I am happy - I got all the things on my list done today, apart from the 'going to bed by 11pm' bit :-)

• eat two pieces of fruit as snacks - done, two apples at work


• go for a short walk as soon as I get home - done


• spend 10 minutes tidying/sorting in my bedroom - done


• do 10 minutes of yoga streches - done (I actually spent more than 20 minutes on it)


• go to bed by 11pm - should manage

At my work I keep soy-linseed bread in the freezer and usually I have cans of tuna in my office, and for emergencies when I run out of tuna I also have a jar of peanut butter there. Today I was duing a course in a different place, so this morning I made a salad with baby spinnach, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, shredded cabbage, cheese cubes and some hardboiled egg in. It was really nice and filling. I think I need to bring that kind of lunch to work more often.

It felt really good to do some yoga. I don't understand why I don't do it more often! I guess having the space next to my bed cleared will help me with that.

Wednesday update

Today did not go so well. I did not get home from work until after 7 - went for a walk (a longer one this time), then made dinner. I was eating dinner after 9, and then chatted with my boys. Have not seen my oldest for a couple of days, so it was nice to catch up.

List update:

• make a phonecall about the document (I know I would procrastinate on this) - not done, waiting for email
  


• spend 10 minutes tidying/sorting in my bedroom - not done
  


• go for a short walk as soon as I get home - done :-)


• do 10 minutes of yoga streches - not done


• eat two pieces of fruit as snacks - done, two apples at work


• go to bed by 11pm - should manage

So, I didn't get to the things I wanted to. But if I hadn't made the list, which seems to commit things in my head when I post it here, then I most likely would not have gone for a walk when I got home, and I more than likely would not have remembered to bring my fruit to work this morning. So even though I did not get all the things done, I am still happy that I kept the momentum going with the walking. Tomorrow I have a long day at work again, leaving home at 7.30 and won't be back until around 6. I am at a course in a different location to my office all day, so I need to resist the temptation to 'duck in quickly' to my office once I get back from the course, and go home instead and do some 'looking after me' (or the house -either will make me feel better!).

I won't make a list for tomorrow, as it will be the last 5 items on today's list repeating (I will leave the phonecall item until I have got the email).

I think I can see a slight pattern developing where the action of blogging is helping me focus on some me things. I just need to keep this going :-)

Since it is only 15 minutes until it is 11, and I still have to brush my teeth etc, I will reply to the comments on the previous post tomorrow night. Good night!

I'm done :-)

I have tidied up the stuff next to my bed and vaccuumed there. I have got my yoga mat out and I am all ready for doing a little bit of yoga tomorrow. I also just ate my banana :-)
I would not have got the floor done, or eaten the banana, if I didn't plan to write about it here. So maybe I need to keep this up for a while...
My list for tomorrow:

• make a phonecall about the document (I know I would procrastinate on this)
  
• spend 10 minutes tidying/sorting in my bedroom
  
• go for a short walk as soon as I get home
  
• do 10 minutes of yoga streches**
  
• eat two pieces of fruit as snacks
  
• go to bed by 11pm

**I keep thinking that I need a solid 45 minutes or so for it to be worthwhile doing some yoga - and 45 minutes seems so hard to find (although I can easily spend 45 minutes online reading blogs without even noticing). But everyone can manage to commit 10 minutes to something! And really, 10 minutes will still be good for me (and with my back being a bit funny still, it is probably better to start off slowly). And I know I will feel good once I managed to get started (a bit like the walking thing, huh Sharni? - comment on previous post) so it is likely that I will continue for longer.

I ended up with 6 things on my list. I really wanted to keep it to 5, but the ones that are repeats from yesterday I am hoping to build up momentun on, the phonecall has to be done, and the yoga I am all set for now with cleared floor space and my mat ready. So six it is :-)

I am now about to brush my teeth and get ready for bed so I can be in bed by 11. Sweet dreams!

Tuesday's update

Here is the update on the list I made yesterday:

• read through some important documents that arrived in the mail today, and make a related todo list - done
  
• go for a short walk as soon as I get home in the afternoon - done
  
• tidy up the rest of the stuff and vacuum next to my bed so I have somewhere where I can spread out my yoga mat and do some simple yoga
  
• eat an apple and a banana as a snack - apple eaten, banana still to go
  
• go to bed by 11pm

It was nice to go for a walk - I need it so badly! It doesn't take long to do, and once I am out there I really enjoy it. But if I don't do it as soon as I get home, I am just too tired and won't do it. A few years ago I used to go for a quick walk as soon as I got up every morning. I would like to get back into that routine, but I need to get this sleeping thing sorted first. Walking as soon as I get home from work is a good compromise, and my son now walks with me which is very nice - the deal is that I take him for driving lessons, and he takes me for walks :-)

