I know I should write something thoughtful and inspiring since this will go up on Christmas day. Something about gratitude and the birth of the light in the midst of great darkness, yadda yadda yadda. But I can't quite get there today.
I had plenty of Christmas spirit this year-- more than I've had in four or five years now. It's just that we did our family Christmas when PellMel and her boyfriend were here ten days ago, so I've had this strange feeling that Christmas is over even though it hasn't happened yet.
We don't even have any presents left to open. It will be a strange Christmas day for us, since we're not doing our traditional Christmas brunch with our neighbors, either. Maybe we will go to a movie or clean the bathrooms or something equally non-traditional.
I sincerely hope that you've got something more exciting to do on Christmas Day than to read my drivel anyway, so it's probably after Christmas as you're reading this. Ergo: I'm not going to write about Christmas. So there.
Which means I have to think of something to write about. OK. Anne Bogel does a list she calls "what's working for me, and what's not" on her blog at the end of the year. Maybe I will try something similar. (later: this got way too long. Like Anne, I'm dividing it up into two parts.)
What's working for me right now:
(note-- I started clicking around and reading other people's similar posts while I was working on this, and for two of the following things that are working for me, I found someone else who said the exact opposite was working for them. ymmv, as always.)
- I'm still doing squats and stretches in the shower. It's still helping me feel stronger and more fit.
- Taking a shower as soon as I get up. When I stopped working last spring, I got into the leisurely habit of waiting to take my shower until I was getting ready to leave the house. That --first of all-- meant that I would frequently be late to wherever I was going because I would underestimate how much time I needed to get ready. It also meant that I was losing a lot of the benefit of a daily shower (waking up, steaming my sinuses open, doing my stretches, etc). Heading for the shower as soon as I get out of bed works much better.
- Carrying a real pen-and-paper weekly planner in my purse (i.e., non-digital). I need to see my week laid out in front of me, and I've always benefited from writing things down and making lists. Carrying a real calendar instead of trying to keep it in my head or on my phone has been a game changer for me. (Although I do make extensive use of phone reminders.)
- Breaking big tasks down into small, manageable chunks. And by manageable, I mean an amount of work that I can get done in 5-10 minutes. I'm a little bit ADD, and I can have trouble sometimes with starting projects, getting overwhelmed, and giving up. Breaking it up into do-able pieces has helped me get more things done.
- Limiting my sugar intake to the afternoon (i.e., no sweets in the morning or evening). Mid-afternoon is when I usually want something sweet, anyway. And also, it gives my body time to metabolize the carbs before I go to bed. I am really happy with this one, although it admittedly has been difficult to be strict about it during the holidays.
- Writing book reviews on Goodreads. I always thought that it was kind of pretentious to think that people wanted to know your opinion about a book. But I realized this year that you don't do it for other people, you do it for yourself. I doubt anyone else ever reads them (with the possible exception of my brother-in-law). It only takes 5-10 minutes to write a quick review when I finish a book, and it really helps me remember what the book is about, when I read it, and what I thought of it.
So there you have it. I'll combine what's not working with my Seven Things on Friday. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Joyeux Noel, Happy Kwanzaa, Feliz Navidad, Happy Festivus, or whatever works for you. Have a good day.
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