the time to block out time on my calendar so that I would get an alert and reminder of what to work on and what needed to be done by the end of the day.
I took mindful breaks. When my mind starts wandering I always end up on Twitter or Instagram, scrolling through the feed. I still did that this week, but when I caught myself doing it I thought about what I was doing. Was I enjoying scrolling through Instagram? Was I enjoying scrolling through Twitter? Did my brain need a rest or was I just bored with what I was working on? If my brain clearly needed a break, that was fine, but I needed to be sure I was enjoying it. If I was scrolling and not enjoying it because nothing was capturing my attention or I was just looking for my next dopamine hit, I redirected what I was doing.
As an example, here I am now writing this because a couple minutes ago I was mindlessly scrolling through Instagram and refreshing my account to see if other people had liked my post. I wasn’t enjoying it, I was just bored with what I was working on previously. My brain needed a break from that piece of work. Sometimes a break means getting up and watering my plants. Or going outside for a walk and a mental reset.
Or, somewhat counterintuitively, starting on the OTHER project that’s on my list for this week. I kind of ping pong back and forth so progress is getting done on both. Is it the most productive I could possible be? Probably not but the work gets done and I feel good at the end of the day.
If both projects weren’t working out then I’d start plowing through the longer list of small get-ahead tasks: writing and sending an email, doing research for an upcoming project that I agreed to, working on my newsletter. The trick is to be mindful of what your brain is trying to tell you. Are you bored with the specific thing your working on or does your brain just need a rest?
I wrote down my progress and small wins. I keep a daily calendar of what I do every day. Not just work or project related, but everything. The gym goes on there. The daily walks go on there. Getting coffee and reading a book goes on there. Cooking dinner goes on there.
I want to see where I spend my time and I especially want to see what days or weeks I was happiest. Doing this tracking has helped me do more of the things that make me feel good and less of the things that make me feel bad because I have a clearer picture of what I do during the day. And when something really good happens: someone liked my work or I get an acceptance letter I was excited about, I write that down as a little celebration. If you want a calendar of your own, I made a blank template of my Happy Calendar that you can copy and use!