A new week

It is Monday - a fresh new week!
I had a nice weekend. Nothing happened in particular, we spent time at home getting little things done and relaxing. I did not touch any work, and did not feel guilty about it! I think not rushing around, and just having quiet time at home is the key for me at the moment.
I got a little more decluttering done - this time in my teeny laundry.
Last night I went to bed early, to have a good start to the new week. I was woken before 4.30 am, and every time I drifted off after that I was woken again, by various things. So today has not been very productive. But I managed to go for a tiny walk (it started pouring so was shorter than what I had intended). I ate an apple when all I wanted was some comfort food (and then I ate the comfort food after!)
I am about to go to bed. I need a good night's sleep tonight.
My 'should do' list seems to be growing out of proportions in my head - it seems to totally paralyze me and I do nothing. I am pretty sure I have written something similar before too. So for tomorrow I have 5 goals:

• read through some important documents that arrived in the mail today, and make a related todo list
• go for a short walk as soon as I get home in the afternoon
• tidy up the rest of the stuff and vacuum next to my bed so I have somewhere where I can spread out my yoga mat and do some simple yoga
• eat an apple and a banana as a snack
• go to bed by 11pm

This time I will report on how I completed each item :-)

I have tried to find an appropriate picture for this post, but my internet is soooo slow at the moment that I give up..... I was planning to be asleep by now :-)

Giving myself permission

Since my last post I have been giving myself permission to be 'lazy'. Today spent all day at a course, leaving home 7.45am and coming back just before 6pm feeling exhausted. Instead of forcing myself to get things done at home, or feeling guilty about things not getting done, I told myself I deserved to have a lazy night where my only criteria is to stay awake. I need to pick up my son from work and if I fall asleep beforehand I will end up staying up too late after we are back. It is a 20 minute drive each way, and it usually wakes me up to be out and about, especially if I have had an afernoon snooze.

I am still working on getting to bed at a decent time, and it is still not a consistent thing for me. I think it will take a while to 're-tune' this body, and everytime I am staying up late I delay the process.Tonight I have been reading some blog posts, reading the online newspapers and doing some general surfing. Everytime I start to feel the 'should be doing something useful' feeling, I am telling myself that I deserve to have a night off.It is nearly 9.30pm, and I am expecting a phone call any minute now, to say that it is time to go on pick-up duty. Once I am back home, I plan to go to bed and read until I fall asleep, which I don't expect to take long at all....

Feeling overwhelmed

I am feeling overwhelmed, and I can't work out why. My workload this semester is so much lighter than it has been for quite a while, I have finished the research masters I was working on, issues and dramas on the personal front have subsided a lot, and yet here I am feeling stressed, worned out and overwhelmed.
I don't want this blog to become full of negative blabbering, but I think I need to take stock of where I am at. I am a bit worried that I am suffering from burn-out from all the stress that has been over the last few years. When I look at what has been comapred to what is now, I should be bouncing with energy, yet I am not. And I am lost as to how I can find this energy I am craving - I seem to sabotage myself at every turn. I know eating better will help, I know sleeping properly will help, I know getting some exercise will help and I know clearing out the clutter and cleaning up the complete distaster that my house currently is, will help. So why aren't I getting these things done?? Why does one always end up having to be a trade-off for another one and in the end I get none of these things done?
I need to find a way - but where do I start? And more importantly - how do I push through and keep at it when it is just all too hard?

Monday

I have had a slow day today - my back is a bit touchy and I am feeling a bit weary. So rather than looking at all the things I haven't done, I am choosing to list the things I am happy with today.

• I went for a short walk this morning, first thing.




• I had a banana as a snack earlier today, instead of something less healthy.




• I decluttered one and a half grocery bags of stuff from the bathroom. Yay!! I need my life to be simpler, and I know getting rid of things can only help. It also helps letting go of some guilt (like the expensive haircare products I paid a lot of money for years ago and have probably only used twice...they are gone).




• I have done a load of washing.




• I have unpacked and repacked the dishwasher, and cleaned the kitchen benches.

Tomorrow I am planning to go for another short walk and do some gentle yoga

Picture borrowed from here:
http://www.laragreene.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/yoga.jpg

Sleeping goals and well-being

It has been a while since I posted that I was making improved sleeping habits a goal. I didn't do too well recording how I went with it - probably because I didn't go so well at all! I even ended up having to pull an all-nighter. I have had some nights where I have been getting to bed at a good time, but quite a few where I have been very late.
BUT - I have done some things for 'me'. I have had my hair cut and streaked (not done since the beginning of the year) and I also got my eyebrows tidied up and lashes tinted. I have never had my eyebrows done before, and it did make quite a bit of a difference! A while ago Eilleen at Consumption Rebellion posted about wellbeing goals, and allthough I haven't done any of the things I planned after reading Eilleen's post (reflexology, massage, bushwalk), I have found that 'fixing my outsides' a bit has actually had an effect on how I am feeling about me. Oh, and talking about wellbeing - I can't forget mentioning I read a fiction book - "The Girl with the Dragon tattoo" by Stieg Larsson, which is the first of the books in the Millenium triology.