I’m aware that we are well near the end of the month but I wanted to write this post for both you and I to remember to rebase, recollect, and refresh our mindset. Resetting isn’t meant for only the beginning of a month but it’s something we need to revisit whenever the need arises.
Way too often, we put a ton of value on the beginnings and not enough value on the middle. I’ve been thinking about the concept of the “middle” a ton the past few weeks and decided that the time for self-exploration and introspection has arrived because I’m starting to feel stuck in this weird limbo where I’m teetering around in panic, stress, and anxiety of the unknown and how to get to the “end”.
I don’t know if this whole fixation on the “middle” and the slumpy feeling that comes with it is something everyone’s experiencing as we round off year two in a world-wide pandemic or if it’s just my quarter life crisis coming through a bit early. Either way, I’m desperate to pull myself out of this funk.
So I’ve decided to lay out some intentions.
When you know that you have a lot to do and there’s only one of you to do it all, you need to be realistic with yourself and the people in your situation. It’s not fair to guilt yourself into meeting deadlines or goals that are wearing you thin. You are your own best advocate so if you can, push the deadline or move things around your schedule and be realistic.
This month, I’m handling a ton of things solo that are quite frankly stretching me thin. I’m finding myself constantly bombarded with imposter syndrome and other synonymous feelings of inadequacy and being overwhelmed. This past week, I had to sit myself down and remind myself that there’s only twenty-four hours in a day and there’s only one of me. There’s literally not enough time for me to do all this in one go and that I need to do what I can to push whatever deadline I can to ensure that I give myself time to take a breath and deliver with a 100%.
Self-reflection is so important when you’re feeling slumpy. It always helps me to look back and see what I’ve done throughout the week when I’m feeling down and overwhelmed. Writing down lists of your weekly accomplishments is eye-opening. It forces you to acknowledge how much you are giving into your week when your insides are telling you that you did nothing and that there’s so much left to do.
And honestly, sometimes there is a lot to do. This whole month can be categorized as the month of “lots to do in not lots of time”. Making lists of what you have left and scratching things off forces you to see all the things and not brush things under the carpet but also reducing how much clutter you’re carrying around in your brain.
I haven’t posted in over a month which is weird for me. I don’t stay active on my blog because of numbers but because of the routine. Being consistent with my blog ensures that I’m being consistent with exercising my creativity. It gives me a semblance of routine that sets me up to do better in other areas of my life. I’m a firm believer that when you manage to sort out one thing in your life, it’s far easier to sort out the other things. In other words, making that first step in building a creative routine is one step closer to building that overarching routine that’ll make your life a lot more manageable and organized.
There are are a few days left in this month and I’m planning to take advantage of them. I recently read in a Breathe magazine about the concept of a Power Hour. The whole article went into detail about how we tend to brush aside tasks and things we really don’t want to do. As things pile up, the more overwhelming it gets, and the less likely we are to completing those tasks. The Power Hour is where you set aside an hour to tackle those menial tasks such as clearing out your email mailbox or cleaning that one area in your closet that’s become a dumping ground.
I want to try to set aside an hour each day in the weekend to tackle some of these tasks that have been on my to do list for far too long. I think that it’ll be a good way to start forcing myself to look at all those admin tasks I’ve been avoiding and give myself a nice seratonin boost to kick start off the following week feeling accomplished.
Reading has become one thing that I haven’t been gravitating at all. To be more clear, I’m referring to reading books. I’m still consuming a ton of literature, just the shorter version of it. I’ve been drawn to the magazine world recently. So far, I’ve picked up a Vogue Magazine because there was an article about an interview with Adele and I can’t get enough of her. I’ve also been making my way through a New York Time Magazine that explores topics that I can’t wait to deep dive into and research more when I have time. And of course, as mentioned before, I’ve been reading a Breathe magazine. They’re all quite different genres and they offer me different kinds of content which is exactly what my chaotic mood-reading brain needs.
I miss the feeling of reading and finishing a physical book though. I’ve been making my way through this short story collection that I’m not really enjoying so I think I need to pick up an easy, wholesome read. I think the time to pick up Heart Stopper by Alice Oseman has finally arrived. I need the seratonin fix of reading something cute and also something I can finish.